BRISKET SOS

[617Smoker]

So…here is the situation. I am asking for advice to give my daughter who is in a tough spot. She is cooking for a crowd at her college’s Hillel student group. This is the Shabbat dinner for Jewish students. She arrived this morning to find a 17-pound packer, frozen solid.
The plan was to make a flat or two in the onion with some sauce and onions, in the oven, but that’s not what (someone else) ordered for her. This is obviously not BBQ, but at some point, meat is meat, and I know the good people here will have good ideas about and how to get this thing ready to be eaten in about 7 hours.
My suggestion: get it in at 325. Check after a few hours, and if still frozen, cut in half. Try to separate flat from point, but don’t worry about it too much. Just cut it in half and continue cooking. Cover the pan it’s in once it hits 160 or so.
Anybody else have other ideas? Roasting at 375 doesn’t sound right, but maybe that’s better? I have never tried to cook a big fat hunk of frozen beef before, and she never cooked a brisket before though she is genrally a very good cook. Thanks in advance.
Attached is the brisket she has. I scribbled a little blue line to show her where I think the flat and point are separated.

 

[chilerelleno]

Order pizzas.
Have Chic Fil A cater it.
Take them to a buffet.

 

[BigW.]

Wasn't sure it could be done, but there are a few recipes on the net. Problem is the 7 hrs time frame. Not frozen it could be done. Plan B my be needed as suggested above.

Step 3: Cooking the Brisket​

Now comes the exciting part—cooking your thawed and seasoned brisket in the oven:

1. Preheat your oven to 300°F (150°C).
2. Place the seasoned brisket on a rack in a roasting pan, fat side up.
3. Cover the roasting pan tightly with aluminum foil to ensure moisture retention.
4. Insert a meat thermometer into the thickest part of the brisket, making sure it doesn’t touch the bone or fat.
5. Slow-cook the brisket for approximately 1.5 hours per pound or until the internal temperature reaches 195-205°F (90-96°C).

 

[fxsales1959]

So…here is the situation. I am asking for advice to give my daughter who is in a tough spot. She is cooking for a crowd at her college’s Hillel student group. This is the Shabbat dinner for Jewish students. She arrived this morning to find a 17-pound packer, frozen solid.
The plan was to make a flat or two in the onion with some sauce and onions, in the oven, but that’s not what (someone else) ordered for her. This is obviously not BBQ, but at some point, meat is meat, and I know the good people here will have good ideas about and how to get this thing ready to be eaten in about 7 hours.
My suggestion: get it in at 325. Check after a few hours, and if still frozen, cut in half. Try to separate flat from point, but don’t worry about it too much. Just cut it in half and continue cooking. Cover the pan it’s in once it hits 160 or so.
Anybody else have other ideas? Roasting at 375 doesn’t sound right, but maybe that’s better? I have never tried to cook a big fat hunk of frozen beef before, and she never cooked a brisket before though she is genrally a very good cook. Thanks in advance.
Attached is the brisket she has. I scribbled a little blue line to show her where I think the flat and point are separated.

thaw is the problem... don't know weight.
heres a thaw link: https://www.crowdcow.com/beef/thawing

 

[617Smoker]

thaw is the problem... don't know weight.
heres a thaw link: https://www.crowdcow.com/beef/thawing

Thanks for the link but I don’t think there is timeto thaw. It’s 17 pounds and dinner is in about 7 hours.

 

[617Smoker]

Order pizzas.
Have Chic Fil A cater it.
Take them to a buffet.

Let’s call that plan C

 

[chilerelleno]

If it was thawed, I could recommend an Extra Hot-n-Fast cook for the whole Packer.
Even on the smoker, done in 7 hours and tender/tasty as anything.

But frozen solid.... Nope.
Maybe someone else has a safe and reliable method.

 

[jcam222]

Possibly an Instant pot?? How bigs the group? I'd likely punt and do chuck roasts in Instant Pot pressure cookers

 

[dsk]

Put it in a bag, a kitchen trash bag will do. Fill bathtub or sink with vary warm water. Place in water keeping top of the bag out of the water. Babysit the temperature, keeping the water warm and circulating the water occasionally. Get into oven before before USDA 4 hour food safety time limit expires.

 

[617Smoker]

Put it in a bag, a kitchen trash bag will do. Fill bathtub or sink with vary warm water. Place in water keeping top of the bag out of the water. Babysit the temperature, keeping the water warm and circulating the water occasionally. Get into oven before before USDA 4 hour food safety time limit expires.

Ok update. The brisket has been cooking at 324 for about two hours. Still sligjtlyfrosen in the middle. They are trying to cut the flat from the point. The question now is-how high can they cook it?

 

[jcam222]

Put it in a bag, a kitchen trash bag will do. Fill bathtub or sink with vary warm water. Place in water keeping top of the bag out of the water. Babysit the temperature, keeping the water warm and circulating the water occasionally. Get into oven before before USDA 4 hour food safety time limit expires.

Unless you have a giant sous vide to control l that water temp it sounds like a recipe for a bacteria bath to me. Perhaps I'm just overly cautious.

 

[gmc2003]

With that timeline I don't think it's really possible. However, if I were in such a situation I would vacuum seal the brisket, bring a pot of water to just under a boil, and cook it until it's almost done maybe 165*. Then toss it on a hot smoker set to 325* with plenty of thin blue flowing. May not be perfect, but it should be edible.

Chris

 

[chopsaw]

Possibly an Instant pot??

That works great from frozen . If it fits in the IP . I just did a 2 1/2 pounder from frozen .
50 minutes high pressure . Natural release . Shred , brown gravy , and on a bun .

The question now is-how high can they cook it?

Is this going to be a Jewish brisket pot roast type thing ?
If so , maybe take the heat up a bit . 350 ?

 

[617Smoker]

That works great from frozen . If it fits in the IP . I just did a 2 1/2 pounder from frozen .
50 minutes high pressure . Natural release . Shred , brown gravy , and on a bun .


Is this going to be a Jewish brisket pot roast type thing ?
If so , maybe take the heat up a bit . 350 ?

Yes it’s Jewish brisket, not bbq. The hotter the better to get rhis thing going.
I am thinking 350 until the braising liquid and onions she is about to put on cook down-say 2 hours-then cover and possibly go to 375 in the last hour or two if need be.

 

[Culinary Otter]

Unless you have a giant sous vide to control l that water temp it sounds like a recipe for a bacteria bath to me. Perhaps I'm just overly cautious.

Yeah I'd be using cold water and cycling it out personally, probably still not enough time with that size. Also, I'm wary of trash bags, lots have perfume/antibacterial additives.

Unfortunately nothing to add outside of what's been done or suggested.

 

[617Smoker]

Thanks for the suggestions. Seems like a long shot but she’s going for it. The flat that she cut early on in the cook was very thin. No sous vide or instapot available so we’ll see where we are. Lots of other dishes so no one will go hungry. I’ll post a final update.

 

[chopsaw]

Lots of other dishes so no one will go hungry.

Good to hear . I was worried about her stress level . I guess it's the Dad in me .
Hope they all have a great time .

 

[tallbm]

Thanks for the suggestions. Seems like a long shot but she’s going for it. The flat that she cut early on in the cook was very thin. No sous vide or instapot available so we’ll see where we are. Lots of other dishes so no one will go hungry. I’ll post a final update.

If it can get defrosted a bit to cut it. I would cut it into about 3-4 inch thick crosscut chunks.
Put in a pan and cover with foil and add a little water to the bottom. It should obviously be seasoned
Turn the oven up to 425F.

A brisket doesn't care what temp you are cooking it at as long as you aren't burning it.
If it's a flat muscle then it will need some liquid to not dry out, hence adding water and covering tightly with foil.

Cook that sucker and let the steam and pressure do it's job until it's tender.
Not sure it will happen in time, but this is the best shot since you report there being no other options.

Just know the best she can hope for is a beef pot roast flavor but it will taste good and be edible.

I hope this info helps :D

 

[chilerelleno]

Put it in a bag, a kitchen trash bag will do. Fill bathtub or sink with vary warm water. Place in water keeping top of the bag out of the water. Babysit the temperature, keeping the water warm and circulating the water occasionally. Get into oven before before USDA 4 hour food safety time limit expires.

No.

 

[chilerelleno]

Yeah I'd be using cold water and cycling it out personally, probably still not enough time with that size. Also, I'm wary of trash bags, lots have perfume/antibacterial additives.

Unfortunately nothing to add outside of what's been done or suggested.

That's the right idea, and keep the water at 40° or lower.

But since there wasn't really time for that time frame of thawing the point is moot.

Here's hoping it all turns out for the better rather than worse.