I'm getting ready to smoke another brisket this Thursday or Friday. I have had good to very good results all along. The point is always juicy and tender as is most of the flat. Any tricks foe the part of the flat closest to the charcoal basket? Sometimes its a bit dry. It gets more moist as I cut up the flat. Trimming suggestions?
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Not sure what cooker you have, but if you can, turn the point towards the charcoal basket? If its a kettle or PK, and your brisket is parallel to the charcoal basket, I guess there is not much to do...
I do tend to wrap my briskets once they hit 170F and have good bark, to try and reduce drying out of the flat. -
Trim a little more off the end of the flat. Refer to Chud's BBQ YouTube channel. At 5.5hrs or so go to the grate. Should have shrunk down enough to fit.Comment
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Thomassen unwrapped, fat cap down first, then flip once it is barked up.
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I like to use the turkey hanger crossbar to hang briskets in the the center of the barrel.Comment
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Wrap in foil and save the ah jus to pour back on the brisket.Comment
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When I hook the brisket I hook it a little lower, towards the center so it raises the meat. The point flops over at the top but it keeps the bottom away from the basket.Comment
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I did brisket in the PBC 2 weeks ago and did it differently than I've ever done it, and it was the best brisket I have done by far. The next best brisket wasn't even in the same area code.
I got a smaller brisket than I usually get, about 13.5 lbs. Wet aged in the DMF for 6 weeks. Did a dry brine with Lawrey's and some kosher salt for about 12 hours. Added coarse ground black pepper right before going into the PBC. Trimmed, it was about 9.5 lbs. I did not hang it this time, but went right on the grate. It just fit on the grate with a little compressing, no touching on the sides of the drum. I rendered out the trimmings to make beef tallow for later on. I put the brisket on the grate fat cap UP. At about 6 hours, I would occasional check the brisket to tip it and drain off accumulating fat on the flat portion to allow the bark to develop (more on that later). I took it to 170 internal in the flat, then did the foil boat finish with the fat cap still UP, occasionally tipping to get keep the fat from pooling on the flat. Once it was probing tender throughout (203 flat internal) at about 11 hours, I put it on the kitchen counter in a pan with a loose tent of foil until the internal temp dropped to 180. Then I wrapped in pink butcher paper for the oven hold. This is where the tallow comes in. I coated the butcher paper with tallow to get it nice and pliable, then put the brisket on the paper and poured a little more tallow on the brisket. Wrapped it up nice and tight and into the oven set to warm. The internal settled in at about 165 degrees and stayed there for 6 hours until it was time to serve. When I took it out, I poured a little more tallow on before cutting. This method turned out a super jiggly and tender finished product, and the tallow was a perfect add-in for moistness, although it was super moist anyway.
The only thing wrong with this cook was that I was in a hurry before work to get it trimmed and into the DMF for the dry brine so I didn't get get the fat cap trimmed as closely as I would have liked. So I had a few portions of the flat that didn't render completely and led to the fat pooling problem. Otherwise, it was spot on.
My pics aren't all that great, but the brisket was!
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I always seperate the flat and the point, they really cook at different rates. Also, you can wrap the flat a little earlier than you would the point, that always helps to protect the bottom of the meat when it is getting close to done.
Also, as he mentioned above, use the tallow to put all over the flat after you slice, that helps with a flavor pop and it brings moisture back to those slices.Comment
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