Smokers
- Thread starter Ballah06
- Start date
Ballah06 said:
7lbs is pretty small. Is it just the brisket flat and not a whole brisket?
When shopping for briskets you'll easily get aggravated. It's hard to find a nice looking whole brisket. More and more places want to sell you just the flat, or god forbid a corned brisket.
I buy briskets by the case. The reason I do this is so I know exactly what the packaging date is. If you buy a brisket in the store you may not know the package date since it's not written on the cryovac. Good butchers may add this date to the package, but most don't. The date is important because BBQ is about consistency. Beef, unlike pork or poultry, gets better with age (until it rots). Briskets in the cryovac, as long as they're never frozen, will wet age. Wet aging is like dry aging, only you leave the meat in the package. I don't like to cook briskets under 30-days old from the package date. If you allow your briskets to age, the end product will be more tender. After aging, you can freeze them.
I also buy what's called a packer brisket. You can also get what they call a quarter-inch-trim. Both are good. These are whole briskets with the point and flat still connected and a nice layer of fat on one side. I like briskets around 12-14lbs as well. If you get under 12lbs the flat gets thin on the end opposite the point and it can burn during a long cook.
So next time, look for a bigger brisket. USDA Choice is fine and should run about $30.00. Once you get your recipe and technique down, then you can move to the more expensive meats.
...but honestly, side-by-side in the Pepsi Challenge, taste wise, Wagyu taste no different than a USDA Choice. They will cook differently, though, and the SRF's briskets are always really nice cuts.
Ballah06 said:
Interesting.
I use a beef stock base as an injection. I just want to add moisture and flavor deep in the meat. Beef bouillon dissolved in water works well.
For rubs, just use your favorite. Try to avoid a lot of salt or sugar in the rub. Salt will dry the meat and sugar will burn/caramelize over a long cook. A great, simple, beef rub is a 1/3 each of salt, pepper, and garlic powder.
Ballah06 said:
Big debate here and two schools of thought. I cook fat side down.
Some folks think if you cook fat side up the fat will render and melt down into the fibers of the brisket adding flavor.
I think.....that piece of meat is so fucking tough, and has such a tight grain, there ain't nothing penetrating it.
I cook fat side down. My thought is the fat will protect the meat from getting burned on the bottom since the grate will be hottest part.
Is one better than the other? Probably not.
Ballah06 said:
I do not flip. I leave the door shut for a minimum of 4-hours. I cook the brisket to an internal temp of 145* before opening the door. This might take 4 hours and it might take 6 hours. It all depends on the humidity, fire temp, outside temp, etc...
At 145* I drop the brisket into a disposable pan and wrap it tightly with heavy foil. Some think this is a cardinal sin. I call bullshit. The smoke has done whatever it's going to do by 140*. After that, you're just grilling. If you catch it early, before the juices start running out of the brisket, you can trap those juices in a pan. You want those juices! So drop the whole brisket in a pan, wrap it up, and allow it to cook in it's own juices. The next time you look at the brisket should be somewhere around 197*. You want the brisket to be "probe tender", meaning, when you probe it with your Thermapen it should slide in like hot knife in butter. If you feel any resistance at all, it's not done. Sometimes briskets are done at 195*, sometimes it's 210*.
THE VERY MOST IMPORTANT PART is to let the meat rest. COVERED. Put it in your oven with the door cracked at the lowest setting. Just keep it warm. But allow the meat to rest, in it's own juices, for at least 2 hours. If you pull the meat off the pit and slice it right away all the juices will run out and you'll have dry beef.
We did well in brisket last year on the competition circuit, even tied for 1st place at the largest East Coast event in America.
Peep these video for some other tips on brisket. Might differ a little from what I told you, but still great information.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VmTzdMHu5KU&list=UU556b-Cl0Fp02iMc96yoJbg&index=8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pGZ39yYxeBk&list=UU556b-Cl0Fp02iMc96yoJbg&index=2
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/sMIlyzRFUjU?list=UU556b-Cl0Fp02iMc96yoJbg" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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Dan, thanks once again for explaining this stuff in great detail. I will make note of the above. Just put that 7lb one on. I ll let you guys know how it turns out.
Wow. Nice Dan. So you do not brine your brisket?
I smoked for years in a charcoal upright smoker. It did an OK job. But was not versatile enough for me to pull it out often and it was a total pain to keep temp good, not to mention an even bigger pain to keep smoking for 12 hours.
I recently got a Smokin' Bros pellet smoker and love it. Double walled, insulated box and keeps great temp. Build quality seems amazing and after 3 months, I am really happy. Just don't go get a Trager until you look around, there is much better stuff made in the US for same money.
I have not done a good brisket yet, but the pizza, salmon, pork butt, ribs and turkey sure have kicked butt.
I smoked for years in a charcoal upright smoker. It did an OK job. But was not versatile enough for me to pull it out often and it was a total pain to keep temp good, not to mention an even bigger pain to keep smoking for 12 hours.
I recently got a Smokin' Bros pellet smoker and love it. Double walled, insulated box and keeps great temp. Build quality seems amazing and after 3 months, I am really happy. Just don't go get a Trager until you look around, there is much better stuff made in the US for same money.
I have not done a good brisket yet, but the pizza, salmon, pork butt, ribs and turkey sure have kicked butt.
No, never brined a brisket. Never heard of it, actually.
I do brine poultry, though.
I've never used the pellet cookers. I hear all sorts of things about them and I know a fair amount of folks are using them now.
I have a stick burner. It's a Lang 60D. I lust for a Jambo J-3, but until I have a spare $10k for a BBQ pit, the Lang works just fine.
The Lang cooker is a lot like a Meadow Creek pit. I don't know who did what first, but I think the Amish copied the Lang design. However, the Amish made have done it better in some aspects.
I do brine poultry, though.
I've never used the pellet cookers. I hear all sorts of things about them and I know a fair amount of folks are using them now.
I have a stick burner. It's a Lang 60D. I lust for a Jambo J-3, but until I have a spare $10k for a BBQ pit, the Lang works just fine.
The Lang cooker is a lot like a Meadow Creek pit. I don't know who did what first, but I think the Amish copied the Lang design. However, the Amish made have done it better in some aspects.
Bringing this thread back, since I've been doing up some smoking. Still using my offset cheapo smoker, which works good (just have to monitor it closely), but have been looking around at some others. Anyone use Yoder Smokers? Look pretty damn nice and I think the prices aren't too bad.
http://www.yodersmokers.com/
BTW, the recipes from Wicked Good BBQ book are awesome; been doing their brisket, ribs, pork, BBQ sauce and slaw ever since I got that book. All the recipes turn out great, especially the ribs.
The brisket turns out awesome and is very very tender. Good smoke ring as well.
Used an egg smoker (friend's) this past weekend to smoke two pork shoulders. Those things sure keep the heat in; took a bit of playing around to get the right amount of coals and keep the temp at 250-275. Also did 6 racks of ribs on mine and 3 briskets.
Dan, or anyone who smokes on here, do you guys get your wood locally, online or from Lowe's/Home Depot? Been using wood chunks (hickory and applewood) from Lowe's and Stubb's briquettes. Good steady temps with the latter even in the crappy offset.
http://www.yodersmokers.com/
BTW, the recipes from Wicked Good BBQ book are awesome; been doing their brisket, ribs, pork, BBQ sauce and slaw ever since I got that book. All the recipes turn out great, especially the ribs.
The brisket turns out awesome and is very very tender. Good smoke ring as well.
Used an egg smoker (friend's) this past weekend to smoke two pork shoulders. Those things sure keep the heat in; took a bit of playing around to get the right amount of coals and keep the temp at 250-275. Also did 6 racks of ribs on mine and 3 briskets.
Dan, or anyone who smokes on here, do you guys get your wood locally, online or from Lowe's/Home Depot? Been using wood chunks (hickory and applewood) from Lowe's and Stubb's briquettes. Good steady temps with the latter even in the crappy offset.
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I've been cutting my own wood. I too use apple and hickory, but have been using some cherry as of late. Just got a lead on some pecan wood that I'd like to try as well. But mainly apple and hickory.
Do you just use the wood you cut green or let it dry out for a certain period of time?
You have but it's not immediately obvious. Pastrami is a brined & smoked brisket.
Indeed; was going to say the same thing earlier. Although, do most just toss it in the oven? I know Costco sells pre-brined briskets that turn out pretty damn good in the oven. Never tried brining a brisket or smoking a brined one myself.
Btw, the definition of Barbecue in Barry Foy's book is pretty funny: "One or another of several approaches to cooking one or another type of food, usually meat except when it is something else, which make use of one or another cooking technique that most often involves smoke, though not always, and in which a sauce of one sort or another plays either an essential, a prominent, or a negligible role. Barbecue has a nearly fanatical following in North America, particularly in the southern United States, where it carries a lore rich in history, culture, and the sort of factionalism that often leads to gunplay."
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I watched a show on Pastrami a while back. I believe that most of the delis in NYC brine the briskets themselves and then send them out to have them smoked. I'm assuming that the process is the same as smoking standard bbq brisket: low & slow. Obviously, the spices in the brine give it its distinctive flavor.
Fruit woods are good green or dry. Hardwoods should be dried. Some folks claim that green fruit woods are sweeter. Can't prove that by me as my taste buds must not be up to that caliber.
Btw, has anyone done the same type of meat with two different woods and noticed a difference? Understand the fruit woods vs. hardwoods concept, as well as some effects on food (e.g. cherry darkening the skins on chicken, etc.), but wondering how much different does the final product turn out if the only change is the wood type (e.g. hickory vs. apple; not taking into account some more exotic types like olive, pistachio, etc.).
I smoke mostly with apple or hickory. I would like to say I could tell a big difference but I can't. For me just making sure there is plenty of smoke the whole time and just letting it go help the most. I also always let whatever I am smoking get to room temp before I put it on.
I use apple and hickory primarily as well and from what I read, it is hard to tell the difference between the two on the same cut of meat; just never done the two side by side to check. As far as room temp goes, here is a good article on it: http://amazingribs.com/tips_and_technique/mythbusting_letting_meat_come_to_room_temp.html
I think there's a big difference between apple & hickory. Hickory has a stronger more unique flavor to me. I use both for different recipes. I also use mesquite a lot. Really like the strong flavor it produces but a little goes a long way.
Two hardwood charcoals I like are Wicked Good and Basques (that's right…. French Canadian charcoal :applause: )