Saturday Brisket: 1st On The Cabinet Smoker (Heavy Q-View)

[HalfSmoked]

Looks fantastic and a great unusual cook it was very interesting.

Warren

 

[Steve H]

Fantastic Robert! You da man!

 

[tx smoker]

Robert first I have to admit to some Texas jealousy, prime brisket @ $3.99 / lbs!! At least $2 / lbs cheaper than us Ohioans can get it. Your end result is beautiful. Smoke rings have 0 impact on flavor. With that gravy added I’d lick a plate or two clean for sure.

Thanks Jeff. That price is about $1.50 a pound higher than I'm used to paying. The gravy was outstanding!! First cooking the brisket in it then blending it for the sauce at the end. Perfect compliment to the beefiness of the brisket.

Good grief, what a incredible piece of work Robert! Forget the smoke ring, tho you might want a couple more slices of that beautiful brisky on your plate

Thanks so much my friend. I did in fact have more of the brisket but didn't want to crowd the plate for the final pic Those slices were huge though and it was a two handed wrestling match to finish the second piece.

Robert

 

[tx smoker]

Looks fantastic and a great unusual cook it was very interesting

Thanks so much Warren. Yep, it was an unusual cooking process but a very successful one.

Fantastic Robert! You da man!

Very much appreciate it buddy. That brisket came out extremely well...and tons of leftovers for different things in the future.

Robert

 

[xray]

That is one hell of a brisket Robert, smoke ring or not. Much better than anything I have ever done.

I’m loving that whole plate and the sides. It just screams at me to devour it!

 

[SmokeyBarks]

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
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Texas style: just salt and pepper
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Onto the cabinet smoker about 8:00 Friday morning
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4 hours in running 255. This is the only time I opened the smoker door the entire 9 hours of cooking
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Mix up some beef gravy, beef broth, bourbon, salt, and pepper
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After 9 hours on the smoker. Looking really good so far but nowhere close to being done
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Put the brisket in a big roasting pan, cover with the gravy mixture, and into the fridge overnight with the lid on the pan
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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
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Made a Greek style salad with garden fresh zucchini and a bunch of other stuff. This was fantastic!!
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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
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Time to wrap and put in the cooler for a couple hours
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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
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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
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5:00 and time to slice this thing
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WOW!! Once again the smoke ring eludes me but so juicy and so tender.
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A little closer look
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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
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As always, last through the chow line but I finally get my plate together and head to the patio
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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

I think the lack of smoke ring is related to how much soaked wood chips you use. Do you use chips or pellets?

 

[912smoker]

Who needs a smoke ring with that bark !
Everything looks great and loving the vertical!

Keith

 

[tx smoker]

That is one hell of a brisket Robert, smoke ring or not. Much better than anything I have ever done.

Not sure that it's better than anything you've done but thank you for the kind words my friend. It came out tasty as all get-out so I call that a success....smoke ring or not.

I think the lack of smoke ring is related to how much soaked wood chips you use. Do you use chips or pellets?

Well, as much as I appreciate the feed back, it's a bit incorrect on all counts. I don't use pellets or chips in the cabinet smoker. For this one I was using mesquite, real wood cut locally and cured in my garage. I don't use chips at all and pellets only for cold smoking and/or in the Rec Tec.

Who needs a smoke ring with that bark !
Everything looks great and loving the vertical!

Thanks so much Keith. The kind words are appreciated. I too am loving hat cabinet smoker. It is just the cat's meow and a dream to cook on.

Robert