Mother's Day Brisket with Qview

[holyfeld]

I decided it was time to do a brisket, and what better day to get up at 3:30 AM to get started than Mother's Day? After reading the forums, and Jeff's newsletter on brisket http://www.smoking-meat.com/may-3-2012-smoked-brisket-and-burnt-ends.html I decided to take a minimalist approach and follow Solaryellow's ideas. http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/...ood-sliced-brisket-defies-conventional-wisdom

First I assembled the necessary supplies: iPad (for recipe ideas), a brisket (about 8.5 pounds) and a Mountain Medley of Highland Brewing Co. I'm estimating 10 - 12 hours in the smoker, so that's one beer per hour. 

In order to reserve the beer, I paired the prep work with a VJB 2008 Rosso.

I modified the rub recipe a bit:

1/3 cup kosher salt

1/4 cup coarse ground black pepper

1 TBS onion powder

1 TBS granulated garlic

1 TBS paprika

1 TBS cumin

1 TSP chipotle powder

I flipped the brisket cap up and it spent the night in the fridge getting happy.

Preheated the MES-30 to 250 this morning and the brisket went in the smoker @ 0420. Up @ 0530 to add chips. Up @ 0700 to add more chips. I see an AMNPS in my future ... reset the temp to 225  when the brisket went in.

I wanted to smoke some Frijoles Negros to go with the brisket. Here's what I did (I made this up).

6 strips bacon diced

4 (10 ounce) cans black beans

1 1/2 cups sweet onion, chopped

1 large jalapeno minced

4 garlic cloves, minced

2 tsp cumin powder

2 tsp cajun seafood seasoning

1 1/2 tsp oregano

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoon red wine vinegar (I may use apple cider, I haven't decided yet)

Directions:

1. fry the bacon in a 5 qt pot

2. add the onion. saute until translucent

3. Add the garlic, jalapeno and continue to saute until the garlic gets golden and jalapeno gets soft.

4. Add the beans, then the spices. Stir

5. Bring to low boil so you don't shock the smoker. Put in a foil pan so you don't have to clean up afterwards.

6. Dump some of the brisket juices in the smoker catch pan into the beans and stir.

7. Slap beans in the smoker. I'm guessing they'll be in about 6 hours. 

8, Add the vinegar just before serving.

Going in they looked like: 

And then I panicked! I expected the brisket to stall around 160F. 160 came and went with no sign of slowing. Since I'm aiming for 3 - 4 for supper I changed the set point to 215. Temperature still climbed. Finally at 173 the stall hit. At the current rate, I'm looking @ 1330 - 1400 out to rest. I'm going to put the corn on the cob in @ 1330 regardless so it will be ready for supper.

The closest son should arrive shortly. I'll snap a pic and post it when I open the smoker to show him supper.

 

[africanmeat]

Looks great so far

 

[holyfeld]

And eight hours in ... 

The meat's at 181. Up 7 degrees in 2 hours. I need to quit panicking.  Everyone's here. Now to finish this, let it rest and get the corn in the smoker.

 

[solaryellow]

Looks good Don! I would love to hear how the beans turn out. That is an interesting recipe.

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk 2

 

[holyfeld]

I learned a lot today. 

Here's everything in the MES-30.

I did not finish the brisket in the smoker. I /could/ have foiled the brisket earlier (160F or so) but decided to let it ride. This cost me time. I had the probe in the packer portion of the brisket. I SHOULD have had the probe in the dense muscle part of the flat. It would have given me a better view of the collagen break down. Here's the time/temp data.

Time	Internal	Hickory	Events
0420	41	2	start
0530	91	1
0700	127	1
0815	148	0
0915	160
1015	170	1	Frijoles in
1115	174
1215	178
1315	181
1415	184
1500	188		corn in
1530	190		to 350 Oven
1630			everything out

The brisket was very tender and enjoyable. 

The section under the cap in the lower left corner failed the "toothpick" test when the rest of the brisket had achieved 190. The upper left corner passed. Jason and I discussed options and decided to put it in the oven @ 350 for 30 minutes. At the end of 30 minutes I shut off the heat and left the brisket in the foil pan. 

After five adults ate, here's what's left. 

The Frijoles turned out nice. A tad spicy for us. I'll cut the cajun spice to 1 tsp next time. My first attempt (no pictures so it didn't happen) was two hours in the smoker, and the beans were not tender enough for me.

After Jason plated the food it looked like: 

Overall an acceptable smoke, but I don't feel I "nailed it". Next time I'm going to allow more time in the smoker. I could foil with beef broth a la Jeff and get to done faster, but I don't want to lose the bark.

I wonder if people used to commercial brisket (in restaurants) don't understand low and slow, rubbed and smoked. I think the youngest expected something with a caramelized tomato based skin on the flat portion.

 

[solaryellow]

I was wondering if cilantro would make it into the frijoles Don. Any thoughts about adding some citrus like lime juice to them? Food looked great!

 

[holyfeld]

Joel,

Some lime juice would have added a nice flavor. Might have cut the heat some. The recipe I used as a "starter" had red wine vinegar. I forgot to add that. I had hungry kids and skipped that part. Plus adding lime juice / vinegar would have removed the "skin" on the beans.

Best news of all ... Jason's going to buy me a AMNPS!

 

[so ms smoker]

  Great looking food! And you will love the AMNPS! No more getting up every hour to add chips.

Mike

 

[chef jimmyj]

Nice job on the Brisky!...JJ

 

[piglet]

that brisket looks great. the more time i spend on this forum the more stuff i want to cook in my smoker, the frijoles and corn look great. 

 

[big sexy]

Looks good to me.

 

[raptor700]

Awesome job on the Brisky 

 for the full smoker

 

[holyfeld]

Thanks for all the kind words. 

For an encore I'm thinking about taking what's left of the packer and making burnt ends. I guess I should search the forums for a "how to".

Don

 

[smokinhusker]

Looks great and nice recipe for the frijoles, on my list. Burnt ends are the bomb, IMHO!

 

[alelover]

Looks great Don. I would eat that in a heartbeat. Nice job.

 

[scarbelly]

Looks like a very successful smoke and a great day.  

 

[oldschoolbbq]

Don , ya gotta slow down , patience will be rewarded , although it turned out looking great

. And did you say Red Wine vinegar? Why not "Boracho" , with a good beer? Just a thought.

 

[bama bbq]

Good looking menu. 

 

[holyfeld]

Wondering what to do with leftovers, and never having done burnt ends, I thought, why not?

DISCLAIMER: THIS IS NOT THE NORMAL WAY OF DOING THIS! But I was in a hurry ...

So I took the leftovers and cut them. Added our favorite finishing sauce and cumin rub. I paired the prep work with a 2006 Davis Family Napa Cab Sav. Who said pairing was for only food?

Into a 375 oven for 30 minutes gave us:

Notice the foil? I am lazy and in a hurry ...

adding the frijoles negroes and corn the plate looked like

Not as pretty as Sunday, but still delectable. 

A few more leftovers to go and it's off to smoking something else.

 

[alelover]

When you were at the gathering you made it sound like you didn't know how to cook. I think you do Don.