This is a.....brisket!
It's the wife's birthday this week and SE Texas has really been reiterating that it is a swamp this past week, so it felt good to do a long cook outside in some wonderful weather.
Here's the USDA Prime brisket I picked up at my local HEB earlier this month. (Ah yes, $33, wasn't going to pass that up!) It has been sitting in the bottom of my fridge wet-aging all this time. I was initially worried about that, but it turned out just fine.
I trimmed off about 4 lbs of fat. In some respects I did my best trimming job -- I got rid of all of that huge chunk of deckle fat near the burnt ends -- but in other respects I didn't do so well....I ended up scalping more of the fat cap than I have ever done. Next time I'll put the brisket in a freezer (if I can fit it in) for a few hours to firm the fat up to make it easier.
Seasoning was my usual: light mustard binder (Whataburger mustard, because Texas), light coating of 16-mesh black pepper, and generous seasoning of Meat Church's Holy Cow, a pepper-forward Texas-style beef rub. Into the Chimp it went around 10 pm last night. Turned the Chimp on at 195 F PID and let it roll.
Roughly ten hours later we were looking nicely barked up.
The point was around 155 F, but that flat was getting up there at 185 F. With the bark set, I decided to do my experiment: using the foil boat method instead of butcher paper wrapping. Curiously, I did notice that my drain cup was essentially empty. This caused me pause. That means none of the fat has rendered yet....but that flat is already getting up there, so I proceeded with the boat.
I let this continue to roll for the next seven hours around 225 F. When we got to 200 F, it was probe-tender and I pulled it and placed it in a cooler in my pre-heated oven (set to 170 F then turned off) to rest.
After two hours it was at 160 F.
That is a lot of cow.
And here's my wife's portion, all plated up. Point on the left, burnt ends, and flat on the right. (Best burnt ends I have ever done!)
Now, my opinions on the foil boat method. After my first attempt, I am not a fan. Yes, it collects all of the tallow, but the bottom of the brisket ends up braising in the tallow and you end up with what I feel is a pot-roast like consistency with the lower part of the brisket.
For me, it destoryed the bark. You can see the contrast between the dark bark on the left and the braised bark on the right.
Of course, this is my first time doing it and it gets rave reviews at Austin's LeRoy & Lewis, who pioneered (or at least popularized) the technique. Perhaps they don't boat as early as I did and thus don't capture as much of the tallow. Perhaps their briskets are not resting in it for seven hours as mine did.
I chose this opportunity with a $35 brisket to try it and I am glad I did. I may revisit it in the future, but I think I am going back to butcher paper.
Also, and this is important to call out on any brisket cook. Briskets intimidated me for years. It wasn't until two years ago that I did my first one. Now I don't see what the big deal was.
If you work deliberately and slowly on the trimming, you'll be fine. Also, while briskets certainly aren't as forgiving as pork butts, it certainly isn't one-false-move and you've wrecked a $100 piece of meat. If you go low and slow, you will be fine.
And the obligatory graph, courtesy of my new Thermoworks Signals which was gifted to me by a very generous Pit Member this month. (Red is flat, blue is point, green is grill.)
It's the wife's birthday this week and SE Texas has really been reiterating that it is a swamp this past week, so it felt good to do a long cook outside in some wonderful weather.
Here's the USDA Prime brisket I picked up at my local HEB earlier this month. (Ah yes, $33, wasn't going to pass that up!) It has been sitting in the bottom of my fridge wet-aging all this time. I was initially worried about that, but it turned out just fine.
I trimmed off about 4 lbs of fat. In some respects I did my best trimming job -- I got rid of all of that huge chunk of deckle fat near the burnt ends -- but in other respects I didn't do so well....I ended up scalping more of the fat cap than I have ever done. Next time I'll put the brisket in a freezer (if I can fit it in) for a few hours to firm the fat up to make it easier.
Seasoning was my usual: light mustard binder (Whataburger mustard, because Texas), light coating of 16-mesh black pepper, and generous seasoning of Meat Church's Holy Cow, a pepper-forward Texas-style beef rub. Into the Chimp it went around 10 pm last night. Turned the Chimp on at 195 F PID and let it roll.
Roughly ten hours later we were looking nicely barked up.
The point was around 155 F, but that flat was getting up there at 185 F. With the bark set, I decided to do my experiment: using the foil boat method instead of butcher paper wrapping. Curiously, I did notice that my drain cup was essentially empty. This caused me pause. That means none of the fat has rendered yet....but that flat is already getting up there, so I proceeded with the boat.
I let this continue to roll for the next seven hours around 225 F. When we got to 200 F, it was probe-tender and I pulled it and placed it in a cooler in my pre-heated oven (set to 170 F then turned off) to rest.
After two hours it was at 160 F.
That is a lot of cow.
And here's my wife's portion, all plated up. Point on the left, burnt ends, and flat on the right. (Best burnt ends I have ever done!)
Now, my opinions on the foil boat method. After my first attempt, I am not a fan. Yes, it collects all of the tallow, but the bottom of the brisket ends up braising in the tallow and you end up with what I feel is a pot-roast like consistency with the lower part of the brisket.
For me, it destoryed the bark. You can see the contrast between the dark bark on the left and the braised bark on the right.
Of course, this is my first time doing it and it gets rave reviews at Austin's LeRoy & Lewis, who pioneered (or at least popularized) the technique. Perhaps they don't boat as early as I did and thus don't capture as much of the tallow. Perhaps their briskets are not resting in it for seven hours as mine did.
I chose this opportunity with a $35 brisket to try it and I am glad I did. I may revisit it in the future, but I think I am going back to butcher paper.
Also, and this is important to call out on any brisket cook. Briskets intimidated me for years. It wasn't until two years ago that I did my first one. Now I don't see what the big deal was.
If you work deliberately and slowly on the trimming, you'll be fine. Also, while briskets certainly aren't as forgiving as pork butts, it certainly isn't one-false-move and you've wrecked a $100 piece of meat. If you go low and slow, you will be fine.And the obligatory graph, courtesy of my new Thermoworks Signals which was gifted to me by a very generous Pit Member this month. (Red is flat, blue is point, green is grill.)
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