First time Brisket! DONE! Heavy qview!

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bluebombersfan

Master of the Pit
Original poster
OTBS Member
Mar 4, 2011
1,729
75
Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada
So I decided to try out a brisket.  I have been looking through the site alot to try and get the best advice.  I took the brisket out of the freezer to thaw in the fridge.  The package looked failry thick but after opening I guess it was folded up.

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I am a little worried that too much of the fat has been trimmed off?

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Flipped over.  Does the line of fat sepperate the flat from the point?  I thought I would know after looking through all the other threads but I am confused?!?!?!?
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It looks alot wider and thinner than what I have seen through out the site. 
 
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It's very hard to tell from the photo's just exactly what you have.

I think I would smoke it just as it is & if the line of fat is the separation point it will separate very easily when it's cooked.
 
It's very hard to tell from the photo's just exactly what you have.

I think I would smoke it just as it is & if the line of fat is the separation point it will separate very easily when it's cooked.
Thanks SmokinAl!  It seems to want to seperate very easily where my hand is in the shot. 
 
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It almost looks like a thin point w/ a small piece of the flat still attached ???

 After you smoke it see if it will seperate at that fat line and then you should ba able to tell.
 
It almost looks like a thin point w/ a small piece of the flat still attached ???

 After you smoke it see if it will seperate at that fat line and then you should ba able to tell.
Thanks!!  I am a little worried about it drying out with not much fat left on it.  Any advice?
 
 
I use to separate my  points  from my flats before  cooking but after leaving it whole and smoking  it I will never remove the point from the flat until  it is done. The knife will go through the fat layer like butter to separate them once  it is cooked. So  if I was you I would smoke that thing whole.
 
I use to separate my  points  from my flats before  cooking but after leaving it whole and smoking  it I will never remove the point from the flat until  it is done. The knife will go through the fat layer like butter to separate them once  it is cooked. So  if I was you I would smoke that thing whole.
Sounds good,  can you reccomend a rub?
 
For brisket we coat with Worsty sauce & dust it with Montreal Steak saesoning.
Sounds good I did my last chuckie like that and it was heavenly!  Thanks!  I have seen your pictures of burnt ends a few times and would really like to be able to make them.  But not sure which part of this piece of meat I make them from??

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I put a piece of butchers twine on the fat seam that runs through this piece, 
 
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Hey all! Just PM'd BBf on this as follows...hopefully I can catch him one way or the other:

Just caught this a bit ago, reviewed the thread and pics, started a reply explaining what I was working towards and lost the post somehow...sticky fingers on the keyboard, I suspect...to big of a hurry.

Anyway, here's what I want you to do (I'll explain my insanity in a reply on the thread, ASAP):

Your brisket is still frozen, so needs a quick thaw if you're going to smoke it in the morning, so to get that thaw pace picked-up so it's ready...

Find a large flat container that the brisket will lay flat inside...if it has a cover, great, if not, you can cover with plastic wrap or foil. Also, be sure it will fir in your fridge, and that you have room for it. Oh, a roasting pan is a good option for this as well, but any non-reactive (plastic or stainless steel, ceramic-coated, etc) container that's sanitary...food-grade prefered.

Mix 6 quarts cold water with 1.5 cups salt (iodized table salt, kosher, no matter)...mix it well.

Pour salt water into container, place brisket in, weigh-down with plastic bags of water as needed to keep submerged...probably won't need it for several hours until it startes lossing density from thawing, though.

Cover the container and place in the fridge...don't worry about spices in the brine right now...we'll make up for it with a dry rub.

I'll get back to where I started a half-hour ago...where this all started, anyway, and get that posted.

And, yes, this will be a first for me...telling someone to brine their beef??? NEVER!!! Yeah, even I thought it sounded just a bit crazy and I was reluctant to even write it, but, he's in a pinch for time.

OK, back tio the drawing board, with a bit more depth as to where I'm going with this in another reply...gotta do some things with pics again, first.

Eric
 
OK, I'm back...

I did some close-up views of the pics, and the weight of 4.99lbs threw me off...thought it was a center-cut (trimmed flat cut). So, I dug a bit deeper, and on the second un-wrapped pic, I saw the intersecting grains of the point and flat, so, it's definitely a whole trimmed brisket. Probably was in the 6-2/3lb range before trimming, which would explain the current weight with approx 33% trimmed off. I lose about 33% when I trim-out a packer for corned beef pastrami, so, speaking from some experience on the weight.

Anyway, I won't tell you how I did this, but here's the EXPLODED view of the 3rd pic in the first post...this is where my wheels started turning...hmm, was alot bigger before I posted this, but it'll have to do:

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OK, if we use a relatively high-salt brine to thaw, we can cut back on the salt in the dry rub. Also, the brine will add a few percent to the weight by the time it's fully defrosted for added moisture, which will improve your issue with no fat-cap and the possibility of drying out.

Man, I had a pretty good string of steps to follow all wrote up, and now I've lost my train of thought, but I will say that foiling it up at 160-165* should pretty much take care of any further possibility for dryness.

Also...stick with me here...did this on a 7-bone beef ribeye...after applying your dry rub and letting it rest for 20-30 minutes, dust the entire brisket with all-purpose flour....I mean, make it turn white, like powdered doughnut...seriously. This will absorbe the natural juices from the brisket as it begins sweating during the smoke and form a crust similar to chicken fried steak, just not as crsipy. It will hold a lot of juices and begin to brown-up nicely as the smoke progresses. Looks funky at first, but trust me, when it comes out of the smoker it will transform itself quite nicely.

I know, I know, crazy ideas here, but I've had great success with even crazier stuff before...this is normal for me! LOL!!!

Back with more...just wanted to be sure BBf's brisket would actually be thawed-out for the morning smoke, first and foremost...kinda sux to have frozen meat holding up a good smoke run. I gotta jump back and re-read from top to bottom, now...been a helluva day, and then come home to offer tips and botched-up my puter and lost the whole post...
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...well, more like...
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Eric
 
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WOW, thanks for the help!  Sure sounds like you have smoked your share of Briskets.  My brisket has been in the fridge for about 20 hours right now so I think it should be fully thawed by the morning?!?!?!?

Brian
 
You're welcome, yeah, smoked a few briskets here...one of my favorite...OK, probably my all-time favorite cuts, being it's so versatile, with the 7-bone ribeye (prime rib & ribs) coming in at a very, very close second.

Man, frustration is setting in again, here...20 minutes of typing (I'm not that fast) and I lost it all again...needing a new keyboard...too much drool got toit from looking at Q-views, maybe??? LOL!!!

I'm too tired now to remember it all...um, most important thing I can think of is smoke chamber humidy...use a drip pan under the brisket if at all posible with the making for au jus, if you like. Also, water pan, if you can. Either one will help keep the lean-trimmed meat moist for longer than it would be without, so that's the biggy. Foil @ 160* in the flat will also help a ton...last 1/3 of the cooking time expells alot of moisture, especially with higher finish temps, and foiling will keep it close to the meat.

Hmm...maybe probe the flat @ 2 hours so you don't miss the 160* mark if foiling at that point...may come fast on that smaller brisky without a fat-cap...I'm thinking 3.5 hours (???) @ 225*, but every piece acts diferently. Never smoked a heavily trimmed whole brisket...point/flat seperates, or packers with fat-cap, so I'm guestimating without knowing a ton of other variables, like your smoker's convection efficiency.

I'll try to slip back on before work in the morning and pick up the pieces of the jigsaw puzzle I dropped when I tapped the wrong key and dumped the web browser...man, that sux. Worst part is, once I type it, it's gone from my short-term memory, and I have enough CRS as it is...gotta dig around a little to find it is all...LOL!!! But there's other's here who have as much or more brisky burnin' time as I have that can get you ouot of apinch too...just hollar.

Take it slow and easy, steady temps through the stall, and just let it ride and you'll do fine...may only be a 6 hour smoke, or it may run 8-9...never know for sure 'til it happens, so just be patient.

Looking forward to seeing how this works out for you...I haven't wrapped my hands around a whole brisket that small yet, and especially with a heavy trim, so this one's even got me itchin' just a bit!

Eric
 
BB,

Eric doesn't leave anything for me to say, other than, "Don't Forget the Qview", and----I'll be waiting:

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Bear
 
I got the brisket on about 30 minutes ago.  I rubbed it down with some Woosy sauce, montreal steak spice, garlic and onion powder.  I did cover it with flour as forluvofsmoke suggested and was a little skeptical at first but he sure sounds like he has done his share of Briskets.  Now the waiting!!

Brian
 
Here it is a little more than three hours in and the IT is 168

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So I thought I should split it,  It split really easily like the step by step said but now I am not sure which piece is which???  Which one do I foil and which do I cut up for burnt ends??????  AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH 
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