This is a 12 lber Top Choice Angus i purchased at The Butcher Market in Raleigh for $5.99 lb. I trimmed approximately 1-2 lb of fat is all and the only seasoning i used was some yellow pepper and Montreal Steak. I am smokin on the lower grates fat side up with the Point towards the firebox. I placed a bowl of water for moisture on top shelf and did not inject this Brisket and i placed the damper 6" towards firebox.
At the 5 hour mark i opened and inspected the Brisket and def not the color i want yet and i did stick my Thermapen in the thickest part of the flat and internal was at 155°.At the 10 hour mark i was at 192° by the Mav 733 probe and i had the bark i wanted so i wrapped in BP. At the 10 hour 50 min mark i hit an internal of 200° So i pulled it and will let rest for 2 hours in oven before slicing into that bad boy!.I might add my pellet consumption was about 18 lbs for the cook.
My first Brisket turned out as expected and if i could do anything different next time id wait til internal of 200 and not even wrap so the bark would be more of a sugar cookie crunch. Heres pics of finished/sliced product and of course "Burnt Ends" and they were Greattttttt!!
Proud owner of a YS640
- Joined: May 10th, 2014, 12:33 pm
- Posts: 576
- Location: Sitting Near a Yoder Smoker, Smelling Sweet Blue
Thanks Kirby. Was fun
Proud owner of a YS640
That looks really nice. Thanks for sharing. I have my "go-to" methods for all meats when we are having people over. However, when I'm just cooking for my family I ALWAYS try something different. It's what brought me to have a "go-to" method when it's important! I always warn them that it's a test cook and that it's not going to be like a normal product that they are used to!
Tomorrow I am "experimenting" since we aren't having anyone over. I'm going to do a 10lb butt. I normally make my rub and then wrap after 5 hours. This time I am testing with just 50/50 pepper/salt and not wrapping at all. It's not a HUGE change, but it's different and I hope I learn something from flavor and texture that will make my next cook even better.
Once again, thanks for sharing.
Nice work Rick. What temp were you cooking at? I did nearly the same thing today at 250 however I wrapped mine in BP at 182 and took in total 13hrs to reach an IT 200 and the end result, while flavorful, was sadly dry, overcooked. It was my first attempt at using BP so I don't think my temp probe was in the right place. Mine looked nearly identical as yours too.
I smoked at 250 the entire cook and yes mine was a tad dry so i may try wrappin in foil next time to see if i like that better
Proud owner of a YS640
I like to inject with beef broth. It helps. Nothing added, just the broth.
I may try that next time conumdrum
Proud owner of a YS640
NIce job, Rick!
Wicked Chicken: where did you get your brisket and what grade did you use? Not sure what would cause the dryness but it could be a few different things:
Big box meat. I just won't buy brisket at either Sams, Walmart, grocery store, etc. Since switching to a local butcher shop my brisket has always been moist. Sams brisket was always dry and I believe their meats are all partially frozen for long transport. One thing I noticed about Sams brisket is that there's always a ton of juice that has leaked out - especially after the rest. That's absolutely not what you want to see under any circumstances because that juice should be in the meat! It's a sure sign of totally or partially frozen meat.
How long did you rest? 2 hours should be a minimum, really.
Did you add the water bowl?
Lastly, and this is huge, there needs to be at least 1/4" thick fat cap on the entire cut - point and flat. That fat cap is going to do many things but one extremely important one: Keep the moisture in the meat and prevent dryness. Rick's shots of the flat above look like there were sections in which there might have only been a very thin layer of fat, but every slice should have that 1/4" thickness. That was another big problem I found with Sams or grocery brisket: Someone had already removed quite a bit of fat!! If you've got bald spots on any portion of the flat and point you should stay far way. It's going to work against you every time. If you've got a lot of fat, just trim very slowly until you hit that depth.
Yeah my flat had plenty of fatcap but the point had a bald spot
Proud owner of a YS640
The point was very juicy and i love that ribeye texture..most all the Decko fat rendered...the bark was not as dark as i liked tho
Proud owner of a YS640
>>Wicked Chicken: where did you get your brisket and what grade did you use? Not sure what would cause the dryness but it could be a few different things:
I got my brisket at Costco, it was labeled USDA Prime.
>>How long did you rest? 2 hours should be a minimum, really.
I was only able to rest it for 45min, My brisket was smaller than yours so I was hoping to stay within your 10hr time window but it took 13 instead and ate up my rest time.I'll start it much sooner to account for this.
>> Did you add the water bowl?
Nope, this wasn't deliberate I simply forgot to put one in.
>>Lastly, and this is huge, there needs to be at least 1/4" thick fat cap on the entire cut - point and flat.
I had more than 1/4" fat on the brisket flat and trimmed it down to 1/4".
Wicked Chicken wrote:>>Wicked Chicken: where did you get your brisket and what grade did you use? Not sure what would cause the dryness but it could be a few different things:
I got my brisket at Costco, it was labeled USDA Prime.
>>How long did you rest? 2 hours should be a minimum, really.
I was only able to rest it for 45min, My brisket was smaller than yours so I was hoping to stay within your 10hr time window but it took 13 instead and ate up my rest time.I'll start it much sooner to account for this.
>> Did you add the water bowl?
Nope, this wasn't deliberate I simply forgot to put one in.
>>Lastly, and this is huge, there needs to be at least 1/4" thick fat cap on the entire cut - point and flat.
I had more than 1/4" fat on the brisket flat and trimmed it down to 1/4".
Just my 2 cents... In my humble experience, the rest is mandatory with a brisket...great things happen during the rest... With a USDA prime brisket, trimmed to 1/4", you should have one heck of a piece of meat. If anything, again in my experience, pulling it a little earlier than you might otherwise and letting it rest with butcher paper or foil, toweled, in a cooler, will produce a great brisket. I had to cut a recent cook a little bit shorter than I wanted to (from an internal temp perspective), but I made sure to rest it for 45 mins (which is shorter than my normal 2-4 hours) and it was amazing how much it loosened up during the rest. I was really worried and it came out great. Sometimes better lucky than smart.
As far as time goes, I wouldn't personally worry about how many hours it cooks--I'd just focus on choosing the cook temp I want, holding it steady (i.e. don't open the smoker to peek very often), the development of the bark/crust, if and when to wrap, and then internal temps and rest. For a big brisket, 13 hours is not at all out of the typical cooking time in my experience. Depends largely on size and temp.
Pitmaster_Rick wrote:The point was very juicy and i love that ribeye texture..most all the Decko fat rendered...the bark was not as dark as i liked tho
I've had the same issue on a few points. Nothing wrong (IMHO) with throwing the point back on the smoker or even the grill for a few to get the bark as dark as you want it for burnt ends or just for sliced or chopped point.
Jed I actually did cut up half of the point into 1 inch chunks and put back on the grill for burnt ends and they turned out awesome . The other half of the point I kept whole and foodsaver'd it and put in freezer for a rainy day as well as the other half of the point
Proud owner of a YS640
- Disclaimer :
- The views and comments entered in these forums are personal and are not necessarily those of the management of this board.
