Smoking a brisket with no fat (outside US)

[Boon]

Hi everyone,

Long time lurker here, I’ve been successfully smoking with the help of SMF for a couple years now, but I just ran into an unusual problem.

I’m now in a country where they let the cows starve naturally before butchering. Brisket was an unheard of cut of meat, but I was able to explain it to a local butcher and he got me what mimics a Brisket cut (uneven, thin in the middle, missing fat cap in some areas). The biggest problem is that it has very little fat overall, and not even the fat cap is the same as US beef.

I knew it was going to be a problem when the drip pan had nothing after 3 hours in the smoker. The foil was completely clean! I wrapped it then, and cooked till 190F IT and let it sit wrapped in a towel in a cooler. I sliced the first half after 30min, second half after an hour. Inside the foil there was some juice, but the thicker parts of the brisket was as tough as a well done sirloin. I always smoke briskets at 220-240.

I’ve successfully smoked dozens of briskets in the past, so I’m familiar with it. I still have one local brisket left, so I was wondering if I can do anything to salvage it or if I should give up and throw it in the slow cooker instead.

Thanks,

 

[schlotz]

No mention of probing for tenderness. They can become tender anywhere in the 190-210º range. Each brisket is different. By the sounds of it, "...tough as a well done sirloin", my first guess would be it needed more time in the smoker before all areas probed easily in & out (like a knife through butter). Also, what was the IT after 3 hours when you wrapped it? Usually wrapping is done when it hits the stall somewhere around 150 to 165º. While I personally don't inject, others do with success. It might be an option to consider.

 

[Boon]

Thanks for the reply.

There are some other factors I didn’t mention that led me to wrap after 3.5 hours, when they were 147f IT. Lower than I’d like, but the charcoal (no briquettes available) was about to go out, and there’s no way to add more without the ash flaring up onto the meat. They were moved to a gas oven without a temp control, but using an in oven thermometer I got it to 250f (any lower and gas would go out completely).

It remained in the oven for another 3 hours, then I had to transport it for an event. I have pulled out most of my briskets between 185-190 and they were just as moist and tender as 195-205.

Again, this is a meat problem and not a technique problem. My drip pan was empty in the smoker, and even after wrapping there was maybe 3 tbl of juice inside the foil when done. This shows the meat just has nothing to shed.

Any advice on cooking bad meat would be appreciated. Obviously this is the best brisket I can buy in this country, and it’s worth a try for me because I can’t go a year without smoking.

P.S. pork is not available in this country.

 

[Boon]

Picture of my drip pan after 3.5 hours, 3kg of brisket.