Hickory & Apple Smoked Brisket on the Traeger

[wingman]

Sunday set out to cook my first brisket on my new Traeger. I have been doing briskets for over 20 years. This time I changed things quite a bit. First of all, I have really liked using brown sugar with my dry rub. It was great on ribs so I tried it on my pork butts the last 2 times. I thought why not the brisket... Glad I did... I decided to buy a brisket and let it sit for at least 3 days in the refrigerator. Day 3 I cleaned and trimmed it and applied the spices, rub and brown sugar. I let it sit over night in the refrigerator. Early in the morning I took it out and injected it with Au-Ju. This was a new step. I heard about it and thought why not. Again... Glad I did... After standing at room temp for a couple hours, I put it in the Traeger and turned it to smoke for 2 hours. Then I set it to 230 degrees for 5 hours. At this point it had reached 149 degrees. I took it off the grill and brought it into the kitchen where I mopped it with Au-Ju then gave it a second coat of spices, rub and brown sugar. I wrapped it with foil and poured in a 1/2 cup Au-Ju. Then back on the grill. Then all hell broke loose! My nephew called.. My niece was involved in an auto accident and hit a tree. Apparently the guy in the other car was waving a gun... He and my brother were out of town. I had to tend to her. She is ok. The gun was a air soft Sig 9mm look alike. The cops were not impressed with the guy to say the least. I had to take her to emergency to get checked out. Both air bags deployed and she had some bruising. By time I got home close to 4 hours had passed. The brisket was at 206 degrees! Oh god! I let it rest for an hour then figured I would try it. To my surprise it was very tender and tasty. It was a bit on the dry side but still tender so I cut it up and laid the slices in a pan of the Au-Ju. They soaked it up and it was one amazing dinner. The family ate 3/4 of the thing. I never saw them eat so much beef in one sitting. The next day we had BBQ beef brisket on onion buns. It was very tender and tasty and no longer dry. I'm really sold on these Traeger's. I was going to keep my GOSM but to be honest, I won't use it...

Here are a couple Qview pic's and a Qview video link with the recipe. I will post a updated video with it cooked to correct temp soon. Hope you enjoy the show...

Video -

 

[shea561]

Looks awesome man! Nice smoke ring and real juicy! Kudos

 

[bassman]

Glad everything turned out OK with your niece! Good looking brisket there too.

 

[hondamandan]

Did you notice any loss of flavor when going to the traeger? I just bought one and really like it, but thought the WSM did a better job with the smoke. What kind of pellets are you using? Thanks! Dan

 

[wingman]

Dan, at first I noticed a difference. The meats truned out more flavorful but there was a difference. It was when I fired up my GOSM again to see what it was that I think I figured it out. The Traeger continuously lays on the smoke thin and blue. My GOSM produces some white smoke each time I add wood until it gets the wood burning efficiently. The smoke is not even. Its starts out heavy then dicipates. The meat that came of my GOSM was smokier but had a slight bitter after taste that over the years I really became used to. I used 50% Mesquite and 50% apple.

One note: I here and read allot of folks starting there cooking at 230 then going to smoke setting... This to me is backwards. I pre-heat to 230 then go to smoke setting and put my meats in. I do 2 hours on smoke for briskets, pork butts, Turkeys etc. Then go to 230. With smaller items like ribs, chicket etc. I cook on smoke setting for 1 hour then go to 230 degrees. I have been getting great smoke rings and flavor but no bitterness what so ever. Another thing is my clothes don't smell like I was in a forest fire when I'm done cooking.

I have been using Traeger pellets but there are many food grade wood pellet manufacturers out there to choose from. Some folks say some of them do produce a stronger smoke flavor. I always cook too much and end up talikng some in for the guys at work to eat. I can tell you they like the Traeger cooked BBQ much better then what came off my other smokers. And I have to say I do too. At this point I'm sold on the Traeger's ease of cooking and the flavor it produces.

 

[ismoke]

I like this a lot...doing a brisket for the Super Bowl (weather permitting) and had thought about using Beef Broth - do you think that would be good, or would it be too salty to use as an injection?

 

[wingman]

Ismoke, using beef broth works great. I have injected with it countless times when smoking roasts. I'm now switching to Au-Ju. Iether way it will help keep the meat moist and really kick up the flavor a notch or two.

 

[ismoke]

Thanks! I've never injected a brisket, and was hesitant to "experiment" with friends and on one of the biggest days of the year.

 

[acemakr]

Great post

As I'm looking to upgrade, the accolades for the Traeger keep piling up. The pellet pushers as as passionate as the WSM efficionadoes.

Price will matter, I think.

 

[mudduck]

look good but what is the au-ju

 

[wingman]

Au-Ju should have been spelled Au-Jus. And I'm glad you asked because I knew it as a dry seasoning you add water to and it produces a beef broth type liquid with the consistancy of a thin gravy that you dip roast beef sandwiches in. I looked it up in Wiki and here is whats in it.

American recipes au jus often use soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, salt, pepper, white or brown sugar, garlic, onion

No wonder it goes so well with beef!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Au_jus

 

[mballi3011]

Now that brisket looks great and you said that you used beef broth to inject it too. HMMMM

 

[wingman]

Mballi3011, To clarify... I used Au-Jus to inject it with. I normally use regular beef broth which works great, but I always like to try new things... After this brisket, my money is on the Au-Jus over the beef broth.

By the way... I really like your porch setup for cooking!

 

[denver dave]

I have been using a Traeger Texas for years and love the beast. It is pretty hard to mess up something and I have never oversmoked anything. Glad to hear others are enjoying being a pellethead.

 

[meateater]

Great looking brisket!

 

[shea561]

Hickory and apple wood...I need to try that one.

 

[oneshot]

Looks really good!!!!!

I've been using a Traeger for years and take my word for it, stick with using the Traeger pellets. They seem to give the best flavor.
Don't try and fix something that isn't broke....lol