<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">How did it taste? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
It was mighty tasty and my wife really liked it too. Nice smokey flavor, juicy and tender. I kept a log of the cook for troubleshooting purposes. I was pleasantly surprised it came out OK.
Here's the log:
Prep - Applied Kevin Kruger's "simple" rub but reduced the chili by about 1/3 and added some paprika. The brisket was an oddball 7.8 pounder with a good portion of the flat trimmed off. I got it because it was cheaper (i.e. less meat to ruin) I used 3 chunks of hickory.
- 1.5 hours into cook a windy storm rolled in. Temp was at 250-260 so I left it there because of the wind and it held for the most part. Pulled the kettle under the eave of the house.
- 2.5 hours - Pulled kettle inside garage because the storm wasn't letting up. There's not much smoke and I had a fan blowing out a crack in the garage door. Checked temp but it was at about 155. The grill temp had risen to about 285 during the storm but I had been keeping the temps probably too low for a good while before that.
- 3 hours - still not up to temp but grill is now around 300... A Maverick ET-7 remote thermometer is supposed to be here tomorrow and I can't wait. Gets old walking back and forth to the garage!
- 3.5 hours - Meat FINALLY up slightly over 160 so put in foil. Got grill to easily settle at 325. Will check again in 2 or 3 hours. Just kidding!
- 4.5 hours - Temp had dropped to 300. It wasn't tender enough yet. Will check in 30 minutes.
- 5 hours - Temp was at about 275. I opened the bottom all the way and shuffled the coals. It's still not going up over 300 yet but there is plenty of coal to produce heat. I'm expecting it to be hotter next time I check. Still not tender.
- 5.5 hours - Temp still at 275. It seemed tender enough so I went ahead and pulled it. The foil was loaded with juice and careful as I was I still spilled about a half pint on my garage floor. Arrgh!! Brought it in and the instant read went to 205 then dropped back to 195 and stayed there. It sure smells good! I can't wait to see what's under that bark...
- 30 minutes later - Oh my! Oh my oh my oh my! I've only had brisket here in Lubbock and this is by FAR the best I've ever had. It may not be the best that can be done but this is REALLY good.
- While I was waiting I cooked up a baked bean recipe from Steve Raichlen's how to grill book. It's a sweet recipe and I added a bit of heat to it using my brand of BBQ sauce (Mildly Wild along with some Stubbs Spicy for good measure). It turned out pretty good actually. Maaaaaybe a tad too sweet. Maybe.
- I saved the juice which I'll add to some point chili which I'll make in the next day or two. There was about a pint of juice...plus what I spilled pulling it off the grill.
