Brisket for the family RANGER (extended rendering method)

[schlotz]

Our Son-in-Law has done so much for his country and is extremely devoted to his wife and three children. He dearly loves smoked brisket so I try and do one a couple times each year. This time around its a choice cut but was fortune to pick through the lot and found one with the flap end that was actually thick. So many are very thin which you end up trimming a fare portion off in order to get a reasonable even thickness.

Before leaving this morning I did the trimming (16.2# down to 11.6#) but noticed a small section square in the middle that was still a little frosty. Got home as quick as possible (5:30pm) pulled from the fridge, frost was mostly gone but still very cold. This thing had been thawing since Monday morning!

So, here we go. Been wanting to attempt the extended rendering process where you take it to 190º, pull & wrap (butcher with tallow) and alum foil followed by placing in a pan with 1/2 cup water, sealed tightly with foil then in the oven at 150ºish for 15 hours. We have a hard dinner time of 4 pm tomorrow. Brisket went in at 5:50pm at 225º. Plan on bumping that to 275º after 4 hours, i.e. 10pm. At that point I'll insert a probe and add a grate one as well. Program the signals box for 190º on the flat and 240º on the grate to warn if it drops below. Will definitely hit the sack right next to the phone with the app running.

Question is when it will hit 190º? Doubt seriously it will be anything less than 9 hours, which would be 3am. Assuming it will be closer to 4am, this would allow oven time of only 12 hours. Hmm... looks like the 15 hour mark is gonna be missed. I get the concept of extending the period in the temp range where collagen continues to render/break down. Just not certain if taking the brisket to 190º followed by 12 hours within the range will do the job. Open to opinions... more to come...

 

[Fueling Around]

Thank your son-in-law for his service.
My son is National Guard.
OK following your thought process. I like my sleep. I smoke until bed time.
Toss in a foil pan and wrap tightly and into the oven at 200° for the overnight. I make a rack for the foil pan by wrapping skewers in foil
In the morning check all temps and probe the meat. Probably not done at this point, but should be past the stall.
If you are a bark person put back in the heat without the pan
Good luck

 

[schlotz]

It took longer. Reached 190º at 5am, decided to let it cruise up to 195º since the extended rendering time is going to be shorter. Pulled at 5:30am. In the move we apparently lost the roll of butcher paper. Of course these things only rear their head at the most inopportune time. ARGH! Ok, no choice but to wrap with foil. Poured the rendered tallow all over the brisket (smoked fat cap down btw), double wrapped, put in pan & added a half cup of water, sealed with foil. Placed in the Breville oven which you can control to lower temps. Decided to use 160º.

Interesting thing, the brand new kitchen-aid oven only goes down to 170º and DESPITE being able to adjust/calibrate the oven down by -20º it still maintained a low of 170º. Verified with the Thermoworks grate probe. Really not wanting to nursemaid the big oven for the next 10-11 hours I was banking on shrinkage. The raw brisket was 19.5" long so I was hoping for a 20º reduction since the Breville interior is 16". Sure enough, the shrinkage occurred, whew!

Now let's hope the next 10.5 hours will yield a very tender & moist brisket. ...more to come

 

[schlotz]

Final result I'd say was just ok. It was breaking apart when sliced so definitely overcooked. There was nice amount of moisture oozing from the first cut down the middle, but it quickly dried up after I started slicing for the plates. Flavor was spot on. The bark was surprisingly more decent than expected. In all, I'll call it eatable but far from expectation.

Now trying to put together what might have caused it to be both overdone and dry out so quickly. Taking it to 195º probably too far for this method? In the heat of getting inside to wrap I should have probed it which would have been a good data point. Bonehead miss on my part. Should have rested open on counter longer before wrapping? Given it was falling apart would suggest it continued cooking after wrapping. Then there was the extended rest for 10+ hours but with the above it's a bit hard (for me) to really make a judgment on its effect.

Notes for next time in my smoking journal: (y'all keep a journal, right?)
1. Don't go past 190º & probe for tenderness
2. Rest on counter until IT drops 5º before wrapping
3. Make sure you can find the butcher paper

Well, that's it for the first attempt using a different method. I still believe an extended period in the rendering range 160-180º has merit. Just need to work out the kinks. In the end it wasn't a failure and what's left is going to make Killer Smoked Brisket Chili.

BTW: Who said pellet smokers don't create a smoke ring?

 

[chopsaw]

Taking it to 195º probably too far for this method?

That was my thought when I saw post #1 .
If I had one that was that far along , I would go into the oven cold . When the temp fell to whatever is enough I would turn the oven on to the lowest setting .

I'm thinking the full size oven would work better too . Just an opinion .
I base my brisket on info from you , GaryS and tallbm .
When I saw the cut pic I expected you to say it was awesome , because it sure looks like it was .

 

[tbern]

it looks good and it's great that you keep great notes to improve the next time out!!

 

[schlotz]

That was my thought when I saw post #1 .
If I had one that was that far along , I would go into the oven cold . When the temp fell to whatever is enough I would turn the oven on to the lowest setting .

I'm thinking the full size oven would work better too . Just an opinion .
I base my brisket on info from you , GaryS and tallbm .
When I saw the cut pic I expected you to say it was awesome , because it sure looks like it was .

Appreciate the input and kind words Rich. While the method calls for pulling at 190º, I'm wondering if 180º followed by an open rest so the IT drops 5º before putting in the oven might be better. 180º is supposedly near the top end of the rendering range, so keeping it within the range without going over could be the key. If so, the question arrises, will it get tender after 12-15 hours despite not going higher?

it looks good and it's great that you keep great notes to improve the next time out!!

Thanks. I've had a few that looked spot on but sometimes even those turned out to be deceiving. No question keeping good notes is important. I'm on a Mac, so I just add the latest smoking info to the top of my notes in the brisket recipe saved inside macgourmet.

 

[schlotz]

After thinking about this smoke for a while, two more things surfaced. First, I was only using one probe in the flat and it might have been better to use a 2nd to help ensure the brisket wasn't actually further along, ie not past the 190-195º in some areas. Second, the dbl wrap in foil helped to maintain heat. Add to that, not open resting the brisket for a bit to ensure the IT was back in the 175-180º range most likely contributed to the overcook falling apart state and possible lower moisture content. The method called for wrapping in butcher paper, still need to find out where I put it. Regardless the notes have been updated along with only taking it to 180º before pulling.

 

[gmc2003]

I'm no brisket expert, but it sure looks good to me.

Point for sure
Chris

 

[SmokinAl]

The cut pic looks like a perfect brisket.
Sometimes they just don’t turn out to your expectations.
But most of the time I bet your guests and family think it’s awesome.
We are all our worst critics!
Al

 

[noboundaries]

Very loving effort for thanking your son-in-law for his commitment to country and family.

Every packer brisket is different. Smoking to temp alone is a crapshoot IMO. I've had packer flats probe tender in the 190's, and others still resisted the probe at 207°F. There's no mention of how it felt when probed. Developing that feel will help you smoke the near-perfect or perfect brisket each time, and determine how long you want to rest it in an oven.

My minimum oven temp is also 170°F. YourS maintains that temp. Mine varies between 155‐165°F on the middle shelf. The trick to lowering the temp of your oven below 170°F is a DOH! moment. Wedge the door open with something. It might only need to be a 1/4" or so, or maybe a little more. I use an old analog metal meat thermometer as my wedge.

As a disclaimer, I've never rested a brisket for 10-12 hours. 5 hours is the max I've done in my oven, wrapped in foil in a pan. I like a slight resistance when I probe for doneness prior to resting.

 

[Dave in AZ]

schlotz great writeup, love the follow up notes. Now I'm super interested to find out how your next one goes! Thanks!

 

[schlotz]

The cut pic looks like a perfect brisket.
Sometimes they just don’t turn out to your expectations.
But most of the time I bet your guests and family think it’s awesome.
We are all our worst critics!
Al

Thanks Al, and yup I agree most of the times. In this case our family Ranger and I both agreed the slices dried out very fast. Definitely eatable but not much more.

Very loving effort for thanking your son-in-law for his commitment to country and family.

Every packer brisket is different. Smoking to temp alone is a crapshoot IMO. I've had packer flats probe tender in the 190's, and others still resisted the probe at 207°F. There's no mention of how it felt when probed. Developing that feel will help you smoke the near-perfect or perfect brisket each time, and determine how long you want to rest it in an oven.

My minimum oven temp is also 170°F. YourS maintains that temp. Mine varies between 155‐165°F on the middle shelf. The trick to lowering the temp of your oven below 170°F is a DOH! moment. Wedge the door open with something. It might only need to be a 1/4" or so, or maybe a little more. I use an old analog metal meat thermometer as my wedge.

As a disclaimer, I've never rested a brisket for 10-12 hours. 5 hours is the max I've done in my oven, wrapped in foil in a pan. I like a slight resistance when I probe for doneness prior to resting.

Thanks Ray. If the brisket would not have fit in the smaller Breville I was going to go with the big oven and wedge it open a tad to keep the temp below 170º. The probing when pulled is the boneheaded thing I missed in the process. It definitely could have been a good indicator that the brisket was close to being done/tender. And if so, I would have let it rest open longer prior to the long oven rendering session. While it's all water under the bridge at this point, careful notes were taken so the next attempt will be better.

schlotz great writeup, love the follow up notes. Now I'm super interested to find out how your next one goes! Thanks!

You and me both Dave!

I'm no brisket expert, but it sure looks good to me.

Point for sure
Chris

Thanks Chris!