third brisket smoke on my mini

[jsclow]

Yesterday I smoke my third brisket smoke. I had 2 4ish lb briskets and decided to smoke them both. Niether one had a lot of fat. I thought I might try to help with the situation so Friday afternoon I injected a garlic/olive oil mix in and then rubbed them down. I thought I would experiment a little so at 8.5 hours, when the top one reached about 165* I pulled it and stuck it in the oven at 400* until it reached about 200* (about an hour). The bottom one was at about 172* so I left it in another hour and pulled it at about 185*, stuck in the oven about 30 min to get it up to a finishing temp of a round 200* (that was a little higher than I wanted). They both rested 2 hours. After the first one had gone through it's rest period, I took it over to a friends house for them to eat.

They both were very tender. They were just still on the dry side. Any tips/suggestions on getting those juices flowing?  What about when doing multi brisket smokes....placement of the meat (do I need to offset from one level to the other), internal temp monitor (top or bottom).

I will be attempting to smoke 4 or 5 brisket at the same time in the mini in a few weeks for a party.  With a grate on the steamer ring, I can do 3 levels.  Anyone done this??

 

[rotweiler2]

Hi John,

I can't speak to your question concerning the mini smoker, but you might try fattier meat and placing them in an aluminum pan to catch the drippings.  You will loose the bark, but after removing the fat from the drippings you can pour all these delicious juices over your cut brisket, which will add moister.  (place the drippings in the fridge while your meat rests and you can remove the hardened fat easily from the top)

Finishing the briskets in the oven at high heat works in a pinch, but that also may have contributed to a certain level of dryness. 

Hope that helps,

Chef Lars

 

[jsclow]

 
Hi John,

I can't speak to your question concerning the mini smoker, but you might try fattier meat and placing them in an aluminum pan to catch the drippings.  You will loose the bark, but after removing the fat from the drippings you can pour all these delicious juices over your cut brisket, which will add moister.  (place the drippings in the fridge while your meat rests and you can remove the hardened fat easily from the top)

Finishing the briskets in the oven at high heat works in a pinch, but that also may have contributed to a certain level of dryness.

Hope that helps,

Chef Lars

Thanks Chef.  THe problems is that I live in Honduras and the beef here is grass fed and lean...not much fat.  I have 'educated' the butcher not to trim any fat off so I get as much as possible but it is still pretty slim pickins on the 'grasa'.  I do want to try taking it to finishing temp the entire time on the smoker.  I just need to keep practicing to get the time right and know how early to start.

 

[Rafter H BBQ]

JSC, I don't have a mini but do have a WSM 18.5 & I've done a few briskets on... Just my method & keep in mind if the brisket doesn't have much fat..... dang..... I would keep injecting first off... But here's what I personally do. I don't trim much fat cap, I do rub the brisket down with just plain ole yellow mustard (for a bit of a barrier so to speak) to keep the juices a little more contained... Then rub... Smoke at 250* fat cap up (IMHO, the fat helps self baste the brisket as the fat renders) til check for toothpick tenderness... I start toothpick test at around 198* IT... When toothpick slides in like butta "butter" .... I pull, foil, wrap in a couple towels & rest in cooler for at least a few hours... I just use my camping cooler... Hope this helps ya some !!

Justin

 

[jsclow]

JSC, I don't have a mini but do have a WSM 18.5 & I've done a few briskets on... Just my method & keep in mind if the brisket doesn't have much fat..... dang..... I would keep injecting first off... But here's what I personally do. I don't trim much fat cap, I do rub the brisket down with just plain ole yellow mustard (for a bit of a barrier so to speak) to keep the juices a little more contained... Then rub... Smoke at 250* fat cap up (IMHO, the fat helps self baste the brisket as the fat renders) til check for toothpick tenderness... I start toothpick test at around 198* IT... When toothpick slides in like butta "butter" .... I pull, foil, wrap in a couple towels & rest in cooler for at least a few hours... I just use my camping cooler... Hope this helps ya some !!

Justin

Thanks Justin.  I did the yellow mustard on my very first brisket but have not done it since.  I willl do it on the next one.  I thought I was always supposed to put the fat side down, although it makes sense to let the fat juices soak down into the meat.   I did put the fattiest one on top this last time.  I was trying to leave the brisket on the smoker the entire time, until a finish temp of about 195* but ran out of time and got impatient.  I am going to start it extra early next time.  I'm gonna pump it full of olive oil/garlic mix.  Any suggestions on some other injection juice that will work better?

 

[rotweiler2]

 
Thanks Chef.  THe problems is that I live in Honduras and the beef here is grass fed and lean...not much fat.  I have 'educated' the butcher not to trim any fat off so I get as much as possible but it is still pretty slim pickins on the 'grasa'.  I do want to try taking it to finishing temp the entire time on the smoker.  I just need to keep practicing to get the time right and know how early to start.

That would make it more difficult. I prefer grass fed, except for exactly that reason - not much fat in them.  I would still try an aluminum pan and at least add the juices again at the end and Justin is right about injecting the meat - add some fat that way :-)