wilburpan Posted September 13, 2015 Report Share Posted September 13, 2015 This weekend I wanted to try my hand at a whole packer brisket again. We had some friends over to help us eat it. I knew this would be a bit of an adventure when I got the brisket from our local butcher. He gave me a brisket that was 21 lbs. I took it, as it was the only one that they had. This brisket was larger than the other ones I’ve cooked by at least 8 lbs. Here it is, with a ruler for scale. My plan was to make this brisket Texas style, following Aaron Franklin’s method. I made a rub with a 50/50 mix of black pepper ground with a mortar and pestle and kosher salt. There’s about 1/2 cup total in this jar. Just to give another perspective on this brisket, check out how thick the point end is. The jar is is 5-1/4†tall. Here’s how I trimmed the brisket. I got as much of the fat off the bottom as I could, and trimmed the fat cap side so that it was about 1/4†thick across the top. I also excavated the big chunk of fat that sits between the flat and the point as much as I could from both sides. Scooping that fat out brought the thickness of the brisket at that end down so that the flat and point ends were closer in thickness. I sliced off the long edges to clean up the shape of the brisket. One side had a gray, dry appearance, which you can see at the top center of the picture, and I tossed it. The pieced I trimmed from the other side looked nice (it’s at the right side of the picture), so I saved it. I lightly covered the brisket with olive oil, and sprinkled the rub on all sides. I had lit Smaug earlier in the evening with a basket full of Royal Oak, and he seemed to want to be a little above 200ºF. I put the brisket on a little before midnight. I stayed up for about an hour and a half to keep an eye on the temperature, which remained stable, and then went to bed. Things got interesting when I woke up. The morning was pretty chilly, and the thermometer read 180ºF. I opened up the vents, and Smaug settled in at 250ºF. I also applied rub to the good piece I had trimmed, and put that piece into Smaug as well. At noon, 12 hours into the cook, I bumped the temperature up to 275ºF. I hit an IT of 195ºF at the 16 hour mark. The brisket was probe tender all over, and I decided it was done. I already had taken out the small piece of trimmed brisket edge, and gave it to the kids to eat, since they were getting antsy. I don’t have any pictures of the small piece, but I figured that’s okay, because I know you all want to see what the whole brisket looked like. Here it is. Here’s what the flat looked like, sliced. This is the point end. I messed up a little slicing this part. The slices were a bit too thick. Slices of the flat and point, ready for serving. And my plate. Here are a few things I picked up from this cook. First, although I’ve read that great things happen to a brisket at an IT of 203ºF, I think an IT of 195ºF works better for me. The last brisket I made I shot for an IT of 203ºF, and although it was very tasty, it was a bit on the dry side. Maybe it’s because I don’t bother with wrapping. This brisket was about as good as I think I could make it — great flavor and really moist. Second, slicing is important. As I mentioned, the point slices were a bit on the thick side, and although they were really tasty, I think they would have been better if they were sliced a bit thinner. Third, I think one of the big factors in how well this brisket turned out was the trimming step. As I was trimming it, I was thinking about what the issues were in cooking a brisket. You have two muscles, one leaner than the other, and the leaner one is more exposed to the heat. Although my goal in trimming out as much of the fat between the flat and point was to decrease the amount of fat rendering needed in that part of the brisket, the added benefit of making the brisket more uniform in thickness probably helped in how this brisket turned out. I didn’t make burnt ends because I’m really not sure how to go about making them, and more importantly, since I’ve never had burnt ends before, I have no idea how they should taste. Luckily, I’ll be in Kansas City in a couple of weeks, and I plan on rectifying that situation. Finally, I have to give credit to Smaug for helping me pull off this cook. I was really nervous about this brisket because it was so big. Our friends, who are from the South and who have been to Texas on many occasions, said that this was better than any brisket they ever had in Texas. I keep hearing that brisket is the hardest thing to smoke. This is only my third brisket cook, and they all have turned out great. New Jersey isn’t known for its BBQ, but I can’t think of any BBQ place around here that I would rather go to for brisket. I may have to make a pilgrimage to Franklin BBQ. I’ve said this before, but I’d like to repeat that prior to getting Smaug, I had zero experience with low and slow BBQ’ing. In order to get the results that I did, I have to believe that the ability of a KK grill to hold and maintain temperatures and their increased efficiency over other grills has something to do with this. The only other explanation is that I’m some sort of BBQ genius, in which case you all should listen to me when I say that having a KK grill is completely worth it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CeramicChef Posted September 13, 2015 Report Share Posted September 13, 2015 Wilbur - great presentation of your cook! I especially like the shots of the slices of the point as well as the flat. That money shot is over the top delicious looking! I particularly like your post game analysis on this brisket cook. You make some excellent points concisely and cogently. Bravo! Thanks for sharing this with us. We can all take a lesson or two from this post. Kudos! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tinyfish Posted September 13, 2015 Report Share Posted September 13, 2015 Wilburpan you are a brisket genius for sure. That turned out excellent to say the least. Do you use any smoking wood when you cook your briskets? I just put on a brined brisket Montreal smoked meat style and If it turns out half as good as yours it will be a success. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ckreef Posted September 13, 2015 Report Share Posted September 13, 2015 Really nice looking brisket. Made me hungry really early in the morning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MacKenzie Posted September 13, 2015 Report Share Posted September 13, 2015 Wilbur, that is an excellent trimming job followed by perfect cooking. The meat looks soooo moist and tender. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoFrogs91 Posted September 13, 2015 Report Share Posted September 13, 2015 Awesome cook Wilbur. Love the ongoing narrative as you were cooking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5698k Posted September 13, 2015 Report Share Posted September 13, 2015 Great job, I'm all over the a S&P rub!! Burnt ends are simple, and they taste how you want them to taste, there's no real guideline. Hey, you're doing lo/slo just fine, so why wait? Robert Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Poochie Posted September 13, 2015 Report Share Posted September 13, 2015 That brisket is a winner Wilbur. Your guests loved it, you loved it, and that's really all that matters when it's all said and done. Nice smoke ring on it too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomahawk66 Posted September 13, 2015 Report Share Posted September 13, 2015 Wow! That looks outta this world! I'm now getting nervous about how my sous vide brisket will come out next week... You set the bar outrageously high! 😠It's great how with tools as good as a KK I see so many people on the forum push themselves to do more and better than before - would you have taken he risk with such a quality bit of meat on substandard grill/smoker? I'd wager not Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedStick Posted September 13, 2015 Report Share Posted September 13, 2015 That looks great,Wilbur. I'm also curious if you added some wood chunks to the Royal Oak. Great job! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hogsfan Posted September 13, 2015 Report Share Posted September 13, 2015 Wilbur, Looks awesome! You figured out something here but didn't realize it. There is nothing magic about 205 degrees, 195 degrees, or 2,058,232 degrees. It's a matter of giving the heat enough time to break down the connective tissue and that's going to vary based on the size, shape, age, and other variables of each individual cook. A thermometer can't measure that...but a probe can. Temps are just a guide for knowing when to start probing. Once it probes like butter, the cooking is done no matter what the number on the thermometer says. Again, awesome job, man! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Poochie Posted September 13, 2015 Report Share Posted September 13, 2015 What he said ^^^^^ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wilburpan Posted September 13, 2015 Author Report Share Posted September 13, 2015 Wilburpan you are a brisket genius for sure. That turned out excellent to say the least. Do you use any smoking wood when you cook your briskets? That looks great,Wilbur. I'm also curious if you added some wood chunks to the Royal Oak. Believe it or not, I have yet to try using wood chunks for smoking on any of my cooks. Any smokiness in my cooks so far was generated by the charcoal itself, or from drippings hitting the hot parts of the grill during a cook. I do woodworking as a hobby, so I have loads of scrap cherry, maple, and white oak, and one day I’ll give smoking woods a try. Up to now I’ve been concentrating on my technique before adding in another variable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wilburpan Posted September 13, 2015 Author Report Share Posted September 13, 2015 You figured out something here but didn't realize it. There is nothing magic about 205 degrees, 195 degrees, or 2,058,232 degrees. It's a matter of giving the heat enough time to break down the connective tissue and that's going to vary based on the size, shape, age, and other variables of each individual cook. A thermometer can't measure that...but a probe can. Temps are just a guide for knowing when to start probing. Once it probes like butter, the cooking is done no matter what the number on the thermometer says. Definitely! Especially the bit about how IT is a guide to let you know when to start probing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tinyfish Posted September 13, 2015 Report Share Posted September 13, 2015 I would say you are ready for a new variable. My favorite woods so far are sugar maple, peach, white oak and I just got my hands on some coffee wood (thanks Ken). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bosco Posted September 13, 2015 Report Share Posted September 13, 2015 good looking brisket!! nice cook. We always learn a bit as we go!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CeramicChef Posted September 15, 2015 Report Share Posted September 15, 2015 I would say you are ready for a new variable. My favorite woods so far are sugar maple, peach, white oak and I just got my hands on some coffee wood (thanks Ken). No big deal, Tony! My great pleasure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kjs Posted September 15, 2015 Report Share Posted September 15, 2015 Wilbur- great looking brisket and presentation! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bosco Posted September 15, 2015 Report Share Posted September 15, 2015 white oak is excellent tiny!!! But peach is the closest to my heart!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vkl Posted September 15, 2015 Report Share Posted September 15, 2015 You look professional to me. Looks amazing! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
