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mguerra

Brisket tricks

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It is a cold, rainy day in Kerrville with a howling northwest wind. But the brisket inside the KK does not see any of that!post-308-0-52550300-1448665064_thumb.jpe

Ready to wrappost-308-0-23142700-1448665111_thumb.jpe

Wrapping in an old Cracker Barrel bagpost-308-0-48449900-1448665159_thumb.jpe

Back on the firepost-308-0-16063900-1448665203_thumb.jpe

That is a prime grade brisket, $7.47 a pound, on a 300° hickory fire indirect. I wrapped it in paper at roughly the two hour point it was about 160° internal temperature. When I say hickory fire, I mean there are about five big fist sized chunks of hickory in the fire which is Royal Oak lump charcoal.

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Following Aaron Franklin's technique to the letter (10 hours @ 275 F, butcher paper), I delivered my best-received brisket ever as one entree at a large holiday party. A 15 lb prime brisket from Golden Gate Meat Company, my favorite source in the Bay Area, and it disappeared in minutes.
 
I see this as a new plateau with new challenges, and I'd like to look back on this brisket as the worst I've made, moving forward. That may be easy:
 
Part of what one gets for Golden Gate's brisket prices is much more connective tissue, which dissolves more dramatically with this technique. It would be a stretch to say that I was able to slice it, though it did appear that I presented slices. One may need to moderate the use of butcher paper to match the characteristics of the meat. I want the same flavor, more tooth. The only other time I'd seen this little tooth was after have Golden Gate dry-age a brisket for me for a week. A wholly unnecessary step if one uses butcher paper after the dwell.
 
The butcher paper also seemed to inhibit rendering; I would trim even more fat, moving forward. What was left was all consumed, but people self-selected small portions.
 
The rub-and-fat-stained butcher paper is a fantastic visual prop. Cooking is always part drama and teasing expectations, and butcher paper is far better than foil at working up a crowd.
 
The bark was not the same; others report maintaining integrity of their bark. My brisket did then get foiled for a rest as part of transporting it to the party. With sous vide or reverse sear, one can have it both ways with steak. Can we have it both ways here? I see two options to explore: Open back up the butcher paper toward the end, trimming all but a base underneath the brisket? Or take a "burnt ends" approach and deliberately leave parts on the fire while the main brisket rests wrapped in foil and towels in a cooler.
 
The Importance of Wrapping Brisket
 
Pink/Peach Butcher Paper Roll 24" X 150'
 
BBQ Anatomy 101: Know Your Brisket

Others that I spoke to agreed that Selects respond best to higher heat but would dry out if cooked low and slow.

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What are your thoughts on separating point and flat.

I can’t claim to be a brisket expert, but one time I cooked an unexpectedly large 21 lb. brisket that turned out great. One thing I did during the trimming process was to trim out as much of the fat line between the point and flat as I could without actually separating the two pieces. I think that was one of the reasons that my brisket turned out as well as it did, since the brisket became much more even in thickness after removing that fat layer, and I didn’t have to render out that fat during the cook. In fact, I’ve read that some of that fat layer is more difficult to render.

 

All the details are here: http://komodokamadoforum.com/topic/5801-i’ve-climbed-the-mountain-21-lb-brisket/

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