First brisket smoke. Beef bouillon injection same as broth?

[Tallbald]

12 pound untrimmed packer from GFS restaurant supply. Choice not prime but hoping will be great. Was tickled to get it on sale at $2.69 a pound last fall. Thawing in the frige now (wow that thing is taking a long time to thaw). I don't have beef broth but have bouillon cubes I can reconstitute for injection. Is that pretty much the same thing as broth in this case?
I will be using just SPOG as a rub the night before. Inject the night before too. Debated on a more complex rub but decided to keep my first brisket smoke simple. Offset smoker (my modified OK Joe Highland) with hickory and oak. Plan for a higher temp of 250 to 275 for maybe 7 hours, then a foil wrap to move through the stall and bring it up to internal temp of 205. I really want a thick bark and smoke ring so the times of course may change.
Of course the best laid plans of mice and men.... so many thing could change how things go. Looking forward to the experience. I've read a lot here and watched many videos. Overwhelming amount of approaches to absorb.
Don

 

[tallbm]

12 pound untrimmed packer from GFS restaurant supply. Choice not prime but hoping will be great. Was tickled to get it on sale at $2.69 a pound last fall. Thawing in the frige now (wow that thing is taking a long time to thaw). I don't have beef broth but have bouillon cubes I can reconstitute for injection. Is that pretty much the same thing as broth in this case?
I will be using just SPOG as a rub the night before. Inject the night before too. Debated on a more complex rub but decided to keep my first brisket smoke simple. Offset smoker (my modified OK Joe Highland) with hickory and oak. Plan for a higher temp of 250 to 275 for maybe 7 hours, then a foil wrap to move through the stall and bring it up to internal temp of 205. I really want a thick bark and smoke ring so the times of course may change.
Of course the best laid plans of mice and men.... so many thing could change how things go. Looking forward to the experience. I've read a lot here and watched many videos. Overwhelming amount of approaches to absorb.
Don

If you mix the beef bouillon with water properly then you would basically get the same thing as beef broth though they are technically a little different. I'm not sure someone would really know the difference in a blind taste test.

I am all about SPOG on most meats, especially a brisket!!! I don't go any further with it.
I personally don't think your brisket would need the beef bouillon injection but feel free to have at it. Just remember that you may want to go lighter on the outside salting of the meat since it would basically be injected with a bunch of salt from the bouillon.

As for bark and a brisket I would let it ride unwrapped at 275F the entire time. That is how I landed on doing mine. If I buy a brisket that trims down to 8-10 pounds it usually finishes cooking in about 8-9 hours at 275F.
I start probing for tenderness around 200-203F. In my setup I often get to around 203-206F when it is probe tender.
I have never had a problem with juiciness and I have had great bark that was right about perfect (not too light but not too much bark either).

I have an MES and I use the Mailbox Mod with an AMNPS. Also I use Lumberjack 100% Mesquite wood pellets for my brisket and WOW talk about amazing! If you can get TBS with Mesquite then I highly recommend you use 100% Mesquite for your brisket and/or chuck roast smokes. It seems that Mesquite is much harder to manage in wood form but in pellet form with the AMNPS it's perfect TBS for the entire smoke and no harshness at all. Just pure heaven!

Let us know what you land on with your approach and best of luck! :)

 

[Tallbald]

Thank you. I need to search here for the correct SPOG proportions, and of course make adjustments for the salt in the bouillon. I remember 50/50 salt and pepper. I do have kosher salt and coarse pepper at the ready to mix. I want to use the hickory and oak mix here because that's what all my wood supply consists of. I only use charcoal to get the fire going at the beginning of my cooks. Mesquite sure does add wonderful flavor though! Don.

 

[chef jimmyj]

SPOG is typically made with equal parts of each. Bouillon is dehydrated stock,made from bones with no meat, and a ton of salt. Some are better than others. Knorr and Maggi make good dry ones but I prefer the " Better than Bouillon " Paste in a jar. Has more of a roasted meat flavor...JJ

 

[Tallbald]

Hmm. I think I'll just stop in Aldi's tomorrow and grab a can or box of beef stock. Not worth the risk on a cut like this. This is too important. And thanks for the SPOG proportion information. Looking forward to this. Thanks again all. Don.

 

[okie362]

SPOG is typically made with equal parts of each. Bouillon is dehydrated stock,made from bones with no meat, and a ton of salt. Some are better than others. Knorr and Maggi make good dry ones but I prefer the " Better than Bouillon " Paste in a jar. Has more of a roasted meat flavor...JJ

Better than Bullion is tasty enough to drink! In fact I have drank it as a broth when too sick to hold down food.

 

[ab canuck]

I agree on the Better than bullion quality, I have never injected a brisket before usually just cook to stall, then put in a pan with broth in bottom ( sometimes ) then back to smoker and start probing 195 and up. wrap and rest in cooler before slicing.