The Official Brisket Thread

[FN Phat]

One of my favorite things about brisket is the left over possiblilities. Love, love , love leftover brisket in tacos, enchiladas, sandwiches on texas toast, breakfast with some eggs and potatoes, etc.

[CJF]

Thanks.

How big was the brisket?

How long did you have it in the oven?

13.8 pounds and about 5 hours in the oven. It got done so much quicker than I anticipated I had to leave it for a while. Still turned out great.

[ERCougar]

So I found a brisket at Wal-Mart that I'll try in a few days, but still deciding on method. CJF, you didn't trim at all. Why not? Trimming seems like a big pain, so I'd love to avoid it.

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[Jeff Lebowski]

I tried CJF's recently-posted butcher paper method yesterday. The deets:

14.5 lbs brisket from Walmart. Did some minor trimming of some of the bigger chunks of fat, but not much.
Montreal Steak Rub
Perfect mix pellets
Put on at 4 am at 275 degrees. Fat side down.
Wrapped in butcher paper at 8:30 am. Temp was ~170-175 in the thickest spots
Used three layers of butcher paper with a couple of extra layers just underneath the meat. Put probe through paper. Put meat on a large cookie sheet and put back in Traeger
Reduced temp to 225 degrees. Reached 195 at 12:45 pm.
Moved to oven at 180 degrees
Sliced at 3:45 pm.

It was pretty good, but not like what CJF posted in his photos. I have done worse and I have done better. Kind of dry and tough in spots, but thankfully the point on this thing was HUGE so there was plenty of moist meat in to go around. Pics below.

Seems like it was overcooked. I had the temp probe in the thickest part which was where the point is. I am wondering if the probe tip was in a big chunk of fat or something. I am thinking next time I might put the probe in a thick part of the flat just to be safe. CJF, DT: any ideas?

Thinking I might flip the temps next time. Unwrapped phase at 225 and wrapped phase at 275. Hmm....

[CJF]

That ring is amazing. I wonder about the quality of meat. That's really the only major thing I can think of. I go fat cap up, but that is probably not a difference maker either way. My last brisket I did for the free samples, I pulled it late and wrapped after it hit 200. I then let it rest wrapped in paper in the oven for about 6 hours. I was terrified it was going to be a disaster. I think it turned out pretty good, And got decent reviews from the taste testers. The bark was saltier than I wanted, but it was not dry at all. So the only thing I can think is meat quality. Other than Walmart commercials claiming high grade meat, I know very little of their overall quality.

[Jeff Lebowski]

That ring is amazing. I wonder about the quality of meat. That's really the only major thing I can think of. I go fat cap up, but that is probably not a difference maker either way. My last brisket I did for the free samples, I pulled it late and wrapped after it hit 200. I then let it rest wrapped in paper in the oven for about 6 hours. I was terrified it was going to be a disaster. I think it turned out pretty good, And got decent reviews from the taste testers. The bark was saltier than I wanted, but it was not dry at all. So the only thing I can think is meat quality. Other than Walmart commercials claiming high grade meat, I know very little of their overall quality.

I used to do it fat up, but that limits your smoke ring and bark. I started doing fat down a while back and I prefer it that way.

Meat quality would certainly be a factor, but I don't know if that would explain everything. Sadly, this is about the only option that doesn't involve driving to SLC.

Where do you put the temp probe when you do it? I noticed that the point area was about 10 degrees cooler than the flat, but it was still a pretty big flat. What I really need to do is get a second probe I think. I would be nice to monitor two spots after wrapping in paper.

Keep in mind that it was still an excellent brisket overall. We gave a bunch of this to a family in the ward that has been having some health problems. I suspect they loved it. I gave some to my daughter's friends who came by and they said it was the best brisket they had ever tasted. As is the case with many of you, I just have higher standards at this point.

[ERCougar]

So when you use butcher paper, do you include some broth? I did that when I foiled it and it was good, but I don't know how well that would work with paper.

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[Jeff Lebowski]

So when you use butcher paper, do you include some broth? I did that when I foiled it and it was good, but I don't know how well that would work with paper.

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I did not. Figured it would just seep through.

How did your brisket turn out?

[ERCougar]

I did not. Figured it would just seep through.

How did your brisket turn out?

It was my first, so standards are still low, but everyone loved it. Better than I've had in bbq joints, but I haven't tried that place in Provo yet so that may be a low bar too. I loved the leftovers. I'll definitely do it again.

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[Art Vandelay]

I'm never sure where to measure the temperature at. There always seems to be a 7-10 degree difference between the thickest point of the point and the middle of the flat. Which should is use as my reference point?

[wuapinmon]

I'm roasting six briskets tomorrow morning for this event:



I made an entire case of parsley into chimichurri this evening, brined 80 lbs of chicken legs, and I have 75 lbs of Thad Weinberg link sausage in my fridge. Also, 225 Mexican Cokes and a case each of Tamarindo, Naranja, and Lime Jarritos. I'm making this recipe for Venezuelan-style black beans: http://www.venezuelanfoodanddrinks.b...lan-black.html

We're going to roast four of the briskets in portable ovens. Two of them are getting smoked over a contraption one of the math professors rigged up using two empty Progresso soup cans, spit, and bailing wire. He swears by it, and I've tasted the stuff he grilled last year, and it was delicious to the taste and very desirable. Tomorrow is a fun day, and then, time to take a couple of weekends off. I've been going pretty hard this semester since I have sabbatical next semester and we're going to spend January -June in Costa Rica.

Pura vida, maes.

[clackamascoug]

I'm roasting six briskets tomorrow morning for this event:



I made an entire case of parsley into chimichurri this evening, brined 80 lbs of chicken legs, and I have 75 lbs of Thad Weinberg link sausage in my fridge. Also, 225 Mexican Cokes and a case each of Tamarindo, Naranja, and Lime Jarritos. I'm making this recipe for Venezuelan-style black beans: http://www.venezuelanfoodanddrinks.b...lan-black.html

We're going to roast four of the briskets in portable ovens. Two of them are getting smoked over a contraption one of the math professors rigged up using two empty Progresso soup cans, spit, and bailing wire. He swears by it, and I've tasted the stuff he grilled last year, and it was delicious to the taste and very desirable. Tomorrow is a fun day, and then, time to take a couple of weekends off. I've been going pretty hard this semester since I have sabbatical next semester and we're going to spend January -June in Costa Rica.

Pura vida, maes.

Usted mi amigo es un hombre loco. That's a lot of cooking.

[FMCoug]

I'm roasting six briskets tomorrow morning for this event:



I made an entire case of parsley into chimichurri this evening, brined 80 lbs of chicken legs, and I have 75 lbs of Thad Weinberg link sausage in my fridge. Also, 225 Mexican Cokes and a case each of Tamarindo, Naranja, and Lime Jarritos. I'm making this recipe for Venezuelan-style black beans: http://www.venezuelanfoodanddrinks.b...lan-black.html

We're going to roast four of the briskets in portable ovens. Two of them are getting smoked over a contraption one of the math professors rigged up using two empty Progresso soup cans, spit, and bailing wire. He swears by it, and I've tasted the stuff he grilled last year, and it was delicious to the taste and very desirable. Tomorrow is a fun day, and then, time to take a couple of weekends off. I've been going pretty hard this semester since I have sabbatical next semester and we're going to spend January -June in Costa Rica.

Pura vida, maes.

That is impressive. If you subscribed to the true order of bbq then you'd get the big cook title.

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[Vic Vega]

I'm roasting six briskets tomorrow morning for this event:



I made an entire case of parsley into chimichurri this evening, brined 80 lbs of chicken legs, and I have 75 lbs of Thad Weinberg link sausage in my fridge. Also, 225 Mexican Cokes and a case each of Tamarindo, Naranja, and Lime Jarritos. I'm making this recipe for Venezuelan-style black beans: http://www.venezuelanfoodanddrinks.b...lan-black.html

We're going to roast four of the briskets in portable ovens. Two of them are getting smoked over a contraption one of the math professors rigged up using two empty Progresso soup cans, spit, and bailing wire. He swears by it, and I've tasted the stuff he grilled last year, and it was delicious to the taste and very desirable. Tomorrow is a fun day, and then, time to take a couple of weekends off. I've been going pretty hard this semester since I have sabbatical next semester and we're going to spend January -June in Costa Rica.

Pura vida, maes.

That sound like a lot of fun. You have to give us a wrap up report later.

[wuapinmon]

That sound like a lot of fun. You have to give us a wrap up report later.

I learned that I should always buy DOUBLE the amount of charcoal that I think we need. The briskets got the following treatment.

Rub =

1 cup kosher salt
1 cup ground black pepper
1 cup granulated garlic
1 cup light brown sugar
1 cup paprika
1/4 cup guajillo chile, ground
1 tbsp cumin
10 shakes red pepper flakes

I wanted an enchilada type flavor to them in case no one showed up. It worked, but there weren't any leftovers of the brisket. We threw them on the grill with heavy smoke for about 90 minutes and then trasnferred four of them to the roaster ovens and two to the kitchen oven. They then cooked @ 225F for about four more hours. By game time they were fall apart tender with just enough smoke to make them delicious. Most people liked the flavor of the rub, saying that they hadn't ever had brisket that way before. The brined chicken was succulent and moist and salty and tasty. My colleague who was in charge of the grilling chose to sprinkle some Goya Adobo on them once they were on the grill--a light dusting--and it really made the skin tasty without making the meat too salty.

The sausage was amazing, but we didn't cook 50 lbs of it since attendance was down due to most athletic teams being away and SGA scheduling their "Fall Ball" to start during the middle of ours . So, we're going to have a brats and kraut night for the Saints vs. Seahawks Monday Night Football on December 2nd.

The beans were amazing! I had about 2 lbs of chorizo left over from Day of the Dead, so I doubled the onions and added the chorizo and 1.5ed the amount of beans. Two crockpots full of beans down to 1/2 a crockpot. If attendance had been up, we would've run out.

10 lbs of my saffron blossom garlic rice evaporated.

I was and still am exhausted. I think I'm going to go enjoy an icy cold Jarritos de tamarindo.