First FULL Brisket

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gavin16

Meat Mopper
Original poster
Jul 4, 2014
191
32
Cedar Rapids, Iowa
It's been a long while since I've posted on here... Don't worry, I'm still smoking away! My pics just don't get uploaded very timely. 

So a few weeks ago our local Fareway had a sale of briskets for $2.99/lb!!   I've smoked several small flats that sometimes go on sale at Walmart, but I've never got myself to pony up and spend the $$$ on a full brisket.  So Needless to say I immediately jumped on that bandwagon and came home with a nice, healthy, 11.3# beaut. 


My rub was pretty simple.  Lathered in Worcestershire sauce then SPOG, paprika, dash of chili powder.  I did decide to try injecting... Mixed up a beef stock, Pendleton whiskey, and Worcestershire sauce.  


I was a little slow getting it going this morning (night out in the town sure didn't help my morning start ha ;)).  Fired up the MES 40 around 10am, and tossed some pitmaster choice pellets in the AMNPS.  First 4-5 hours I kept it around 230 degrees F.  


Opened the door around 4:40 pm to stick a meat probe in and examine. Reading around 140 Degrees F internal temp.  Still some pellets in my mailbox so I'll let it smoke a while longer before wrapping. My tardiness may drag this smoke out into tonight... We'll see. I'd like to wrap it around 160 degrees F.  I bumped the smoker temp up towards 240 degrees F.  

I'd like to separate the point after it's done and attempt burnt ends. At the very least cut them up and store for a later day.  Most of this I will be vac sealing for meals during fall harvest. 

Enjoy! 
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Good luck with the smoke.  I can't wait to see the final product :)
 
Thanks Tall! I really am kicking myself for not starting this up sooner... But alas, worst case she'll rest in the foil overnight in the smoker, and I'll cut it up after work tomorrow. 

Decided to pull it at 153 degrees F because my pellets ran out and I don't want it to take all night.  First time taking pellets around the corner successfully in the AMNPS.  Iowa elevation is a lot easier to work with than when I lived out west towards Colorado. Ha. Roughly 5-6 hours smoke time. 



I also decided to give the Aus Jus thing a try.  Although I forgot about the red wine, I threw the drippings and a touch of beef stock into the pot to simmer.  Had it on high for a few minutes then low simmered/stirred for 10-15 minutes.  Also added some Worce sauce, soy sauce, salt (bad idea, there was already plenty of salt lol), pepper, oregano, garlic powder, onion powder.  I don't think I burned it... will skim the top off and keep the bottom of it. It certainly has a POP to it and is quite salty. 

 
Thanks Al! 

At 11:30 pm briskey was about 194 degrees F.  I decided to leave it in with the smoker on for another hour, and let it rest in the MES40 for an additional 2 hours while I took a snooze. Woke up around 3 am and pulled it from the MES (Good thing I did, a big rain moved in an hour later!).  Unfortunately the slicing and dicing will have to wait until after work this evening... But I still just had to sneak a peek, and do a little sampling.  Briskey certainly has some good flavor at initial sample.  

 
Been waiting to cut in to this ole gal all day to find the results! 


Brisket definitely was a lot fattier than I anticipated inside. Essentially turned into pulled brisket instead of sliced flat. I did try to get some ends cut on the point to make burnt ends down the road.  The fattier chunks I decided to keep and stow away for a nice pot of stew this winter.  


Sliced and diced away, vac sealed, and ready for fall harvest meals!! It's a little dry... but she'll eat!! 


Things I learned: 

1.  Time. I definitely should have started this earlier in the morning, or the night before on a Friday/Saturday.  I could have given it more attention at finish time and maybe saved it from being dry.  

2.  Rub - I think I could've been more liberal with my rub. Particularly on the salt/pepper. 

3.  Smoke - I think I need to get it more time on smoke.  I may try and use charcoal next time, or adjust how I use the AMNPS.  The AMNPS is certainly putting out a lot, although the mailbox mod may be discounting my flavor when it comes to hot smoking meat (versus cold smoking cheese).  I've noticed it to on other hot cooks with the mailbox mod.  

4.  Aus Jus - Learned a little more on how to properly render fat.  I still have kept the concentrate and will try to buy some red wine this week and finish out making a sauce.  Next time I'll toss veggies and other things in to cook.  

As far as the fatty meat goes there wasn't much I could do there.... My boss had actually bought a brisket from the same store that day and he told me his had turned out fattier than he imagined internally.  Hard to examine cuts in cryo vac aside from external fat.  Those boys behind the meat counter sure don't appreciate me making them drag out several wholesale cuts from their freezer at a time (for some reason they bring out 1 at a time and assume they're all the same), but I am picky with selection. I'm sure we all are haha. 

Overall still good flavor and it's always a great adventure to barbecue.  Ready for the next one! 

Enjoy! 
 
Well it looked pretty good.  I hope it all works out and worse case you mix in a little bbq sauce and have my favorite... chopped bbq sandwiches!!!

What wood did you use for your smoke?  I did 8 hours with 100% Mesquite pellets and it was amazing!  The next brisket I did was a bit smaller and I could only do 6 hours or mesquite smoke and I could easily tell the difference and how much more flavor the 8 hrs of smoke added.  

I have another brisket in the fridge that may get cooked this weekend.  I only got 4 sandwiches out of the one I smoked for this past weekend before some unexpected company came buy and they ate the whole thing!! Hahaha.

I guess they just made it to where I have to do another one and help refine my brisket game :)  I did that last one fat side down and though the meat was protected from getting too crispy in areas it wasn't nearly as juicy as the one before.  I'm just starting on doing briskets all by myself and I have plenty of things to try and to work on to get it perfect :)
 
 
Well it looked pretty good.  I hope it all works out and worse case you mix in a little bbq sauce and have my favorite... chopped bbq sandwiches!!!

What wood did you use for your smoke?  I did 8 hours with 100% Mesquite pellets and it was amazing!  The next brisket I did was a bit smaller and I could only do 6 hours or mesquite smoke and I could easily tell the difference and how much more flavor the 8 hrs of smoke added.  

I have another brisket in the fridge that may get cooked this weekend.  I only got 4 sandwiches out of the one I smoked for this past weekend before some unexpected company came buy and they ate the whole thing!! Hahaha.

I guess they just made it to where I have to do another one and help refine my brisket game :)  I did that last one fat side down and though the meat was protected from getting too crispy in areas it wasn't nearly as juicy as the one before.  I'm just starting on doing briskets all by myself and I have plenty of things to try and to work on to get it perfect :)
Thanks Tall!! It does indeed taste delicious! And yes, that is most likely what this meat shall go to.. I am not a fan of barbecue sauce after the first cook.  However, if it's reheated leftovers then it's acceptable imo.  I think next time I'll just pull/rest it at 195, I think this time it went over 200 degrees F and just got dry.  I used Pitmaster choice pellets (hickory/maple/cherry) although I have used mesquite wood before! I have some pellets I may try next time.  I know mesquite is super overpowering but I may try it on one end and light some cherry wood on the other.  

I think I have enough meat for at least 7-8 sammies plus some stew meat.  Haha it's interesting how that unexpected company coincidently shows up at the time a Brisket is ready.
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The fatty point will provide some pleasant flavor to a crockpot cook when weather gets cold.  

This one didn't have a whole lot of external fat, it was really the internal fat that got me.  When I foil next time I will also toss in some butter and an Aus Jus sauce to keep it from drying out.  I've done several small flats before (from walmart) and I am always amazed how awesome they turn out!  This full brisket is a different ballgame.  If they didn't normally run $8.99 ++/lb I'd love to buy it regularly.  Sadly I stick mostly to sirloin/top loin steaks (which aren't bad!) because they are just the cheapest/most affordable cuts on beef.. I'm excited to buy another one if I see them on sale again.  
 
That's no failure, for sure! I bet it's good eating.

Yeah, for full packers I always start them the night before, and keep track from the warmth of my bed with a Maverick temp probe. They usually go for more than 12 hours (longest one went 25!) And I use a full load of pellets in my AMNPS

The last one I did was a prime packer from Costco. Not a lot of fat on the outside to trim, but it had a little more fat inside than I'm used to.
 
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Thanks Tall!! It does indeed taste delicious! And yes, that is most likely what this meat shall go to.. I am not a fan of barbecue sauce after the first cook.  However, if it's reheated leftovers then it's acceptable imo.  I think next time I'll just pull/rest it at 195, I think this time it went over 200 degrees F and just got dry.  I used Pitmaster choice pellets (hickory/maple/cherry) although I have used mesquite wood before! I have some pellets I may try next time.  I know mesquite is super overpowering but I may try it on one end and light some cherry wood on the other.  

I think I have enough meat for at least 7-8 sammies plus some stew meat.  Haha it's interesting how that unexpected company coincidently shows up at the time a Brisket is ready.
33.gif


The fatty point will provide some pleasant flavor to a crockpot cook when weather gets cold.  

This one didn't have a whole lot of external fat, it was really the internal fat that got me.  When I foil next time I will also toss in some butter and an Aus Jus sauce to keep it from drying out.  I've done several small flats before (from walmart) and I am always amazed how awesome they turn out!  This full brisket is a different ballgame.  If they didn't normally run $8.99 ++/lb I'd love to buy it regularly.  Sadly I stick mostly to sirloin/top loin steaks (which aren't bad!) because they are just the cheapest/most affordable cuts on beef.. I'm excited to buy another one if I see them on sale again.  
I am finding that the Lumberjack 100% Mesquite pellets produce excellent thin blue smoke (TBS) and have not been overpowering at all with the beef I've cooked to this point.

I often use the Pit Boss Competition Blend which is like 50-60% Maple, 20-25% Hickory, and 20-25% Cherry.  It is a great flavor but I usually burn two rows at the same time in my AMNPS to get the amount of smoke flavor out of that blend.  I'm thinking you ran into the same kind of issue where the blend was just too mild for the hearty brisket.

In the past I have been a part of plenty of brisket smokes but I noticed that my family members I helped never trimmed a brisket at all.  

Since I have started doing brisket all by myself I have trimmed and I am liking the difference.  I just have to find that sweet spot of perfect trimming.  I think on this last brisket I did, I took a little too much fat out that would have been considered internal fat.  I think this next go round I'll get it right. 

Also I think I'm going to go back to smoking fat side up and see if I get the juiciness I was missing on the last smoke.  I'm also going to start checking for tenderness around 198F.  I've been checking around 203-205F and I think the briskets have been done earlier but I don't exactly know how much earlier so I am going to start moving down 2-3 degrees at a time until I get a good baseline to start checking at.

I also make sure I foil my big pan that I am catching the drippings in.  This foil is setup so that when I am ready to wrap my brisket I just drop the meat into the foil and the drippings are already there and get wrapped right with the brisket.  I think this has been a good practice for me and I'll continue to improve it as I go... last time I almost spilt all the drippings because I knocked the pan over hahaha

Anyhow keep it up and I'll be sure to do the same :)
 
 
That's no failure, for sure! I bet it's good eating.

Yeah, for full packers I always start them the night before, and keep track from the warmth of my bed with a Maverick temp probe. They usually go for more than 12 hours (longest one went 25!) And I use a full load of pellets in my AMNPS

The last one I did was a prime packer from Costco. Not a lot of fat on the outside to trim, but it had a little more fat inside than I'm used to.
Thanks Mneeley! That is the nice part of my MES 40 and i grill 2. Next time I will start it at night on a  weekend so I can enjoy it when it is finished. :) 
 
I am finding that the Lumberjack 100% Mesquite pellets produce excellent thin blue smoke (TBS) and have not been overpowering at all with the beef I've cooked to this point.

I often use the Pit Boss Competition Blend which is like 50-60% Maple, 20-25% Hickory, and 20-25% Cherry.  It is a great flavor but I usually burn two rows at the same time in my AMNPS to get the amount of smoke flavor out of that blend.  I'm thinking you ran into the same kind of issue where the blend was just too mild for the hearty brisket.

In the past I have been a part of plenty of brisket smokes but I noticed that my family members I helped never trimmed a brisket at all.  

Since I have started doing brisket all by myself I have trimmed and I am liking the difference.  I just have to find that sweet spot of perfect trimming.  I think on this last brisket I did, I took a little too much fat out that would have been considered internal fat.  I think this next go round I'll get it right. 

Also I think I'm going to go back to smoking fat side up and see if I get the juiciness I was missing on the last smoke.  I'm also going to start checking for tenderness around 198F.  I've been checking around 203-205F and I think the briskets have been done earlier but I don't exactly know how much earlier so I am going to start moving down 2-3 degrees at a time until I get a good baseline to start checking at.

I also make sure I foil my big pan that I am catching the drippings in.  This foil is setup so that when I am ready to wrap my brisket I just drop the meat into the foil and the drippings are already there and get wrapped right with the brisket.  I think this has been a good practice for me and I'll continue to improve it as I go... last time I almost spilt all the drippings because I knocked the pan over hahaha

Anyhow keep it up and I'll be sure to do the same :)
Tall, I agree on checking tenderness more before 200 degrees F. This one was pretty trim externally, minus a sliver I didn't trim anything.  I'd like to place a pan of chopped up veggies underneath the brisky so the drippings can fall in the pan with them.  Try a nice homemade stock from scratch after it's cooked for several hours.  

Agreed! I'll be watching for your next brisky as well! 
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