Brisket advice

[Conodo12]

I think you gents have officially tipped the "nerd" meter onto it's side! With that, I tip my hat to you each!

[LarryR]

Re: Brisket from snake river farms

So I'm glad I read this post I just purchased a 14# brisket from snake river "Wagyu beef". I have been trying to read everything I can so I will have some idea what to do with this monster. I assume I have a packers cut?? which I think means it has both the flat and the point??

I'm surprised that I should cook it fat side down, I would have tried it fat side up thinking that the fat would melt and keep it moist...

So I'm thinking I cook it whole and then separate the flat from the point and get rid of the fat between the flat and the point because that's "bad fat".

Then I should put the point back on to make burnt ends??

It looks like the fat on top is pretty thick should I trim it or leave it...

I bought a Wagyu brisket based on comments about how outstanding Wagyu beef is. The price did not seem bad a 5-6# brisket at a local market was $30-$40 and this at 14# was about $80 delivered..

Right about now I'm thinking "What the %&$#@ was I thinking" but I know with the suggestions on the forum I should be just fine..

Any and all advice will be appreciated......

Tony

Tony THIS COOK was a Snake River Farms Wagyu brisket. I didn't trim, just threw her on at 210 and let her rip (I did have to increase the temp and foil her to speed-up the cook, should have started her the night before) and it was one of the finest briskets I've ever tasted.

I'd recommend rubbing her, putting on a 210 KK fat side down and settling in for a nice long cook. Note she will cook faster than a lesser grade brisket and you're plateau will come sooner. Burnt ends are my favorite option for a point; put the point back on for three hours, remove and cube, toss in some Sweet Baby Rays, honey and chipotle powder and you're golden.

As a side note I'm doing a choice brisket low and slow today no foil, we'll see how she comes out, first no foil brisket on the KK for me. Done the hot and fast and like the method for select and some choice grade briskets but you don't get near the bark so if you're a bark person I'd find a higher quality brisket and go the traditional method.

[mguerra]

hybrid

Don't forget you can hybridize the hot fast brisket with low and slow. You can do the first unfoiled part at any temp, if you want to lengthen the time in the smoke, and for bark. The first part could be at, say 225, then foil when it hits 165, and then crank up the pit temp to finish up faster. The trick is the tenderizing that occurs in the foil. Part one of the cook will be shorter or longer based on the temp. Part two, in the foil, will be pretty quick in any case. But I will say that even a hot fast part one will have good bark and smoke ring.

[DennisLinkletter]

Re: hybrid

Don't forget you can hybridize the hot fast brisket with low and slow. You can do the first unfoiled part at any temp' date=' if you want to lengthen the time in the smoke, and for bark. The first part could be at, say 225, then foil when it hits 165, and then crank up the pit temp to finish up faster. The trick is the tenderizing that occurs in the foil. Part one of the cook will be shorter or longer based on the temp. Part two, in the foil, will be pretty quick in any case. But I will say that even a hot fast part one will have good bark and smoke ring.[/quote']

Do you leave your thermocouple inserted thru the foil or foil folded around to watch temps?

[mguerra]

hot fast brisket

No. The technique is fully described in the sticky. Once you put the brisket in the foil, you NO LONGER monitor its' temperature. You don't finish the brisket by temperature. The finish is determined by feel. When the brisket is very tender when poked with a sharp probe, it is done. Your probe can be an icepick, a skewer, any thin sharp object. In fact you can use a thermometer probe for this purpose, but not by looking at the temperature! I did a hybrid yesterday. The first part of the cook I did at 225 for about four hours, with mesquite. Then I foiled it and cranked up the KK to 300. Took about two hours after foil to get good and tender. It had a good bark and smoke ring, I'll post photos later. Remember, once you foil, start checking the tenderness at the one hour point, and then at 30 minute intervals thereafter. You will NOT overcook it this way. Even if you leave it on the fire for an hour after it is fully tender, it will still come out perfect, because the foil keeps it moist. Now, the technique specifies that you foil the brisket once it hits 160 to 170 degrees. I have no idea how that was determined. My thought is that you could foil it at any point, at any temperature, once you think the brisket has had enough time in the smoke. Especially with a hybrid cook where the first part of the cook is at 225, the brisket can spend a fair bit of time in smoke. Anyway mine yesterday came out as perfect as usual, super moist and tender with full smoke and bark. Plus the juice!!! Don't discount that little bonus from the foil. You can do a lot with that juice.

[mguerra]

Photos of the hybrid, one is a little blurry:

[Syzygies]

I've never been happy with low & slow for brisket that lean. If the hybrid technique works for this, that's very good news.

(Nice smoke ring.)

At the same time, I feel justified spending 3x for some brisket with decent marbling, which can benefit from low & slow.

[mguerra]

That was the flat in the photo, not the point. I usually take a little point and a little flat in each bite. Very scrumptious that way! After cooking, I separate the two muscles, remove all the surface fat, and then slice each muscle across the grain. I have never seen a "marbled" flat, I don't think that muscle is prone to it. The points of course are usually quite well marbled.

[Syzygies]

I bought an 11 lb brisket on Monday for $76...

i just swallowed my gum....

I have never seen a "marbled" flat' date='...[/quote']

This is all starting to make sense to me. I was actually a little down on brisket (over-hyped, like gnocchi) till I found sources where the flats had some character.

I don't know (other than the catch-all term "connective tissue") what one calls the other material was that was dispersed through the meat in the flats that I like, but after a long slow cook it turns to Texas jam. If it's actually low fat, we could make a fortune selling the stuff in sticks in the butter aisle.

Yes, we should all be versed in both methods, and apply the one appropriate to the meat before us.

[mguerra]

To expound, in the photo you see the smoke ring on the top of the flat, but not below. The bottom of the flat is the junction between the flat and the point, so that was not exposed to the smoke during the cook since both muscles were connected at that time. Thus, no smoke ring there. Between the two muscles is a thick layer of fat and connective tissue, all of which I remove, you see it piled up in the top right part of the photo. That's why you see that bare edge on the bottom of the flat.