brisket input

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austin buckeye

Smoke Blower
Original poster
May 29, 2014
102
33
Austin TX
How does this sound (writing it will be the easy part)?

-Starting with a trimmed beef brisket
-Fire up smoker, get to 250° with oak
-Take brisket out of refrigerator (1 hour before putting it on to get to room temp)
-Salt and Pepper rub
-Meat on smoker, fat cap up-point toward firebox, push Maverick 733 probe into the side of the flat toward center. Do not open lid for first 4 to 5 hours or until 165° IT.
-Wrap brisket in butcher paper or foil. Push probe through wrap, side/center of flat.
-Place in 275° oven until 200°-203° IT.


any suggestions and changes will be welcomed and greatly appreciated
 
Sounds good to me.  I did my last brisket this way almost the same (with the exception of putting in the oven) and it turned out great.  It took me 6-7 hours to get to 165 though since I was using a whole packer.  Can't beat a salt 'n pepper rub, and pulling around 203 degrees is magic.  My second to last brisket I pulled at 196, and it wasn't nearly as tender as the last one I pulled at 203.

Let it rest in a cooler wrapped in toils for about an hour after it is done.
 
How does this sound (writing it will be the easy part)?

-Starting with a trimmed beef brisket
-Fire up smoker, get to 250° with oak Excellent choice for smoke for brisket...heavy, with a strong background flavor...250* chamber temp should do it justice as well.
-Take brisket out of refrigerator (1 hour before putting it on to get to room temp) Not sure of your reason for tempering the brisket, but increases your risk of food safety issues...I don't temper my meats. The lon it's in the smoker the more smoke flavor you get...warm meats take less time to reach finished temps, so gets less time in the smoke. Brisket is large, so is quite difficult to over-smoke, and, cold meats take on more smoke than warm meats. Without tempering, the meat will take slightly longer to smoke/cook to finished temps, but the overall time out of the fridge until finished cooking will be less.
-Salt and Pepper rub Simple seasoned...I like your style!!! Brisket has a strong flavor and doesn't need mush enhancement to make good eating smoked beef...good job!!!
-Meat on smoker, fat cap up-point toward firebox, push Maverick 733 probe into the side of the flat toward center. Do not open lid for first 4 to 5 hours or until 165° IT. Leave probe out for at least the first couple of hours...by puncturing with the probe too early you risk forcing surface bacteria into the meat with the probe before the surface has been pasteurized by the heat in the smoke chamber. In other words, by probing too early, you are taking an intact whole muscle meat and turning it into a compromised muscle, which is then recommended to be treated according to the 40-140*/4hr rule (found HERE).
-Wrap brisket in butcher paper or foil. Push probe through wrap, side/center of flat.
-Place in 275° oven until 200°-203° IT. You could stay @ 250* with the "O" as well. For slicing, 200+ will be too hot (too tender), for pulling, it will be nearly perfect. If you want sliced flat and and sliced point, you will likely need to separate the point and flat muscles, preferably just prior to wrapping, as the flat will take less time to reach finished temp than the point. The point is the best candidate for pulling between the two muscles due to it's higher percentage of interior fat. For slicing either muscle, probe for tenderness around 190*...if it probes with little resistance when you poke around, it's tender enough for slicing. For pulling, round 200* is usually hot enough to easily pull by hand without shredding with forks or other tools...hand-pulled giving the best texture and size for eating, IMHO.

any suggestions and changes will be welcomed and greatly appreciated
Above all else, be patient. Don't be temped to crank the smoke chamber temps up to speed it up...you won't see any results from this for a few hours even if you do crank it up. Brisket and other larger cuts of meat can take on a personalty all their own, and no two cuts will cook the same based on timing...I figure on 2hrs/lb @ 225* chamber temps, but @ 250* should be closer to 1-3/4hrs/lb. Don't fret the stall...temps will stop rising...may even drop 5* or so at some point during the smoke...that's normal and expected. It will come back to life when it's ready. Just check your probe for accuracy in boiling water before using, and also check/calibrate your smoke chamber therm if going by a dial/analog thermometer for chamber temps.

Water boiling point changes depending on the elevation at your location...here's a chart to help you determine what you thermometer SHOULD be reading in boiling water: Boiling Point / Atmospheric Pressure / Altitude

Hope this helps...have a GREAT smoke, and enjoy that brisket!!!

PS: post us up some pics if you can...we always enjoying seeing what others are creating. Especially the finished product...
drool.gif
...
biggrin.gif


Eric
 
Above all else, be patient. Don't be temped to crank the smoke chamber temps up to speed it up...you won't see any results from this for a few hours even if you do crank it up. Brisket and other larger cuts of meat can take on a personalty all their own, and no two cuts will cook the same based on timing...I figure on 2hrs/lb @ 225* chamber temps, but @ 250* should be closer to 1-3/4hrs/lb. Don't fret the stall...temps will stop rising...may even drop 5* or so at some point during the smoke...that's normal and expected. It will come back to life when it's ready. Just check your probe for accuracy in boiling water before using, and also check/calibrate your smoke chamber therm if going by a dial/analog thermometer for chamber temps.

Water boiling point changes depending on the elevation at your location...here's a chart to help you determine what you thermometer SHOULD be reading in boiling water: Boiling Point / Atmospheric Pressure / Altitude

Hope this helps...have a GREAT smoke, and enjoy that brisket!!!

PS: post us up some pics if you can...we always enjoying seeing what others are creating. Especially the finished product...:drool ...:biggrin:


Eric

thank you Eric.
 
What size brisket? If closer to 15 lbs maybe up the temp a bit. Only experience in your smoker will get you the perfect time/temp per weight down, but you are in the ball park. Also, don't over trim, fat can be removed at slicing time. Too thick will block the smoke but a thin layer is helpful in self basting.

I disagree with the above on bringing to room temp. Cold meat and a wood fire don't mix. OK for an electric or propane but with wood you can get creosote deposits on the meat. YUCK! Bringing it (the surface) to room temp for an hour or so is a good idea. Another option is to warm the outside by searing on a grill, frying each side in bacon grease or whatever comes to mind.

Leave the probe out of the meat for the first 7-8 hours. No way it is going to be done before that. The temp reading in that period won't tell you anything that should cause you to change your plan. All it can do is make you nervous, impatient or something else that won't be helpful. Relax, have a beer, and worry about the fire and not the meat until near the end. If anything put the probe next to the meat and monitor smoker temps. If you have a good fire, you will have a good meal, the rest is just gravy.

I would leave it unwrapped and leave it in the smoker rather than put it in the oven. Your oven is basically a smoker without smoke. The only advantage is less work and a better thermostat. I prefer to minimize handling and moving, plus there is always something else you can be cooking in the oven (side dishes). You can foil wrap if you want less smoke and less of a crust. If you want a nice crust try basting 2-4 times with an oil seasoned with your rub, seasoned mayo, your favorite mop etc. rather than foil.

The final IT where you take it off is a matter of taste and preference. I usually take it out around 180-185 for slicing. At that point you are past the stall and it will take very little time to go up to 200 if you want.

When it comes off the smoker wrap in foil if you have not already and lest rest in a cooler at least one hour, I prefer about three, but no more than you can hold the temp safely above 140-145. The extra time in the cooler probably offsets my lower take off the smoker temp. You can experiment quite a bit between the two. Higher temps and longer sitting in the cooler will make slices less firm/more likely to break apart. This make be desired or may not.

If smoking several briskets at a time, get a meat slicer. Either the electric kind or perhaps a brother in-law. Either way is better than you doing all the hand slicing yourself. Save the burnt ends and slicer shreds, we call it the debris, for the chefs.
 
Furlovofsmoke has you covered. You have a good solid plan, and like Eric said "Don't rush it!", you pull it to early or get impatient and crank up temps to "speed it along" and you end up with tasty shoe leather. Every piece of meat is slightly different, when you get to about 190° IT take a toothpick or butter knife and give it a little poke. If it slides in with little to no resistance you are done, if not let it go another hour and then repeat the process. Chances are it will occur between 195 and 205.... but like I said each piece can be different.
 
What size brisket? If closer to 15 lbs maybe up the temp a bit. Only experience in your smoker will get you the perfect time/temp per weight down, but you are in the ball park. Also, don't over trim, fat can be removed at slicing time. Too thick will block the smoke but a thin layer is helpful in self basting.

I disagree with the above on bringing to room temp. Cold meat and a wood fire don't mix. OK for an electric or propane but with wood you can get creosote deposits on the meat. YUCK! Bringing it (the surface) to room temp for an hour or so is a good idea. Another option is to warm the outside by searing on a grill, frying each side in bacon grease or whatever comes to mind.

Leave the probe out of the meat for the first 7-8 hours. No way it is going to be done before that. The temp reading in that period won't tell you anything that should cause you to change your plan. All it can do is make you nervous, impatient or something else that won't be helpful. Relax, have a beer, and worry about the fire and not the meat until near the end. If anything put the probe next to the meat and monitor smoker temps. If you have a good fire, you will have a good meal, the rest is just gravy.

I would leave it unwrapped and leave it in the smoker rather than put it in the oven. Your oven is basically a smoker without smoke. The only advantage is less work and a better thermostat. I prefer to minimize handling and moving, plus there is always something else you can be cooking in the oven (side dishes). You can foil wrap if you want less smoke and less of a crust. If you want a nice crust try basting 2-4 times with an oil seasoned with your rub, seasoned mayo, your favorite mop etc. rather than foil.

The final IT where you take it off is a matter of taste and preference. I usually take it out around 180-185 for slicing. At that point you are past the stall and it will take very little time to go up to 200 if you want.

When it comes off the smoker wrap in foil if you have not already and lest rest in a cooler at least one hour, I prefer about three, but no more than you can hold the temp safely above 140-145. The extra time in the cooler probably offsets my lower take off the smoker temp. You can experiment quite a bit between the two. Higher temps and longer sitting in the cooler will make slices less firm/more likely to break apart. This make be desired or may not.

If smoking several briskets at a time, get a meat slicer. Either the electric kind or perhaps a brother in-law. Either way is better than you doing all the hand slicing yourself. Save the burnt ends and slicer shreds, we call it the debris, for the chefs.

Thank you
 
You're most welcome for the help. Let us know how it comes out for you, and if there's anything you'd like to do better on the next brisket. We can put our heads together and help you identify what can be changed to make it better suited to your personal preferences when we know if anything didn't seem like it met your expectations. Just a simple process of elimination based on cause and effect. Once you have a basic list in your mind of what you'd want it to eat like, if different from your actual results, that can be part of your goals for the next round, and you can build from there. We can help you work out the details to get each one better than the last...again, it's your personal preference that counts, not my preference or any one else (I like a heavy bark on most of my briskets...maybe you don't, for example)...it's all you...that's what counts the most, 'cuz. you and yours will be eating your creation...unfortunately, as much as I'd like to partake, I can't...so, I'll just have to settle for some nice pics...LOL!!! (and your opinion of how it came out for you, of course)

Have fun with your brisket smoke!!!

Eric
 
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You're most welcome for the help. Let us know how it comes out for you, and if there's anything you'd like to do better on the next brisket. We can put our heads together and help you identify what can be changed to make it better suited to your personal preferences when we know if anything didn't seem like it met your expectations. Just a simple process of elimination based on cause and effect. Once you have a basic list in your mind of what you'd want it to eat like, if different from your actual results, that can be part of your goals for the next round, and you can build from there. We can help you work out the details to get each one better than the last...again, it's your personal preference that counts, not my preference or any one else (I like a heavy bark on most of my briskets...maybe you don't, for example)...it's all you...that's what counts the most, 'cuz. you and yours will be eating your creation...unfortunately, as much as I'd like to partake, I can't...so, I'll just have to settle for some nice pics...LOL!!! (and your opinion of how it came out for you, of course)

Have fun with your brisket smoke!!!


Eric

thanks for the reply Eric. Will post Q-view pics of my next smoke.
 
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