Opinions on marinading a brisket?

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schultzy

Smoke Blower
Original poster
Jun 5, 2007
105
10
East Galesburg, IL
I have a whole packer brisket going to be cooking this weekend and was tossing around the idea of marinading overnight the night before. Anyone have any thoughts on this?
 
I have always felt like it was a waste of time.........too big of a piece of meat for a marinade to do much.

There are people that swear by it, but I am not one of them. If you want a certain flavor down in there, try injecting.
 
I'm actually with you Schultzy I've been thinking of marinading myself. Not to tenderize but to add a little flavor. I want something strong enough to add good flavor but little or no vinegar because I don't want it to "cook" it. Any ideas would be great.
 
The last brisket I did, I took about 1/4 bottle of Claudes Brisket Marinade and melted a wad of bacon greased. Mix well until the 2 become 1. Injected throughout the flat. I didn't do the point. Then wrap in several layers of plastic wrap. Leave in fridge at least overnight.

It had a very good flavor, but what brisket (cooked properly) doesn't. I think the idea is that the bacon grease, in addition to adding flavor, will set up and allow the marinade to stay in contact with the areas that were injected. Not sure if that's how it worked out, but I will do it again.
 
Marinades are a surface treatment. Brisket, butt and other heavy cuts a brine needs days to effective so you are left with injections. As others have stated injections are an effective way to handle these cuts.
 
My question is this:Is it better to have 2 fifties in your wallet or 5 twenties?This is where I stand on marinade vs rub.
GWF mentions claudes brisket sauce which is a fine marinade indeed but many ppl aren't familiar with claudes.They are based in El Paso,TX and have a great web site so if I may... http://www.claudessauces.com/
 
The lady in the Claude's video says to cook the brisket in the oven with the sauce. Kinda like braising, right. Marinade would definitely help if cooking that way, but much less effective if marinading then smoking, unless maybe you cook the brisket in a pan with the leftover marinade.
 
I have done them both ways and no one can tell a difference so I say just get you a good rub and put it on right before the meat goes on the grill and save the fridge space for extra beer.
 
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I have marniade and rub brisket.I found the brisket too thick to do any good with marniade, but i love the rubs, rubs are the way to go for me, but i have injected also and like that method.So i stay away from marniade for brisket. moho my .02 worth hope it helps
 
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