Beginning brisket

[dan onhwy1]

I wrote a long note, set it up for preview before I sent it on, clicked on it and it was lost.

Here's what it was about.

We're smoking about a 6 lb. flat brisket today in our two door Brinkman propane fired smoker.

It was already trimmed of fat when we bought it.

We added a rub to it and left it in the refrigerator for about 40 hours.  

It's been out on the countertop in the kitchen for about two hours now.

We injected it with Cajun butter this morning, about two hours ago.

We'll be using either Hickory, Cherry or Apple wood chips beneath the pan of water.

We're going to cook it at about 190 degrees F for about 5 hours in the smoker, and then pull it, foil wrap it and then add some kind of liquid to moisturize it.  We might use beer, we might not, as the liquid.

Then we'll either put it back into the smoker or into the oven in the house for approx. 3 hours (we think 3 hours.)

Our smoker tends to smoke like hell for about 5 hours, and then it tapers off a lot.  That's when we plan to put it into the tinfoil.

I use almost one entire bag of chips, (which I soak for about a half hour) in the smoke pan.  The bag says it contains about 170 cu.inches of wood chips.  It feels like it weighs about two pounds.  I've been told that I'm using too much of the chips.

We are concerned about dryness, toughness and flavor.

I've gotten such good advice here in the past that I'm looking forward to whatever comments we get.

Thanks in advance for your attention and I hope I haven't put you in a coma with this long-ass note.

 

[africanmeat]

Good luck

i think you should not worry abut the time use a temperature prob and pull it out at +- 170 foil it and take it to +- 205 to be sliced

and don't forget the Qview

 

[pit 4 brains]

The food safety experts will be all over this in a few. Do a little reading on the "Danger zone" and you will see that you are making three crucial mistakes.

1. 190 is too low of a cooking temp. It should be above 225 or so. I would aim for 230.

2. You injected the meat, therefore it is no longer an intact muscle meat. Now it has to come to an internal temp of 140 within 4 hours of leaving 41 degrees.

3. You have left it at room temp for two hours already. That leaves you with only two hours to get through the danger zone. Basically that slab of meat setting on your counter is like a petri dish full of protein for bacteria to grow on. That is gonna be one risky brisky right there..

 

[dan onhwy1]

Howdy PIt:

Those are great comments.  

1.  As  it turned out, it cooked at approx. 215 in the smoker for about 5 hrs.  Next time i'll goose the temp. to what you suggest.

    It's now in the oven, wrapped in tinfoil and with some beer to moisten it.  Temp. in the oven is 190 - 200 degrees.  We figured to leave

    it in there for a few more hours.  When it came out of the smoker after 5 hrs. it was tough as a two dollar steak.  So we'll see.

2.  The injection part may be irreversible as what's done is done.  Only a sharp knife will tell.

3.  It came out of the refrigerator and then sat on the countertop for about two hours.  It was still pretty cool, but not cold, to the touch when 

     we put it into the smoker.  Once again, we'll have to see how it acts.

Thsnks for your comments.  This is how I'll learn how to go about this stuff.

 

[dan onhwy1]

A.M.

I've got it in the oven now and we're keeping it at about 200 degrees for another 4 hours.  That's after 5 hours at 215 in the smoker.  Thanks for taking the time to respond.  This is a work in progress.