Picked up a big prime whole packer at Costco a month and a half or so ago and been waiting for the right time to cook it up. Decided on this past Saturday to have a few friends over and enjoy a brisket feast. Did a little experiment on this one and it came out REALLY well. It was a 2-stage cook spread out over Friday and Saturday and turned out the most moist, juicy, and tender brisket I've ever cooked.
The brisket. It's pretty big at just under 20 pounds
Texas style: just salt and pepper
Onto the cabinet smoker about 8:00 Friday morning
4 hours in running 255. This is the only time I opened the smoker door the entire 9 hours of cooking
Mix up some beef gravy, beef broth, bourbon, salt, and pepper
After 9 hours on the smoker. Looking really good so far but nowhere close to being done
Put the brisket in a big roasting pan, cover with the gravy mixture, and into the fridge overnight with the lid on the pan
I took the brisket in the pan out to the patio about 7:30 Saturday morning, plugged it in, and got the temp dialed in right at 210. After several hours, I got some beans going
Made a Greek style salad with garden fresh zucchini and a bunch of other stuff. This was fantastic!!
At 3:00 in the afternoon the brisket is probing tender throughout. Please note all the liquid gold in the bottom of the pan. More on that in a minute
Time to wrap and put in the cooler for a couple hours
Jeff and Kandi brought a nice appetizer platter. Sadly all the folks tore into it while I was putting the finishing touches on the pool and before I could get a nice pic
Take all the liquid gold and some of the dark crumbles from the bottom of the pan, put it all in a bowl, and hit with the immersion blender. This is our "BBQ sauce" and it is pure beefy bliss in a liquid form
5:00 and time to slice this thing
WOW!! Once again the smoke ring eludes me but so juicy and so tender.
A little closer look
The whole spread. Not much here but it was more than enough. Add some pickles a la
SmokinAl
to round out the BBQ theme and we're ready to eat
As always, last through the chow line but I finally get my plate together and head to the patio
This was fantastic!! The brisket was melt-in-your-mouth tender. No way could I consider it "competition quality" because it'd never pass the bend test (and because no smoke ring) but more importantly, it was Tracy quality. The flavor was off the charts. It may have come from sitting overnight with the gravy concoction or maybe from the super low temp cook on Saturday in the roasting pan. Whatever it was, the end result was pure money. For the life of me though, I cannot figure out why I can't get a smoke ring with that smoker. It is set up exactly like the last 6 or 7 smokers I've had and always got that smoke ring with them, but not this one. I know it doesn't bring anything to the table as far as flavor but it sure adds to the visual appeal. Oh well, I'll do a couple more experiments, maybe even install some deflector plates inside but have pretty much resigned myself that it's just not gonna happen. It's OK though because that rig turns out some super fine Q and is a dream to cook on.
Well, sure hope everybody had / is having a great holiday weekend. the past couple weeks have been insane with work so I'm just enjoying a couple low key days to wind down.....and down a few margaritasY'all take care and keep those amazing meals coming!!
Robert
The brisket. It's pretty big at just under 20 pounds
Texas style: just salt and pepper
Onto the cabinet smoker about 8:00 Friday morning
4 hours in running 255. This is the only time I opened the smoker door the entire 9 hours of cooking
Mix up some beef gravy, beef broth, bourbon, salt, and pepper
After 9 hours on the smoker. Looking really good so far but nowhere close to being done
Put the brisket in a big roasting pan, cover with the gravy mixture, and into the fridge overnight with the lid on the pan
I took the brisket in the pan out to the patio about 7:30 Saturday morning, plugged it in, and got the temp dialed in right at 210. After several hours, I got some beans going
Made a Greek style salad with garden fresh zucchini and a bunch of other stuff. This was fantastic!!
At 3:00 in the afternoon the brisket is probing tender throughout. Please note all the liquid gold in the bottom of the pan. More on that in a minute
Time to wrap and put in the cooler for a couple hours
Jeff and Kandi brought a nice appetizer platter. Sadly all the folks tore into it while I was putting the finishing touches on the pool and before I could get a nice pic
Take all the liquid gold and some of the dark crumbles from the bottom of the pan, put it all in a bowl, and hit with the immersion blender. This is our "BBQ sauce" and it is pure beefy bliss in a liquid form
5:00 and time to slice this thing
WOW!! Once again the smoke ring eludes me but so juicy and so tender.
A little closer look
The whole spread. Not much here but it was more than enough. Add some pickles a la
SmokinAl
to round out the BBQ theme and we're ready to eat
As always, last through the chow line but I finally get my plate together and head to the patio
This was fantastic!! The brisket was melt-in-your-mouth tender. No way could I consider it "competition quality" because it'd never pass the bend test (and because no smoke ring) but more importantly, it was Tracy quality. The flavor was off the charts. It may have come from sitting overnight with the gravy concoction or maybe from the super low temp cook on Saturday in the roasting pan. Whatever it was, the end result was pure money. For the life of me though, I cannot figure out why I can't get a smoke ring with that smoker. It is set up exactly like the last 6 or 7 smokers I've had and always got that smoke ring with them, but not this one. I know it doesn't bring anything to the table as far as flavor but it sure adds to the visual appeal. Oh well, I'll do a couple more experiments, maybe even install some deflector plates inside but have pretty much resigned myself that it's just not gonna happen. It's OK though because that rig turns out some super fine Q and is a dream to cook on.
Well, sure hope everybody had / is having a great holiday weekend. the past couple weeks have been insane with work so I'm just enjoying a couple low key days to wind down.....and down a few margaritas
Y'all take care and keep those amazing meals coming!!Robert
