2nd Brisket on PBC

[SurfsUp]

Actually 2nd ever... Hi everyone from Jax Beach, Fl where my a/c went down yesterday and it is 86 in my house right now So while I am sweating I loaded a few of the pics from my second brisket on the PBC from last weekend. Started around 9 am, wrapped at approx 180 and finished on grate til roughly 200 to 205. Sat wrapped in the cooler almost 2 hrs. Used BBBR and did inject with some beef broth. Was approx 6.5 lb flat from Costco. It tuned out much better than my initial attempt thanks to reading this forum but still a little dry. Texas mop sauce saved it Maybe wrap earlier next time? Middle shot is just before wrapping...

[David Parrish]

SurfsUp it looks like a textbook brisket (great bark and great smoke ring), except, it looks a little dry. If that was the case then I agree you should wrap a little earlier.

Other things that help retain moisture are dry brining for many hours (12+) and injecting with beef broth. So you can incorporate those steps into your next cook as well if you didn't use them for this cook. OK on the injection I just reread your post and caught that you used beef broth. That's good.

Did you dry brine? Does your BBBR have salt in it?

[SurfsUp]

Thanks for the comments Pit Boss... I did not have salt in the BBBR but I did salt it and injected it the day before... wasn't such a dry brine since I had injected and it was leaking out. I used kosher salt and maybe I skimped a bit as I was worried about too much salt since the broth is fairly salty.

[David Parrish]

It sounds like you did everything right, so I'll keep asking questions until we get this figgered out.=) What was the temperature of the meat when it came out of the cooler? When the meat rests it loses it's heat very slowly. This helps the juices reabsorb. Ideally it was still 160F or higher. I use a LOT of towels in my faux cambro to wrap the meat.

What quality meat? Select, choice, angus, etc... Since it came from Costco I'm guessing choice, which is good enough. That said, flats are hard to cook and sometimes you just get a tough cut of meat.

Ah one more thing, when you wrapped, did you wrap tightly in two layers of foil?

Doh, why didn't I think of this already... What temps did you cook at and how steady did it hold?

[SurfsUp]

Unfortunately the battery died on my probes before I pulled it out of the cooler... it was still very hot but I can't be sure. Also I did not wrap the meat in towels just stuck it on top of some towels in the cooler. It was labeled choice from Costco and I did wrap pretty tight in 2 layers of foil. There was quite a bit of juice in the foil when I unwrapped that I just dumped in the mop sauce. The temp stayed fairly consistent in the 250 to 270 range but slowly drifted down to around 240 after a few hours and I was stalled around 165 maybe 3.5 hours in so decided to crack the lid and got the temp back up to 280 at which point the internal temp started climbing again. Within an hour I'd say it was at 180 so I pulled and wrapped. Seems like it got to 200 fairly quickly after that... about 5 1/2 hours total on the PBC.

[David Parrish]

This technique sounds similar to how Jerod cooks his brisket. I'll see what his thoughts are.

[Jerod Broussard]

The only thing wrong is not enough bark on the top.

Seriously, next time you hang, hang until about 160.. Then go to the grate and darken each side that needs darkening. Fat cap first. Then wrap fat cap down until probe tender and rest.

I injected the first brisket I ever cooked on my offset. A Prime flat. I wrapped early (150) and went to 203 and it was very probe tender at that point. Firmed up the bark afterwards since there was so little due to wrapping early. Looking back now that was a DRY flat. It was very tender and very good but a couple things:

1. Being Prime I should have checked for probe tender at 190-195.
2. I should have just cooked fat cap up until I got the bark I wanted.


I would also skip the injection and just dry brine with 1/2 tsp table salt per pound for 24 hours. I don't put any salt on the fat cap.

I feel injecting briskets is one of the most futile actions in BBQ. A muscle that is already what, 75% water, and packed with muscle fibers containing all that water? No wonder you need to inject as you draw out.

[SurfsUp]

Great, thanks for the info Jerod. I will do exactly that next time. The injection was messy anyway and it seemed as though I was poking holes that all the moisture would eventually escape from

[Jerod Broussard]

Get you a pork butt. While it is still in the Cryovac. Inject it with a good pork injection. That is how injection should be.

[hokietrax]

Jerod, when you say injecting briskets is futile, I think that's too broad. Maybe it's futile if you're using injection only to improve moisture, but what about enhancing flavor? Especially at competitions, you see teams using injection not only to try and make a more moist brisket, but in an attempt to get beefier flavor throughout the beef, maybe add some spices internally, or to "relax" the meat more (the claim of some injections). Maybe worth a Blonder investigation/mythbusting?

[Jerod Broussard]

I can see the beef flavor for comps. I meant to say "backyard BBQ"....I was trying to hurry since it was 0445 and I get on the chicken line at 0510.

I've never noticed a beef brisket lacking in beef flavor.

[Yelnoc]

Injections with phosphates like Butchers do "improve" moisture - from elsewhere on the site: "sodium phosphate is good at improving the ability of proteins to hold water during heat stress". I think we could all agree that a dried out briskets are a bad thing, injecting with an injection containing phosphates can increase moisture, therefore one could conclude injecting isn't futile. The crutch also helps with moisture too, many a brisket may look pretty dry before the crutch but looks quite a bit different - more moist - after. For my crutch I put my briskets in an aluminum roasting pan, add liquid (often beer, sometimes Guinness) and cover with foil rather than just wrapping. As far as relaxing meat, most say that resting relaxes, and I'm not sure there are objective measurements of "relaxation". Nice thing about Dr. Blonder's inputs is that they move BBQ from the subjective towards the objective.

[Jerod Broussard]

I have had waaay too many briskets come out tender, with juice squeezing out of them upon slicing to mess with injecting with anything, phosphates or not. And if I have 11 briskets to cook....I sure ain't messing with it.

I prefer to pan briskets like you mentioned, but I don't have the room. I prefer butcher paper next, but aluminum foil is cleaner going in and out the PBC, and if I am refrigerating, I can just leave in the foil.

[supergas6]

Jerod, I have always injected my briskets but am curious about going without. I noticed that you like to "dry brine" with salt. My question to you is whether you put anything else other than salt on your briskets. I usually use one of Noah's rubs--both are great on briskets. As you know, his rubs are fairly salty.

Would it make sense to "dry brine" with Noah's rubs 24 hours ahead of time, or is that not enough salt to achieve the results you are looking for? My concern with using salt for the dry brine 24 hours ahead of time, and then applying the rub, is that it will be too salty.

Historically, I have injected and then applied the rub the night before, meaning I have about 8-10 hours from when the rub is applied to hanging on the PBC.

[Jerod Broussard]

Super, I dry brine at least overnight, salt on all sides, I mean every side, even the actual sides, at a rate of 3/8 teaspoon/pound, then I use the Big Bad Beef Rub but with 1 tablespoon white pepper instead of the black and a touch of cumin. I cook for so many people, some don't like the black, and I have had not one complaint about the white pepper. I put just enough rub to cover the meat, I don't pile it on the brisket.

I dry brine with Noah's All-Purpose Rub on pork butts. I pile it on and let them sit over night. I then lay on a light sprinkle of a 1:1 mixture of brown and white sugar before I hang in the PBC. Folks love this to DEATH.

All 4 briskets this weekend were juicy, and that was with 2 that cook unwrapped the whole way.

I still had reheated, juicy briskets when I cooked on the offset. I have absolutely no need to vaccinate any beef or pork, especially before I hang in the PBC the way that thing locks in the moisture.

[supergas6]

Thanks, Jerod. I'll give it a shot. You don't salt the fat cap, do you?

How log do you leave the BBBR on before you hang, or do you just put it on and hang?

[Jerod Broussard]

I started salting the fat cap since I trim it down to 1/8" or down to the meat in spots.

I throw the rub on right before I hang them in the PBC.

[(Allan)]

Costco here in Canada blade tenderizes most cuts of beef, including their brisket flats. I'm not sure if this is also the case in the US or not. The flats I have done from Costco have also been somewhat dry, even when dry brining and injecting. Does anyone have any thoughts about how blade tenderizing could affect the moisture level in low and slow cuts such as brisket?

[Huskee]

It shouldn't affect moisture of the meat. Most meat is 70-75% water, and smal surface slices of 1/8" should do little to affect that much moisture deep within. Sometimes we recommend slicing like this when using a marinated piece of meat like chicken or chuck steaks. Chances are if your meat is dry it is just a tough ol' cow and not that slicing.

And no, usually meat here in the states isn't blade tenderized. Briskets are obviously a large hunk of tough meat, they're the pec/breast muscles of the cow, so low & slow usually softens these to a delicious edible state. If you're doing the correct methods and slicing the meat correctly against the grain when serving, chances are you just need a better grade of beef if you can find it.

[Jerod Broussard]

I agree with Huskee. I sometimes run the Jaccard on my brisket flats if it is a pretty weak looking Select.