Brisket for chili: wrap or don’t wrap?

[dap9]

As title states: I’m making a brisket for chili. I’m thinking don’t wrap in hopes of a crispier bark. But a Texas Crutch will speed things up. Since it’s going in a chili, I’m not too worried about sacrificing moisture for bark.

Think there will be any real difference? I mean, the meat’s gonna be sitting in the chili for a while so will the bark really hold?

Thanks.

 

[SmokyMose]

I don’t know. I’ve never cooked Brisket just to make chili. It’s always been about what to do with the leftovers :-)
I also don’t care much about “bark” though, especially with Brisket. The smokey flavor is what you’re looking for.
I would wrap it. Soaking in sauce won’t won’t cure a dried out piece of meat.
Just my opinion....

 

[Rings Я Us]

I used raw for stew not long ago.. I cooked the brisket just as you would for regular chuck stew meat but diced it a bit smaller. BROWNED IT ON THE STOVE TOP then I cooked my pot of stew on the smoker. was just the beef and onion with a bit of garlic and beef stock at first.. 3 hours till I figured the beef was getting tender. then I added all the vegetables and potatoes.. I cooked the stew about another 5 hours on the smoker.. Brisket was great in it.

You could smoke brisket to 180 or 185 then dice it up for chili . you need it to cook a couple hours in the pot.

Bark flavor will be in there and the color specks.. not to much crunch though I would think.. I wouldn't care for that in chili anyway.

 

[dap9]

I don’t know. I’ve never cooked Brisket just to make chili. It’s always been about what to do with the leftovers :)
I also don’t care much about “bark” though, especially with Brisket. The smokey flavor is what you’re looking for.
I would wrap it. Soaking in sauce won’t won’t cure a dried out piece of meat.
Just my opinion....

Yea, I had some leftover brisket from last week, but the recipe I’m working with required more than I had. And, well, I love an excuse to smoke another brisket! So here I am. I’m leaning towards the wrap for exactly what you say.

 

[Rings Я Us]

http://smokingmeatforums.com/index.php?threads/brisket-stew-on-the-ecb.267639/page-2#post-1747306

 

[Rings Я Us]

Yea, I had some leftover brisket from last week, but the recipe I’m working with required more than I had. And, well, I love an excuse to smoke another brisket! So here I am. I’m leaning towards the wrap for exactly what you say.

Sounds great... I'm gonna do chili real soon on the smoker.. Start to finish like on a stove.. lol

 

[noboundaries]

I like using brisket points for chili. They usually run between 4 and 6 lbs at my grocer. I trim down about a pound of fat usually. Chuck roast is good too and doesn't need any trimming usually, but not as good as the brisket point.

I do them one of two ways, depending on time available. Stovetop method is covered above by Rings. I usually simmer for 4-5 hours to get that melt in your mouth texture. Personally, I think the marbling in the point just takes chili into a class of its own.

Smoker, no wrap, smoke at 225 for 2-3 hours, just to lay down a good smoke flavor and not render out any fat. Then cube (no browning) and throw in the pot with the other stuff. I still simmer 4-5 hours, but it can be ready in as little as 3. Poke it with a fork and you'll know when it's ready.

Now, if I'm using leftover smoked beef of any kind, I'll cube it up, throw it in the pot with my ingredients, and simmer it until it falls apart, which is usually at least 2 hours. I've had some ready in an hour, others took 2-3.

 

[Rings Я Us]

M a n ..... I'm in the chili mood now.. :cool: I like to add some cooked macaroni on the 3rd day of chili. toss some cheese on top. haha.. chili Mac.

Spicy chili with a dollop of sour cream.. yummy.

 

[drunkenmeatfist]

How long do you leave fully smoked pulled pork and brisket in the chili?

 

[Rings Я Us]

Not sure about that, pulled pork and fully cooked brisket. Where I'm from chili is made with ground Chuck or ground round. It's BROWNED and then cooks in the other ingredients for 3 hours or so on the stove . Usually in two of the 28 oz cans of whole tomatoes we smash up in the pot or in the can first. Or some sauce and diced tomatoes .. last hour you add 2 cans of beans of some kind and some peppers. Peppers don't do well cooked over an hour and beans just need to heat and give off some flavor. Fully cooked meat in a chili probably will just go to strands of nothing and fall apart if it stays simmering 3 hours . I would suggest reducing time cooking fully cooked meat . fibers of meat is not good eats.

 

[drunkenmeatfist]

View attachment 342346

Not sure about that, pulled pork and fully cooked brisket. Where I'm from chili is made with ground Chuck or ground round. It's BROWNED and then cooks in the other ingredients for 3 hours or so on the stove . Usually in two of the 28 oz cans of whole tomatoes we smash up in the pot or in the can first. Or some sauce and diced tomatoes .. last hour you add 2 cans of beans of some kind and some peppers. Peppers don't do well cooked over an hour and beans just need to heat and give off some flavor. Fully cooked meat in a chili probably will just go to strands of nothing and fall apart if it stays simmering 3 hours . I would suggest reducing time cooking fully cooked meat . fibers of meat is not good eats.

I could have sworn that I have heard of people using leftover brisket and pulled pork in their chili. They must have just under cooked the meat the first go round. Or I just read wrong and chili is only made with BROWNED chuck or ground round.

 

[SmokinAl]

I use fully cooked brisket & pulled pork in chili all the time.
http://smokingmeatforums.com/index.php?threads/south-florida-gathering-chili-recipe.253892/
Al

 

[noboundaries]

Left over brisket, chuck roast, pulled pork, tri tip, round roast, whatever makes GREAT chili. Leaner cuts of meat I just cube smaller.

One of the last times I used my gas grill for actually grilling meat, I had family over for dinner and eight nice boneless rib eyes. I put them on, went inside to get a clean dish, got involved in a conversation, and by the time I returned, the grill was an inferno! I saved what I could, but that meat was close to being inedible. There's char, and then there's CHAR!

Needless to say I had a lot of leftovers. It almost went in the trash, but I scrapped off as much char as I could and made chili. Actually turned out pretty good, not my best, but a good save.

You wouldn't want to compete with pre-cooked meat, but chili made with leftovers is a go-to regular around here in the winter.

 

[drunkenmeatfist]

Left over brisket, chuck roast, pulled pork, tri tip, round roast, whatever makes GREAT chili. Leaner cuts of meat I just cube smaller.

One of the last times I used my gas grill for actually grilling meat, I had family over for dinner and eight nice boneless rib eyes. I put them on, went inside to get a clean dish, got involved in a conversation, and by the time I returned, the grill was an inferno! I saved what I could, but that meat was close to being inedible. There's char, and then there's CHAR!

Needless to say I had a lot of leftovers. It almost went in the trash, but I scrapped off as much char as I could and made chili. Actually turned out pretty good, not my best, but a good save.

You wouldn't want to compete with pre-cooked meat, but chili made with leftovers is a go-to regular around here in the winter.

So if I am cooking chili in a crock pot when would ya'll suggest I add the left over brisket or pulled pork?

 

[noboundaries]

Someone else will have to answer. I don't do crock pots except to reheat. I'm a stovetop chili guy and it all goes into the pot at the start.

 

[Rings Я Us]

Crock pot is different.. cooks way lower and won't tear up the meat that's already cooked. it's like warming up leftovers . On the stove in a pot your meat after 3 hours Will start to fall apart. I'm not a fan of pork shreds in chili or bacon .. I use fresh beef only and it cooks in the chili just after its Been browned.

Chili has kind of a regional way it's made. Here we use beans too.. some places do not. We use tomatoes as a main base. Some places do not. We Dont use beef broth and some places do. We don't really use cut up meat often.. We just use ground beef..
I guess getting rid of some extra leftover meat would be ok.. The spices I add would cover up most of the meats seasonings though.. Cumin and all the chili powder and cayenne then the other peppers I use.

I think if you have a recipe that is developed specifically for using cooked brisket or pulled pork and the other ingredients compliment those things that would be great. If you have made a recipe that works around the already cooked meat that would be cool.

Edit... I only have made chili that developed all the flavor in one pot. I start by cooking the meat in the pot and all the juices and caramelized bits are always in the pot as the flavors continue to build.

Just have fear of what has happened to me on more than one occasion, chicken strands soup. Leftover chicken cut up put into what you think, is gonna be this great homemade simmered 3 hours soup.. You add the noodles and it's done, You stir it and see the chicken has gone to shreds and it's like a big birds nest of chicken strands through the pot. No more chunks of chicken.. only millions of strands of it .. lol I hate the thought.
So in closing.. the pre cooked idea is ok.. If it's in a crock or if it's added later after the other stuff is mostly done..



https://www.billyparisi.com/texas-style-chili-slow-cooked-brisket/

 

[Rings Я Us]

This recipe above sounded good. Have never used shredded apart brisket in a chili. Kind of used to chunky beef . If the strands are to long and floppy or thin and stringy , it would be a no go for me texture wise. lol

Sounds ok though if it's nice chunks.

 

[gmc2003]

So if I am cooking chili in a crock pot when would ya'll suggest I add the left over brisket or pulled pork?

I usually use smoked chuck in my chili. I'll smoke it then cube it and put it in the crock pot at the beginning. I have a leftover brisket flat(7# cooked) sitting in my freezer that I forgot to divide in sections before freezing. In a week or two I'll be defrosting it. I'll probably use some of it to make a chili and some for hash. I prefer chunks of meat to ground meat in a chili. We use ground meat to make hot-dog sauce.

Chris

 

[dap9]

Lots of great posts, thanks. I failed to mention that this was for a chili cook off...nothing formal; my CrossFit gym did an in-house competition followed by a chili cook off and bake off. CrossFit folk love their exercise, but they also love their gluttonous food and beer!

Well I won the chili cook off! Mine was gone before the others barely had a dent in them. A good number of people didn’t even get any. So being up until 3am was worth it. If interested, I used this recipe: https://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/barbecued-beef-chili/amp
EDIT: I skipped all the seasoning steps since I smoked it. And I did everything in a pot since the meat was already cooked.
The point is the way to go with a chili recipe. I did half and half, but in the future, I’ll shoot to just use point.

As far as the cook went, this was my 4th brisket attempt. I had separate point/flat from two different places. The point came out great, but this time the flat was a little tough. Flavor was great, but it didn’t quite pass the fold or pull test. I kept the temp at 225 overall, but had some dips down to 205 and spikes to 275. I wrapped it around the 4 hour mark b/c the color looked right. After wrapping in foil with some coffee and beef broth, I put a probe in which read 150. I pulled it at 203, put another layer of foil over it, put it in a cooler, went to bed for 3.5hrs and took it out. So not sure why it didn’t come out better texture-wise. It felt soft coming off the smoker when I poked it w/ my digital thermometer. Guess I gotta keep practicing :p

 

[Rings Я Us]

You had the chili cookoff and did good hey? Very cool. Looks like you started a chili frenzy here..few people cooked chili yesterday. haha.. Happy the people liked yours..

Points!