Sunday Brisket Flat smoke w/ Qview

ciolli · Jan 24, 2010

Decided to do a brisket flat tomorrow, so i picked up this flat yesterday. Today I trimmed up some of the excess fat, injected with a mix of slightly dilluted apple cider and rub, and the rubbed it up with a red rub. It's now wrapped up and in the fridge ready to go on the smoker in the morning. Look for more Qview tomorrow! I'll also be doing a bunch of drumettes for the football games. I'll try to get some Qview of them too.

By the way, when trimming your briskets, how do you gauge how much to take off? I just went by feel, the places that were the firmest i trimmed up, in an effort to leave a thin layer of fat on the back. It felt like it was mostly uniform right around 1/4 of an inch. Is this what you do too? I've never really seen any tutorials on brisket trimming.

Thanks for looking, and be sure to check back tomorrow!

fire it up · Jan 24, 2010

Probably a tutorial on it somewhere, so much info on the site sometimes I have trouble finding my own posts!
I used to trim down about that far but have tried removing pretty much all the fat the last few times and have had good success with that as well.

pignit · Jan 24, 2010

I just did a small packer today. It turned out really nice. I trimmed all the fat I could get off of it without gettin stupid about it. Didn't cut down into the packer anywhere... just laid the knife flat on the top and bottom and took off all the fat I could get off right up to the meat. Smoked it to about 16o and foiled to 190. Seperated the point and flat and diced up the point for burnt ends. Man that stuff is like eatin candy. Everybody has their own way of doing it but I always trim off all the fat I can get off. I'll get some pics up when I get somewhere I can upload the pics.

alx · Jan 24, 2010

Fine line between pot roast and good brisket etc....I never cook em to internal--- i just use the standard Texas Ice Pick test for doneness/tenderness....I have seen them leave fat on in texas and cut it off before serving...

ryanhoelzer · Jan 24, 2010

All the stuff I've read said to trim it down to 1/4" but the last one I did I trimmed everything off it that I could and I was extremely happy with it.

fourthwind · Jan 24, 2010

This is one of those ford, chevy, dodge type topics. Everyone has their own idea of what the taste should be. I even talked to one competitor who said in competition he takes ALL the fat off, but when cooking for his resteraunt or himself he left the fat cap on for flavor???? You would think that if it meant more flavor that you would want that for flavor, or does it hurt those delicate judges sense of health???? LOL

Personally I trim excess and leave a 1/8 to 1/4 inch on top only. I am in the group of folks that believe it really does add to the juice levels and flavor of the piece. At 2 bucks a pound it's tough to beat a properly cooked brisket. Good luck with the smoke!

mballi3011 · Jan 24, 2010

Me I just trim off the hard and crusty fat cap and then let the rest melt off and help to keep the rest of the brisket moist. But then again I like fat and to me fat is where the flavor is. Fat means Flavor

ciolli · Jan 25, 2010

So tonight for the football games we had drumettes and brisket. The drumettes were fantastic. I did half with a red bbq rub and the other half marindated in Johnny's Jamaican Me Hot jerk sauce. The chicken was outstanding.... Brisket on the other hand still is a challenge for me. The flavor was good, it was still pretty tough though. I am open to ANY and ALL suggestions...

So i rubbed and injected last night and wrapped in the fridge overnight. This morning about 8:30 i put on the smoker fat side up over a mix of hickory and apple. I smoked around 240-250 until it reached 160 internal (just over 3 hours), sprayed with apple cider every 45 mins or so. I then foiled and took to 190. Funny thing, i didn't really notice any plateauing unless it happened before i probed it around 150. After I took it off at 190, i wrapped in a towell and let it rest for an hour and a half. Then sliced, and was a little disappointed. Not as tender and juicy as i was hoping for. Again, open to any suggestions. Thanks for looking!

on the smoker at 8:30am

Chicken legs

Thanks for the suggestions for the ET-73, this this rocks!

Brisket flat out of foil ready to slice

Brisket sliced

Also, this Johnny's Jamaican sauce is excellent on chicken... sweet and spicy. If anyone is interested in a sauce/rub exchange, PM me. Not sure if this sauce is available around the country.

beer-b-q · Jan 25, 2010

Great Looking Brisket...and the Legs are awesome...

fourthwind · Jan 25, 2010

Just my opinion, but I typically do not foil unless I have to due to time contraints. (Until the rest period) I would also do tenderness pokes after you get over 190. I typically do not get the tenderness until the internal is 194 to 197. every piece of meat is different. Could just be the cuts you have been getting as well. It sure looked tasty in the pictures! If you have left overs, make an Au jus and heat the left over brisket in the au jus and make some sammies.. it will soak up the tasty juice for a great sandwich.

ryanhoelzer · Jan 25, 2010

Where were you measuring temp? Last weekend I had my thermometer in the point and it was at 185, I moved it to the flat and it was about 204. It was very tender. I separated the point and flat and then took the point to a little over 190. No foil at all.

I've never foiled but thought I might foil my next one at 180.

cowgirl · Jan 25, 2010

Looks mighty tasty! Nice job!

(Your mountains aren't blue.

)

ciolli · Jan 25, 2010

It was just a flat, and i was right in the center inserted horizontally... i smoked between 240 and 250 the whole time. not sure where i went wrong, but it's kind of frustrating given the success i've had on the smoker over the last year since i did my last brisket

pignit · Jan 25, 2010

Shweeeeeet!

I think the next time I do a packer I'm gonna do burnt ends with the whole dang thing.... talkin about cow candy.

wingman · Jan 25, 2010

I've heard that if you bring home the brisket and let it sit in the fridge 2 or 3 days it ages a bit more making for more tender meat. I have nto tried this yet, I have however bought a few steaks and had things come up that kept us away for a 3 days. We figured we cook the steaks so we didn't waste them and they enede up being the most tender I have cooked. Just a thought so I threw it out here.

Update: After posting this I decided to Google aging Brisket and it seems allot of folks are doing it. Again, I have not tried it. Here is an article titled the 12 Easy Steps to create a moist and tender Brisket. I think I'm going to try this soon. Probably works great with roasts as well. http://ezinearticles.com/?How-to-Smo...ket&id=2736938

I have to stop logging into this site late at night. I'm hungry again! So I will head up to the fridge and get some pulled pork that came off my Traeger yesterday. Night all!

scubadoo97 · Jan 25, 2010

Wingman if it's in cryovac you can age it for a couple of weeks further age it. Unless you see it discolor it's not spoiled

ciolli · Jan 25, 2010

Thanks for the link Wingman. I think next time I won't put so much faith into temps, and go more by feel. I think it could have been cooked longer.

wingman · Jan 26, 2010

I did more research today and I'm of the opinion aging definately is a good thing as well as not just going by temp but by feel as well. Some folks end up at temps of 200 like doing pork butts. I have never tried this...

I'm going to try it on my next brisket and see what happens. I'll do a Qview video so all can see how things went as things play out. If it don't turn out, Gus our bulldog will be in hog heaven with hsi own personal brisket!

Sunday Brisket Flat smoke w/ Qview

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