SmokinAl
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I usually check the briskets at Walmart when I go there, cause sometimes they mix in Choice with the select for the same price. I saw this little guy & just bought it, not really knowing what I was going to do with it.
I had a UMAi bag left over from when I dry aged a whole ribeye, so I thought I would try a dry aged brisket. So into the bag it went.
Here it is after a 30 day dry age.
It lost a couple of pounds.
This is where the problems began. After trimming all the bark off & the hard fat. There really wasn't much to smoke. Here is all the trimmings.
It was really thin, especially at the flat end, even the point was only about 1 1/2" thick.
So the only thing I could think of to do was cure it & make corned beef.
Here it is all bagged up & ready for a 12 day trip in the fridge.
And in the fridge!
I flipped & massaged it daily, and here it is after 12 days.
Out of the bag.
Now to rinse it off & soak it in ice water for a couple of hours.
OK, decision time again, it's just too thin to smoke, and I have been wanting to make Reuben brats, so I cubed up a pound of Swiss cheese.
I pulled about 2' per pound of hog casing & soaked it in water with a little vinegar.
I sliced the brisket in strips to feed onto the grinder.
The grinder just pulls the meat in.
First grind is with the coarse plate.
Then I mixed in 1/4 cup of CBP.
Then thru the grinder again with the medium plate. And then fold in all the cheese.
Next job, stuffing & linking.
I didn't pull out quite enough casing & had a couple of patties left over.
Put them in a CI pan & on the side burner of the gas grill.
These really came out good! Juicy & you could really taste the corned beef flavor.
The next day we were having chicken for dinner, so I threw a couple of the brats on for lunch, while the chicken cooked.
Brats cooked to perfection.
This time on a bun with kraut & Thousand Island dressing. A true Reuben brat!!
The chicken finished up a couple of hours later. Man I'm loving this Santa Maria attachment!
What a project this was. I know if I ever dry age a brisket again, it will be a really big one. 18-20 pounds would be about right. But I'm kinda glad things turned out the way they did cause the Reuben brats are really good, and I will definitely make them again, but I don't see any advantage to dry age the brisket & then cure it. I think the dry age part was a waste of time for brats. Actually you could probably just use a store bought corned beef, which btw will be going on sale here pretty soon. I may buy a few for the freezer!
Thanks for looking guys & sorry this thread was so darn long!!
Al
I had a UMAi bag left over from when I dry aged a whole ribeye, so I thought I would try a dry aged brisket. So into the bag it went.
Here it is after a 30 day dry age.
It lost a couple of pounds.
This is where the problems began. After trimming all the bark off & the hard fat. There really wasn't much to smoke. Here is all the trimmings.
It was really thin, especially at the flat end, even the point was only about 1 1/2" thick.
So the only thing I could think of to do was cure it & make corned beef.
Here it is all bagged up & ready for a 12 day trip in the fridge.
And in the fridge!
I flipped & massaged it daily, and here it is after 12 days.
Out of the bag.
Now to rinse it off & soak it in ice water for a couple of hours.
OK, decision time again, it's just too thin to smoke, and I have been wanting to make Reuben brats, so I cubed up a pound of Swiss cheese.
I pulled about 2' per pound of hog casing & soaked it in water with a little vinegar.
I sliced the brisket in strips to feed onto the grinder.
The grinder just pulls the meat in.
First grind is with the coarse plate.
Then I mixed in 1/4 cup of CBP.
Then thru the grinder again with the medium plate. And then fold in all the cheese.
Next job, stuffing & linking.
I didn't pull out quite enough casing & had a couple of patties left over.
Put them in a CI pan & on the side burner of the gas grill.
These really came out good! Juicy & you could really taste the corned beef flavor.
The next day we were having chicken for dinner, so I threw a couple of the brats on for lunch, while the chicken cooked.
Brats cooked to perfection.
This time on a bun with kraut & Thousand Island dressing. A true Reuben brat!!
The chicken finished up a couple of hours later. Man I'm loving this Santa Maria attachment!
What a project this was. I know if I ever dry age a brisket again, it will be a really big one. 18-20 pounds would be about right. But I'm kinda glad things turned out the way they did cause the Reuben brats are really good, and I will definitely make them again, but I don't see any advantage to dry age the brisket & then cure it. I think the dry age part was a waste of time for brats. Actually you could probably just use a store bought corned beef, which btw will be going on sale here pretty soon. I may buy a few for the freezer!
Thanks for looking guys & sorry this thread was so darn long!!
Al
