ThreeDJ16 Posted May 6, 2008 Report Share Posted May 6, 2008 OK, I am just reposting an earlier post I made on rapid cooling the beef brisket after it reaches desired setpoint. -=Jasen=- Well for some reason I missed cooking a beef brisket during my vacation and finally got around to doing it yesterday. To start with, I am jumping to the end. While cooking this brisket, I began thinking about how to finish up this brisket. So many folks wrap in foil part way through and place back on the grill or wrap in foil and place in insulated container to cool slowly. Putting foil in my grill was totally out so maybe the latter? But then it struck me that every time I have wrapped a butt or ribs in foil, there is a good deal of juices still in the bottom after it has cooled. Also the meat continues to cook in that foil. So wondering about how to cool and retain the juices, I thought about rapid cooling instead. I mean why not? The meat was cooked to the desired temp and a long, foil wrapped cool down would just cook it more (and dry it out). So anyway, an hour or so in the bottom drawer of the frig, covered with ice packs yielded the best brisket I have ever made. Very little juice in the foil, so it stayed in the meat instead! Now, backing up. I started with a whole packers cut beef brisket. I do not like to separate out the muscle groups as I think it cooks better whole. I am not as concerned about a uniform fat cap as trying to leave enough to keep the entire slab area the same thickness (more fat on thinner meat to keep the bulk thickness even). I do cut out the fat on the edges where the two muscle groups merge (this way later, when I separate on the grill, it is much easier to do). Next step is the season which I prefer to apply the night before. Been experimenting on beef with a homemade blend that is very similar to what is commonly referred to as a poultry season (with a few additions). It is good on chicken, but it is also very good on roast. It is comprised of rosemary, marjoram, thyme, sage, nutmeg, black pepper, salt and hot paprika. I put my food on the cooker while it is coming up to temp. Since I am using the Procom, there is no need for additional trips out to the cooker. Toss it all on the cooker, set it on fire and dial in my temps. I used indirect heat, drip pan on lower grate and meat on main grill with fat turned down. Temp was brought up in stages around 10 minutes apart - 200,225 and 245 was my cook temp. Didn't touch it again until it was time to separate. Around the 12 hours mark, the average of my thermometers in the flat section indicated 190. So using my big grill spatula, I separated the two sections, leaving the tips on the grill and the flat to the frig! Jacked up the temps to 270 and finished out the tips for another hour, then into the frig! Sliced the flats and pulled/chopped the tips - proof is in the pudding. Check out how juicy the finished pics are! -=Jasen=- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
