"Prime" brisket blunder

[radio]

While at Sam's club the other day I saw only two sad excuses for "choice" briskets in the case, so asked if they had more they could put out.  They did not,but he did bring out a dandy prime for only 10 cents more per pound.  I planned to stay home the following day and put it in the smoker early, but that evening I got a call from a customer wanting to come to the shop the next day and place a custom order, so guess which I opted for 

I got away from the shop early and decided to go ahead with the smoke and finish it in the oven overnight.  It was 15 pounds and maybe a pound of excess fat got trimmed, so I figured in the smoke by 4:00, in the oven about 9:00 and check on it about 6:00 when I normally wake up.  The plan worked flawlessly and the IT was 202° at 6:00 AM when I stumbled into the kitchen.  I usually start probing before they reach 200°, but have had several go to 205° before probing tender, so wasn't terribly concerned.  I let it rest about an hour and put it in the fridge for later enjoyment.

It was fall apart tender, and even cold was almost impossible to slice without crumbling.  The taste was awesome, but was just a wee bit too tender.  I've only cooked one other "prime" brisket and was awake to keep an eye on on it. This one definitely took me by surprise at how differently it cooked.  I suppose my "blunder" wasn't all that bad, but it was a valuable learning experience on an unfamiliar grade of meat.  

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[chilerelleno]

Sounds like it worked out well enough.
That falling apart brisket is still awesome on sammiches, especially dipping sammiches with au jus.
Great in chile, mashed or baked taters and so much more.

The Choice brisket flat I cooked earlier this week, one end was falling apart like yours... But none went to waste.
My lesson is to pull when the thinner side probes butter tender, and let the rest catch up while it rests.

So like you I blundered a bit, but better to blunder than stumble and fall.

 

[SmokinAl]

Well everything turned out OK in the end!

Those long smokes are sometimes really hard, unless you have a pit controller or a digital temp controller.

Al

 

[Bearcarver]

Thanks Radio!!

I never made any meat that was actually "Prime", so I would have never even thought about that.

Good to know!

Bear

 

[remsr]

Last year I smoker two briskets at the same time one was a 14 pound Sam's club choice brisket and the other was a 14 or so pound prime brisket from Costco. I smoked them both at 200 degrees to the internal temp of 195 and rested them in a cooler packed with towels for several hours and you would not be able to tell which was which. They both turned out great. Tender not fall apart tender but fork tender, juicy and tasty.

Randy,