The Official Brisket Thread

[smokymountainrain]

Ha. Yeah, that is pretty lame.

It's been a long day. I would need to convert and upload about a dozen photos, then make links to them, etc. I will try to get to it tomorrow.

Either way, I sent you an e-mail.

[Jeff Lebowski]

Too long to post? That's what the thread is for!

Ha. Yeah, that is pretty lame.

It's been a long day. I would need to convert and upload about a dozen photos, then make links to them, etc. I will try to get to it tomorrow.

[CJF]

Too long to post? That's what the thread is for!

Seriously, wtf? How many times in the Diner has JL requested details and pictures?

[TripletDaddy]

Too long to post? That's what the thread is for!

[Jeff Lebowski]

JL, three years later, do you still endorse the step by step instructions you posted on the 1st page of this thread?

Also, scale of 1-10, how important is it to trim?

Yikes. Those instructions were way out of date from my current method. I just tweaked them.

Enough friends and family bugged me that I put together a much more detailed set of instructions this past year, including a series of photos. Too long to post in the OP, so send me an e-mail to lebowski99@gmail.com and I will send you a copy.

[PaloAltoCougar]

A fight between a couple of pitmasters during a brisket cook-off resulted in charges being brought against one of the contestants whose "slab of hot meat" hit a woman in the face and neck.

You guys be careful out there!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/...b0b48f6700e523

[smokymountainrain]

JL, three years later, do you still endorse the step by step instructions you posted on the 1st page of this thread?

Also, scale of 1-10, how important is it to trim?

[cowboy]

5 briskets today. Started them yesterday and cooked for 20 hours. I had to ride for cows most of the day so they were a little overdone. Also, not as much of a smoke ring as I'd like to have, but it tasted good, and the burnt ends were great.
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[Surfah]

I have been thinking lately that I need to get a good quality brisket knife. I have been using an electric knife which is highly efficient, but it frays the meat as it slices, leaving the edges kind of ugly looking. Here it a photo of brisket after using an electric slicer (notice the shaggy edges on upper left slices):



After doing some research, I bought this little baby:



http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...ilpage_o06_s00

A little pricey, but wow, it works beautifully. Got to try it for the first time yesterday and here are the results.

I hope your research included my post from 3 years ago in this thread.http://www.cougarstadium.com/showthr...l=1#post904513

[mtnbiker]

I'll be darned. After years of selling those ridiculously expensive little flats, our local Costco now sells huge (16-17 lbs) full packers. And they are cheap!! $2.99 per lb.

Heck, I'll bet even HEB can't beat that. FMCoug needs to move back to Utah, pronto.

I'll definitely have to check that out. Thanks for the heads-up.

[hostile]

I'll be darned. After years of selling those ridiculously expensive little flats, our local Costco now sells huge (16-17 lbs) full packers. And they are cheap!! $2.99 per lb.

Heck, I'll bet even HEB can't beat that. FMCoug needs to move back to Utah, pronto.

I saw those at the Costco on 2100s in slc. The one by my work doesn't have them yet. They were in, what appeared to be, a new meat section. They were also selling pork belly, entire roasting pig, and an entire NZ lamb among other large cuts of beef/pork.

[Joe Public]

I've been watching at my local Costco, and they still have the flats. That said, they did have a 17-lb. full packer in the prime grade section the other day. It's the only packer I've ever seen in that store. I was tempted . . .

[Jeff Lebowski]

I'll be darned. After years of selling those ridiculously expensive little flats, our local Costco now sells huge (16-17 lbs) full packers. And they are cheap!! $2.99 per lb.

Heck, I'll bet even HEB can't beat that. FMCoug needs to move back to Utah, pronto.

[mtnbiker]

[ATTACH]6168[/ATTACH]

I finally got around to doing one of these. It was actually a smaller piece of meat, we hadn't planned on doing it, but my wife found a six pound flat at Harmon's and bought it. It was well marbled on the bottom and quite uniform in it's size and shape, so I thought I'd try to cook it really slow and we'd see how it went. I told her I wasn't sure how it would do, because you guys have generally cooked much larger ones. I copied the Franklin BBQ guys salt and pepper rub and let it sit overnight. I figured I wouldn't need to cook it all night so I put it on at about 8am and went to church. By noon it was at about 185 degrees when I got home, and I wrapped it up tight in aluminum foil and put it in the oven for three hours. Then I turned down the oven and let it sit in there all afternoon at 175. At 6pm, I took it out and let it sit for a half hour.

It was amazing. Super moist, great smoky flavor, slight amount of fat on the bottom. I appreciate the efforts of everyone on this thread, as it makes it easy for someone like me who has never done this cut of meat before to give it a try. That little corner is all that was left, I can't stop picking at it, even at this late hour. I honestly am never going to a BBQ restaurant again. Since my wife bought me this for Christmas, we've done pulled pork a bunch of times, 2 turkey breasts, tri tip a bunch of times, and chicken a couple times. Best present she's ever bought me.

Nice job! Yeah, we never go to a BBQ restaurant anymore, either. I typically cook extra, too, so that we have plenty of leftovers. A couple of months ago I was out of town and went to a Famous Dave's restaurant. I got a sampler of ribs and brisket, but both were overcooked and dry. Bleh. We're much happier with the home-smoked meats.

[Jeff Lebowski]

Nicely done.