My first brisket! (Q-View)

[dougmays]

So some of you helped me out on my past post about smoking my first brisket...and here is the promised Q-View

wanted this done by noon the next day for some friends that were helping me tear down a wall outside of my house.  Started it up around midnight and by 230am it had come up to 165 degrees!  i started to freak out because i thought it'd be done soon and be cold by noon the next day.  But i checked it every 45 mins for the next couple hours and realized it had hit its plateau.

so i finally got to bed around 3am and sleep till 730am.  got up and it was still about 175-176.  added some more wood and let it smoke. finally around 9am it was done.  Wrapped in alum. foil and placed in cooler.  finally took it out around 1pm and cut it up! 

i thought i was cutting it across the grain but my friend said it was really tough.  so i turned the brisket 90 degrees and cut more..the fans were happy!  this was an awesome brisket. 

I used Texas BBQ Rub and Worcester sauce.  No injection.

and here are some pics

Untrimmed 3.8lbs

Trimmed and rubbed..i left a good deal of the fat cap still on

Final product cooked and rested

 

[les3176]

nice looking brisket ya got there! good job!

 

[realtorterry]

Break me off a piece of that!!

 

[jirodriguez]

Great first time brisket! Congrats!

 

[pit 4 brains]

That's the way to be patient! Good lookin brisky you got there.

 

[raptor700]

Very nice brisky, I love the little strip of fat on the top

Great job my friend 

 

[Bearcarver]

Looks Great Doug !!!

You got it going in the right direction, for sure!!!

The only thing I might add would be to take a knife and put a crosshatch pattern through the fat cap you left, before you apply your rub.

Thanks for the View,

Bear

 

[SmokinAl]

Nice job Doug. Looks delicious. I score the fat cap in the direction of the grain, so when it's done it's easy to tell which way to cut.

 

[Bearcarver]

Nice job Doug. Looks delicious. I score the fat cap in the direction of the grain, so when it's done it's easy to tell which way to cut.

Great idea!

I made a cut (cut a corner off) in the right direction, so I would know.

I like your method better!

Bear

 

[dougmays]

Looks Great Doug !!!

You got it going in the right direction, for sure!!!

The only thing I might add would be to take a knife and put a crosshatch pattern through the fat cap you left, before you apply your rub.

Thanks for the View,

Bear

i actually tried this but i dont think i cut deep enough....do you guys prefer to leave more fat on and score or cut alot of fat off and score?

also i'm still not really sure how to tell which way the grain is going....i've read a bunch of things on here about it but still not sure.  any pointers?

 

[SmokinAl]

Personally I like to remove most of the fat & silver skin. It seems to take the smoke better. The small amount of fat that is left is what I score. Some of the guys leave the fat cap intact & score it down to the meat. It's just a personal preference. If I were you I would try it both ways & decide for yourself. As far as the grain goes. Meat is just like wood. If you look at a 2x4 you will see the grain of the wood runs from end to end. If you take a thin slice off of one end that is cutting across the grain. You will also see that the slice of wood will just fall apart in your hand. That's how you want your brisket to be. Hope this helps.
 

Looks Great Doug !!!

You got it going in the right direction, for sure!!!

The only thing I might add would be to take a knife and put a crosshatch pattern through the fat cap you left, before you apply your rub.

Thanks for the View,

Bear

i actually tried this but i dont think i cut deep enough....do you guys prefer to leave more fat on and score or cut alot of fat off and score?

also i'm still not really sure how to tell which way the grain is going....i've read a bunch of things on here about it but still not sure.  any pointers?

 

[Bearcarver]

Personally I like to remove most of the fat & silver skin. It seems to take the smoke better. The small amount of fat that is left is what I score. Some of the guys leave the fat cap intact & score it down to the meat. It's just a personal preference. If I were you I would try it both ways & decide for yourself. As far as the grain goes. Meat is just like wood. If you look at a 2x4 you will see the grain of the wood runs from end to end. If you take a thin slice off of one end that is cutting across the grain. You will also see that the slice of wood will just fall apart in your hand. That's how you want your brisket to be. Hope this helps.
 

Looks Great Doug !!!

You got it going in the right direction, for sure!!!

The only thing I might add would be to take a knife and put a crosshatch pattern through the fat cap you left, before you apply your rub.

Thanks for the View,

Bear

i actually tried this but i dont think i cut deep enough....do you guys prefer to leave more fat on and score or cut alot of fat off and score?

also i'm still not really sure how to tell which way the grain is going....i've read a bunch of things on here about it but still not sure.  any pointers?

 

Mostly what Al said.

And I would say I'm in between. I like to leave about 1/4" of outside fat, and score that.

It's the slimy gel type crap inside some hunks of meat that I don't like. I usually try to get rid of that when I "pull" meat, and cut it out when I slice meat.

The other thing I find offensive is the veins & arteries in meat, such as you find in a Ham (near the bone). They look like rubbery straws (disgusting to me).

I love the fat that's on the outside on most pieces of meat.

Bear

 

[mballi3011]

Very nice brisket and it looks really juicy too.

 

[porked]

Looks very good, betcha it tasted even better.

 

[pit 4 brains]

I leave all the fat on a flat, trim some of the thicker stuff around the point and I remove all of the real hard stuff like the kernel and some other non-rendering pieces. The grain on a brisket usually runs directly into the thinnest and most acute point on the flat.

In this pic you will see definate lines of fat running through the meat at about a 45 degree angle to the end on the right. After the meat is cooked, you need to slice across this grain or the other 45 degree from the end. You will more than likely always start slicing a brisket flat in the corner of the meat. Alot of folks make the mistake of cutting uniform slices using the end as a guide ant therefore leaving long meat grains for their guests to chew on.

Note also the change in direction of the grain as you move to the left of this pic. This flat is upside down in this pic (note the fat i left on the other side). I crosshatch the fat down to the meat and smoke fat-side up.

 

Looks Great Doug !!!

You got it going in the right direction, for sure!!!

The only thing I might add would be to take a knife and put a crosshatch pattern through the fat cap you left, before you apply your rub.

Thanks for the View,

Bear

i actually tried this but i dont think i cut deep enough....do you guys prefer to leave more fat on and score or cut alot of fat off and score?

also i'm still not really sure how to tell which way the grain is going....i've read a bunch of things on here about it but still not sure.  any pointers?

 

[beer-b-q]

Nice brisket, Looks nice and juicy...

 

[alelover]

That looks like the ones I've had in Houston that were delicious and tender. Nice work.

 

[billm75]

Great job on the brisket.  My first one was more of a pulled brisket result, think I let it go a little too long or something.  I'd definitely take a plate of yours though!

 

[dougmays]

Great job on the brisket.  My first one was more of a pulled brisket result, think I let it go a little too long or something.  I'd definitely take a plate of yours though!

i was actually worried that i did the same...because when i probed it with the thermometer..it was "mushy" so i thought it had broken down to much.  but sliced and it was preffect!