Smoking a brisket in Thailand. #1

[George's Pizza]

My plan was to start smoking my first brisket early this morning. The afternoon before the very small brisket (the butcher misunderstood) had been trimmed and the rub applied. I told Somchai to put the meat in the fridge. For some background, Somchai is one of our workers and always shows up for work. Half-drunk from rice whiskey, but he does show up.

This morning, I got the fire started at 7 and went to get the brisket out of the fridge to allow it to come to room temperature while I got the fire adjusted. The problem was that I didn’t see the meat. Turns out Somchai had put the meat in the freezer. Idiot. Me, not him as I should have double checked.

And this is only the first day of my brisket journey here in Thailand.

 

[BigW.]

Looking forward to seeing how this comes out. Great story telling.

 

[fxsales1959]

bummer. I can't imagine what a good brisket costs in Thailand.

 

[mneeley490]

 

[Astralogics]

Sucks to hear, but will be here to see how this plays out.

 

[WaterRat]

Well, at least the brisket is still useable
Good luck!

 

[Gonna Smoke]

Turns out Somchai had put the meat in the freezer.

Hate that, but at least he didn't throw it in the trash... I'll stick around for the finish...

 

[babydocsmoke]

Best of luck!!

 

[Brokenhandle]

View attachment 718312

I'm so saving this one! It's the same place this one came from...

And now, the rest of the brisket story!

Ryan

 

[George's Pizza]

The internet can be great for learning new things and it can also be a waste of time. Allow me to backup and explain.

After the brisket had thawed, I told Somchai to paint some mustard on it and let me know when he was done. I then put a 50/50 rub of coarse salt and pepper on the meat and placed it in the smoker at about 225F. The fire was relatively easy to control from my past experience of smoking ribs.

My original plan was to open up the smoker about every hour or so and use a meat thermometer to check on how the brisket was coming along. But my wife had a surprise for me and showed me something she had bought online after watching an YT video. It was a wireless thermometer using some sort of a tooth to transfer information to a phone.

And as a side note, I don’t know about the states; but nowadays here in Thailand it is rare to see a Thai that is not hanging on to a phone. Drives me crazy.

Regardless, the wait began and I told Somchai to tend to the fire and let me know when his phone app showed 165F. After a few hours, he came to my workshop and said the brisket was ready. I wrapped up the beef with butcher paper and back in the smoker it went to reach 200F. About two hours later the brisket was taken out and allowed to rest. In hindsight I should have checked the temp.

When I cut it open, I knew that things had not gone according to plan. First of all the meat was not exactly tender. Plus it was salty and I mean really salty. I was the one who had put the rub and I kept asking myself what did I do wrong? As it turns out, it was Somchai. He had spread table salt on the meat without saying anything and had followed different temperature settings. Why? He had seen someone else do it on TikTok.

The second attempt will be next week and this time it will be a solo flight…

 

[Fueling Around]

Hmmm

...
And as a side note, I don’t know about the states; but nowadays here in Thailand it is rare to see a Thai that is not hanging on to a phone. Drives me crazy.
...

It is pathetically bad every in the states that I travel. Very bad in the Florida community with all the people that choose to use speaker phone to publicly broadcast their private (?) conversations.

You really need to evaluate the pluses and minuses of your employee and set some firm rules.
I realize firing him may set some local retaliation

 

[Brokenhandle]

There's obviously a reason he still works for you... I'm not here to judge or tell you how to run your business or employees. But yes, your next brisket should be supervised by you. Wish you the best of luck! You'll get it!

Ryan

 

[sonnyseattle]

I have worked and traveled to Thailand many times, and even speak enough of the language to get around without a translator. I love Thai food and trust the cooks there. I would not trust anyone there (that I personally know) to smoke or BBQ meat in the American style.