We were planning to do this 2 weeks ago but the weather forecast was not cooperating so it was postponed until last Saturday. With the season winding down we thought it'd be nice to have a decent sized gathering and cook a brisket...Tracy's favorite BBQ. We invited 10 people and had 100% attendance for a total of 12 people here. Tracy picked up the brisket from Costco a week before the originally planned event but it had to go into the freezer after we decided to hold off due to the weather forecast. it is a 16# Prime and the most bizarre brisket I've ever seen. I got it out of the freezer on Tuesday last week to thaw in the fridge. trimmed it Friday and got it ready to go. This was the first bizarre thing I noticed. It had far less fat on it than any I've ever seen. I left the mandatory amount on the meat but when all was said and done I only took off about a pound and a half of the heavy fat. Typically it's a lot more that gets removed.
Are you kidding me?? $6 a pound for brisket? If it had been me, I wouldn't have bought it. We can serve prime rib for not much more than this.
Trimmed and seasoned Friday afternoon. Used Pitt Faced On Point rub for this one
Onto the smoker at 0-dark:30 Saturday morning. Nasty pic and you can't see much but I did adjust it on the rack (more on that later)
Ahhhh...this is what we live for. Some sunrise TBS
Here we are at the four mark. Smoker dialed in at 275. Please note the pan underneath with the drippings in it
Eight hours we are at an IT of 165. It goes into a large roasting pan
This is where the fun starts. Take the drippings and mix them with beef gravy, beef broth, bourbon, and black pepper. May sound crazy but this is where I injected the brisket and dumped the rest of the mix over the top. Put the lid on the roasting pan and back onto the smoker. Run the temp up to 300. This looks weird now but wait till later
The only appetizer. Lori brought a jalapeno queso and some different chips. Folks had already destroyed this before I could get a pic but this stuff was to die for.
Folks mingling enjoying a cold libation and some queso with chips
All the side dishes folks brought. First is Lori's potato and bacon casserole
I made jalapeno cheddar cornbread. Tried a different approach this time by putting the cheese on top versus mixing it in.
Jodi brought a really tasty corn dish
Susan's Soppin' Beans. These are always a huge hit and are off the hook delicious
Matthew and John brought a really nice potato salad
An amazing veggie salad that Dr. Flo brought
Cornbread and the potato & bacon casserole on the grill
Oh this cornbread is looking good
They are done. Got the browned crunchy cheese on top of the cornbread that I was hoping for
Brisket is done. I'm liking the way this looks
Sliced. Not much of a smoke ring but it is so moist, juicy, and tender. Can't figure out the lack of smoke ring. Possibly due to seasoning it the day before?
Most of the spread. We had more food than would fit on the island so there's stuff scattered all over the kitchen. The bowl to the right of the butter is the jus from the brisket. To the left of the butter is some of Jeff's sauce and a quart of Al's pickles
Sharks on a feeding frenzy
Jodi looks happy
Finally and alas, my plate. I'm always last through the chow line. That's a plate full of food!!
CHOW TIME!!
And Rick opening his post dinner concert with "Born To Be Wild" He's been playing guitar for over 50 years and is darned good!!
Well that's it. If you made it all the way through, thank you for the patience. There was dessert of a couple homemade pies and some ice cream but I never got pics of it. We were all pretty well comatose by the time we got to the pies. So...I did a couple things differently this time. First was putting the brisket on a rack and catching the drippings. This gives me the liquid gold and it saves a heck of a lot of cleaning with the smoker. Second thing was using a roasting pan with the lid versus covering it with foil. This worked great because it was so much easier to probe the brisket as it was getting done not having to peel off the foil them try to put it back on. The other thing was injecting part way through the cook. It always seemed as though the marinade ran out of the meat if injecting at the beginning. My thought was that it'd hold the marinade better if the meat had firmed up some...and I was right. This was a HUGE success. Without question the very best brisket I've ever done. I'm still getting feedback from people about it. One of the new neighbors had just gone through a double mastectomy (I think that's the word for breast cancer surgery) so we loaded up a huge platter of food for her and her husband which Jodi delivered and they were very grateful for. All in all this was an outstanding meal. All of the food was excellent and there was such a variety. I honestly can't say that one thing stood out above the rest...it was all outstanding. What a great way to bring Summer to a closure and ring in the Fall.
Thank you everybody for putting up with this thread but it was just so good I wanted to share all of it. Take care, be safe, and we'll see everybody soon.
Robert
Are you kidding me?? $6 a pound for brisket? If it had been me, I wouldn't have bought it. We can serve prime rib for not much more than this.
Trimmed and seasoned Friday afternoon. Used Pitt Faced On Point rub for this one
Onto the smoker at 0-dark:30 Saturday morning. Nasty pic and you can't see much but I did adjust it on the rack (more on that later)
Ahhhh...this is what we live for. Some sunrise TBS
Here we are at the four mark. Smoker dialed in at 275. Please note the pan underneath with the drippings in it
Eight hours we are at an IT of 165. It goes into a large roasting pan
This is where the fun starts. Take the drippings and mix them with beef gravy, beef broth, bourbon, and black pepper. May sound crazy but this is where I injected the brisket and dumped the rest of the mix over the top. Put the lid on the roasting pan and back onto the smoker. Run the temp up to 300. This looks weird now but wait till later
The only appetizer. Lori brought a jalapeno queso and some different chips. Folks had already destroyed this before I could get a pic but this stuff was to die for.
Folks mingling enjoying a cold libation and some queso with chips
All the side dishes folks brought. First is Lori's potato and bacon casserole
I made jalapeno cheddar cornbread. Tried a different approach this time by putting the cheese on top versus mixing it in.
Jodi brought a really tasty corn dish
Susan's Soppin' Beans. These are always a huge hit and are off the hook delicious
Matthew and John brought a really nice potato salad
An amazing veggie salad that Dr. Flo brought
Cornbread and the potato & bacon casserole on the grill
Oh this cornbread is looking good
They are done. Got the browned crunchy cheese on top of the cornbread that I was hoping for
Brisket is done. I'm liking the way this looks
Sliced. Not much of a smoke ring but it is so moist, juicy, and tender. Can't figure out the lack of smoke ring. Possibly due to seasoning it the day before?
Most of the spread. We had more food than would fit on the island so there's stuff scattered all over the kitchen. The bowl to the right of the butter is the jus from the brisket. To the left of the butter is some of Jeff's sauce and a quart of Al's pickles
Sharks on a feeding frenzy
Jodi looks happy
Finally and alas, my plate. I'm always last through the chow line. That's a plate full of food!!
CHOW TIME!!
And Rick opening his post dinner concert with "Born To Be Wild" He's been playing guitar for over 50 years and is darned good!!
Well that's it. If you made it all the way through, thank you for the patience. There was dessert of a couple homemade pies and some ice cream but I never got pics of it. We were all pretty well comatose by the time we got to the pies. So...I did a couple things differently this time. First was putting the brisket on a rack and catching the drippings. This gives me the liquid gold and it saves a heck of a lot of cleaning with the smoker. Second thing was using a roasting pan with the lid versus covering it with foil. This worked great because it was so much easier to probe the brisket as it was getting done not having to peel off the foil them try to put it back on. The other thing was injecting part way through the cook. It always seemed as though the marinade ran out of the meat if injecting at the beginning. My thought was that it'd hold the marinade better if the meat had firmed up some...and I was right. This was a HUGE success. Without question the very best brisket I've ever done. I'm still getting feedback from people about it. One of the new neighbors had just gone through a double mastectomy (I think that's the word for breast cancer surgery) so we loaded up a huge platter of food for her and her husband which Jodi delivered and they were very grateful for. All in all this was an outstanding meal. All of the food was excellent and there was such a variety. I honestly can't say that one thing stood out above the rest...it was all outstanding. What a great way to bring Summer to a closure and ring in the Fall.
Thank you everybody for putting up with this thread but it was just so good I wanted to share all of it. Take care, be safe, and we'll see everybody soon.
Robert
