28 LBS of brisket

Thanks Al!

Rest assured, you all need not wait long on those pictures I promised, I made sure to bring my memory card to class with me today. I appreciate your patience!

SmokinAl said:

Sounds great Moose. We'll be waiting.

                      

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So, here's the replay of yesterday's fun:

I drug home my briskies, and they were chosen based on weight, one being 14.33 lbs, and one being 14.3 lbs, close enough, but they were also conveniently super-flexy, not as flexy as my last one:



but darn close.

So, I broke them out, and scored the fat with my pet boning knife:



I do this because I prefer leaving the fat cap on while smoking, I appreciate the extra insulation and self-basting properties of it, but all that good smoke and the spices just gets stranded in the fat, and doesn't reach the meat. I've found that with the scores, the results are comparable in  smoke flavor and rub penetration to a trimmed brisket, but the texture and beefy flavor's a little better. I'm willing to compromise, there.

Anywho, after the scoring, I took a page from Bearcarver's book, and rubbed them both down with Worcestershire sauce. I've never tried this method before, but it sounded great, and and I'm a fan of the W-sauce (back when I discovered I was a carnivore, and liked my steak screaming, I would drown well-done meat in w-sauce in order to gulp it down. I'm glad I outgrew that phase!)

So, I couldn't find the thick sauce that Bear usually uses, but I'm sure the results with regular will be comparable.



I then worked in the Kosher salt, and then rubbed in my Southwestern Rub: http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/forum/thread/104939/moose-s-southwestern-rub

Here is one rubbed down:



and sprayed with oil afterwards:



I did the oil because I'm of the camp that believes spices have certain flavors that are soluble (they transfer through) to fats uniquely, and that without some oil between my hunk of cow, and my rub, I may lose out on some of that flavor. I also believe that certain foods have flavors that are soluble uniquely to alcohol, so I make sure there's some good single malt nearby when I dine .

I've also read that oils will impede the flow of smoke into the meat, which I believe is credible, but I'm sure that what little oil is on the surface of this thing will either rub off onto the packaging while it's resting in the dungeon, or will permeate the meat across the fatty tissues of the brisket, and that surface fats will be survivable by the time it's smoke time.

speaking of packaging:



Here it is, bound, gagged, and ready for the dungeon!

and here are both briskies in the said dungeon (the deepest, and coldest part of my fridge)



Thanks for reading, and I will post up the results (or do my best to remember to) in a few days when they hit the heat.

Have a good one everybody! 

Ohm said:

Nice can't wait to see the final pic's

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meateater said:

Oh boy, just waiting for the money shot. 

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raptor700 said:

Looks good Moose,

Looking forward to the finale 

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Seriously! If there was ever a hobby Doctor Brown could have helped out the most, it's smoking!

Pop the brisket in, push the DeLorean to 88 MPH, and it's showtime!

hwynboy said:

Why do you put them in the fridge and for how long?  I have always went straight from rub to smoker.  Can you share your ideas?  I have also heard of trimming versus scoring the brisket, do you feel there is a discernible difference doing the scoring rather than just a trim?  Thanks for your help.

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I put them in the fridge to allow them time for the rub to penetrate beyond the surface of the meat. It's something I've read helps with the overall product, spices really need a chance to hydrate and transfer their flavors into liquids and fats in the meat. The salt, applied to the meat, helps encourage the exchange of flavorful liquids across the membranes of the meat. Similar to marinading. The more time and contact the meat has with the rub, the better it will be seasoned. I'm going to let it set with the spices on it for three days, the oils in the acids in the Worcestersire, and the kosher salt will regulate bacterial growth, and the muscle fibers will continue to relax, meanwhile the fat cap will break down a bit, and the less complex fats will travel through the meat a little better when the resting time is up.

I like the results of the scoring better than just straight trimming, and to be honest, I would rather smoke an untrimmed brisket than a trimmed, I feel the intact fat cap lends too much flavor and texture to the party to skip out on, but I agree with the general concensus that it inhibits good smoke penetration.

I hope this all helps, and makes sense.

still waiting too!

I'm nearly done with work for the weekend (one more night) and this is my final day of class before the weekend (taking summer classes at the local community college). Work School Homework Brisket. Fun Schedule...

Mrs. Moose is really looking forward the the brisket too!

I will whet your appetites tonight with some q-view of my prep for sides: making bread dough, prepping beer-corn, prepping veggies, etc, etc.

I appreciate your patience and readerhsip everybody!

Alright, so I had a busy afternoon after school, but nearly all my prep is done.

For sides I have sweet corn that's been de-haired, and left in the husks, but I soaked it in cheap beer for flavor. In the day the beer and corn spend together, that beer is going to work its way into the fibers of the husks and cobs, and help steam the corn, all the while providing a nice flavor. It's a trick my closest friend and I came up with on a campout.



Following this, I made a triple batch of my dark bread. It's just a basic bread dough made with molasses, but, in the interest of added flavor, texture, and nutrition, I worked in oat flour, buckwheat flour, and dark rye flour.



I also prepped some peach rhubarb filling for cobbler:



I made a biscuit-type topping for it using brown sugar, and oat flour



I've gotten into using alot of whole-grain and unbleached flours by independent millers lately because I've begun seeing articles on how the mass-milled flours of corporate grain production actually compromises the health benefits and adds toxic substances to the flours (especially bleaching flour, it leaves carcinogenous dioxins behind that can build up in your system.)

I am not one of those tofu-eating, foil-hat wielding whackos who normally spout this information, but I don't take to being hoodwinked by conglomerates, and I really hate it when it means compromised food quality, I also am a passionate follower of the "Go Local" movement, and so I am willing to pay a little extra to know that the food I prepare and eat is the best it can be.

That's my shbeel on whole grains and unbleached flour, total digression, but I felt something what I was doing needed explaining.

finally, I also picked up some fine cheeses to apply to the bread.



L-R:

Talegio. A funky washed cheese from northern Italy, it's almost as if Brie and Gorgonzola were somehow combined.

Brie: we all know and love this one, I suspect. Mrs. Moose dosn't like cheese at all, but I'm hoping a sweet and mild cheese like Brie will win her over.

Humboldt Fog: Identifiable by the line of ash across the middle. Just an incredible cheese, pairs up well with nutty whole-grain breads and dark beer. I don't mind of Mrs. Moose doesn't like this one, just means more for me. 

Saint Andre: Another washed ripened cheese with a high butterfat content (up to 75%) it's pretty darn amazing stuff.

thanks for watching, and I promise to take lots of pics of the process!