Semi-disappointing Brisket - Salvaged


 
Chris Sherman

Chris Sherman

TVWBB Super Fan
Started out ~13 lb Select whole packer. Cut 6lb flat off and would be cooking point+ 1/2 flat.
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Rubbed and wrapped overnight.
Rub = Coarsely ground black pepper, Kosher salt, Turbinado sugar, onion powder, mustard powder, garlic powder, ancho chile powder, cayenne pepper, cumin

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Saturday morning, assembled the fire using KBB minion method with Oak and Pecan.

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Stabilized at 225, meat on at 10AM

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Oddly enough, my lid therm was perfectly synched with the Maverick the whole cook. Go figure.
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Crutched at stall of 147* at around 2:30 pm.

Taken off at 5pm when IT of 203* reached.
Put in cooler with towels until 6:30pm.

While resting, made some No. 5 sauce with these modifications.

+ 50% more ketchup
Double the worcestershire
Double the rub
2 teaspoons celery seed
A few dashes of Volcano Dust 2 (Smoked Habanero and Ghost Pepper Powder)
Lots of meat drippings.

This turned out a winner and I would recommend this rendition to everyone.
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Unwrapped and crisped the bark for a few on a hot gas grill.
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Continued...
 
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Disappointment and the Salvage

Then came the disappointment.


Hardly any smoke ring. :( Maybe due to foiling too early? I don't know.
That wasn't the worst part though. The intramuscular fat hadn't completely rendered, giving it a "pull" when biting.
I figured 203 would have been plenty to render it. I'm blaming Select quality.
At least it tasted great and wasn't dry in the least.
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The Salvage. :)


Sunday morning.
Heated up the gas grill to around 300* and placed the foiled aluminum container containing the leftover remainder of the point and flat along with all juices for about an hour or so.
Essentially a quick braise.
Discarded juices, and did another quick dry sear on all sides.
Served with eggs and toast and more sauce.
This broke the fat down and now I was happy with the texture.
Took a page from Tony R and did the whole breakfast on the grill. :)

I love happy endings...in more ways than one. ;)


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Paul Kastner said:
From what I see it looked darn good. We are our own worst critics.
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Agreed. Brisket can be a tough one, no pun intended. Cook until tender, not to a specific temp. High heat methods typically need a hotter internal temp to get to tender...
I think its better to err on the side of underdone; steaming or braising can get you there, but there's no coming back from dry and crumbly.
 
Gary H. NJ said:
Agreed. Brisket can be a tough one, no pun intended. Cook until tender, not to a specific temp. High heat methods typically need a hotter internal temp to get to tender...
I think its better to err on the side of underdone; steaming or braising can get you there, but there's no coming back from dry and crumbly.
Click to expand...

That's why I'm glad that there was something to salvage. If it had been overdone, it woulda been all over. ;)

Thanks all for the replies. :)
 
Looks great to me Chris! And I agree 100 percent with Paul and Gary. You really can't tell by
temp alone. I have had them probe tender at 192 and then not until 205. Depends on the meat cut.
 
Looks good to me too, but like above poster said cook to a tenderness not necessarily a temp. If you would like a more pronounced smoke ring try a little celery seed. It's high in nitrates and helps form a better ring.
 
Robert Y. said:
Looks good to me too, but like above poster said cook to a tenderness not necessarily a temp. If you would like a more pronounced smoke ring try a little celery seed. It's high in nitrates and helps form a better ring.
Click to expand...
Funnily enough, I used celery seed in the sauce but not the rub. Great tip though...thanks! ;)
 
My last thick flat, 6+ lbs got super tender at 189, i say 185 max start checking every 15-30 minutes for tenderness.
 
I had a similar issue with a foiled pork butt. I wonder if the foil traps liquid boiling off that might give the thermometer a falsely high reading? Good save though! I made pulled pork chili with my disappointment...even a rough cook makes awesome leftovers!
 
Happens Chris... thankfully you grabbed it and saved it in the nick of time!
I did a similar brisket last or the year before, ended up chopping it into ends, turned out great.
by the way, smoke rings are overrated...
 
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