First off thanks to this site and the many posts out here. Reading through these forums is what produced this end result of amazing beef. And I appreciate what this community does for the world of smoking.
I think this brisket started around 14lbs. I followed Guga's (of Sous Vide Everything YouTube) method of dry aging where I washed the cryo bag with soap and water. Dryed it and opened the bag just a tad and pulled the brisket into the Umai Dry Age bag. Then I wiped the inside of the Umai bag decently well, but I still had too much excess moisture. I also screwed up sealing the Umai bag. But in the end none of this seemed to matter much. I put it in my fridge for about 35 days but I lost track.
For trim I followed the advice of making the brisket aerodynamic and cutting off the bits and pieces that stick out that would burn up during the cook. I also cut off the end of the flat where it was getting really thin. I didn't shave off much of the fat on this one so it was pretty thick in some parts, but all my friends enjoyed it in the end so who cares. :)
The night before I rubbed it down with Harry Soo's beef rub and put it in the fridge un-covered. I then put it in the smoker cold, it was about 50 degrees. I decided to cook this brisket at 275 in my Weber Smokey Mountain. I ran lump charcoal with some pecan wood buried at the bottom and followed minion method. I think I'm going back to Kingsford briquettes for the next cook. I've struggle a bit managing my smoker temp with lump which is surprising me. Anyone else have that problem?
What happened during the cook was strange. In the first hour of the cook it shot up to about 140. Next hour it got to 150. Then it took 5 hours to get to 170. After that I wrapped it and put it in the oven at 275. I was worried about a thunderstorm coming through, otherwise was going to do the whole cook in the WSM. Last 35 degrees or so only took about 1.5 hrs.
During the cook in the WSM I sprayed it down with water regularly after the first 2 hrs. I wanted to use something like apple cider vinegar but wasn't sure about how that would mix with my flavors so thought it best to stick to plain water. I had no beef broth, I was going to use that.
Pics and final thoughts...
Pulled it out of the fridge for the first time:
Just about to cut it up:
Ok one more pic of the craziness:
Looking at the inside of the cut off dark outer layer:
Woah that bright red color:
Finished Product:
Not as much bark as I like personally, but the end result was absolutely amazing. And my friends all said it was the best they ever ate. It truly was a fantastic brisket. The flavor was a pronounced beef, just unmistakable beef. The fat was that soft melting texture and just added nicely to the beefiness. The rub was perfect and added to the flavors. I'll put more on next time but overall it just highlighted flavors and didn't over power.
The brisket passed the bend and pull tests. And as far as juiciness goes, it was gushing. Dont know how to describe it, but pushing down on the flat or point just opened up the flood gates. I've never seen a brisket do this before.
Wow. I'll be doing this again.
I think this brisket started around 14lbs. I followed Guga's (of Sous Vide Everything YouTube) method of dry aging where I washed the cryo bag with soap and water. Dryed it and opened the bag just a tad and pulled the brisket into the Umai Dry Age bag. Then I wiped the inside of the Umai bag decently well, but I still had too much excess moisture. I also screwed up sealing the Umai bag. But in the end none of this seemed to matter much. I put it in my fridge for about 35 days but I lost track.
For trim I followed the advice of making the brisket aerodynamic and cutting off the bits and pieces that stick out that would burn up during the cook. I also cut off the end of the flat where it was getting really thin. I didn't shave off much of the fat on this one so it was pretty thick in some parts, but all my friends enjoyed it in the end so who cares. :)
The night before I rubbed it down with Harry Soo's beef rub and put it in the fridge un-covered. I then put it in the smoker cold, it was about 50 degrees. I decided to cook this brisket at 275 in my Weber Smokey Mountain. I ran lump charcoal with some pecan wood buried at the bottom and followed minion method. I think I'm going back to Kingsford briquettes for the next cook. I've struggle a bit managing my smoker temp with lump which is surprising me. Anyone else have that problem?
What happened during the cook was strange. In the first hour of the cook it shot up to about 140. Next hour it got to 150. Then it took 5 hours to get to 170. After that I wrapped it and put it in the oven at 275. I was worried about a thunderstorm coming through, otherwise was going to do the whole cook in the WSM. Last 35 degrees or so only took about 1.5 hrs.
During the cook in the WSM I sprayed it down with water regularly after the first 2 hrs. I wanted to use something like apple cider vinegar but wasn't sure about how that would mix with my flavors so thought it best to stick to plain water. I had no beef broth, I was going to use that.
Pics and final thoughts...
Pulled it out of the fridge for the first time:
Just about to cut it up:
Ok one more pic of the craziness:
Looking at the inside of the cut off dark outer layer:
Woah that bright red color:
Finished Product:
Not as much bark as I like personally, but the end result was absolutely amazing. And my friends all said it was the best they ever ate. It truly was a fantastic brisket. The flavor was a pronounced beef, just unmistakable beef. The fat was that soft melting texture and just added nicely to the beefiness. The rub was perfect and added to the flavors. I'll put more on next time but overall it just highlighted flavors and didn't over power.
The brisket passed the bend and pull tests. And as far as juiciness goes, it was gushing. Dont know how to describe it, but pushing down on the flat or point just opened up the flood gates. I've never seen a brisket do this before.
Wow. I'll be doing this again.
