Help! I think I made a big brisket mistake.

[_John_]

My wife invited friends over, I told them we could cook whatever meat they wanted, they didn't respond until 10 minutes before Sam's was closed that they wanted brisket. I never seem to find anything other than choice there and haven't had a bad one. After driving to 3 different Walmart I discovered that the only thing they carry are ungraded briskets.
I am cooking a pork shoulder too just in case, and I tried to pick out the best one, but it obviously isn't a choice.

How can I save this thing? I left on more fat than usual, and plan to inject, any other tips?

[Breadhead]

Hmmm... Sauce, lots of sauce.

[Strat50]

Have a beer or a valium(not both...lol) and cook. You'll be fine. If you like, crutch early, as it will mitigate the lack of marbling. We have to do this with moose meat all the time, as it's so lean. The same holds true for bison. For injecting, I would suggest a mixture of strong beef stock and bacon fat. 1 cup of stock, ½ cup bacon fat, plus your seasonings. Me thinks you'll be pleasantly surprised at your results.

[Powersmoke_80]

Strat, I Never thought of injecting bacon fat with beef stock, Pure Genius!

[fzxdoc]

Ditto that. Bacon anything on anything always sounds good to me.

Kathryn

[_John_]

Thanks Strat, I didn't have quite half a cup but I followed your injection suggestion. Sounds like the main issue is the lack of marbling, if that is the only thing I have to worry about I will be ok. I imagine tenderness might take a bit more work too but I started in time to get plenty of whatever I need.

[smarkley]

John... make sure you show us the results... this could be a learning experience for us all... thanks!

[Huskee]

Jerod has done plenty of selects, just plan on a longer cambro rest. Make sure you have sauce. The only thing that should suffer is your texture, and that's only a maybe. Your flavor should be fine (unless it's just bad meat from a bad line). Good plan leaving a little extra fat on, IMO. Season the other side good so your finished slices have plenty of seasoning. Injecting is not a bad idea to be safe.

[_John_]

Well, color me surprised, ended up pretty excellent. I was worried about moisture, so I crammed 10oz of injection in there somehow. Outside edges were dry, but they always seem to be. I left a lot of the deckle in tact, which melted hand helped baste a bit I think. It felt pretty tender at 205 so I took it off and wrapped it and tossed it in the cambro. Guests were a bit late so it got almost a full 3 hours. Very tender but the bark was pretty soggy, next time I will try to open it earlier and let it firm back up some.
All done the choice I did last week was better, but not by a lot.

[Huskee]

Good to hear, I figured you knew plenty to make it turn out good! True pitmaster- one who can make a lesser cut "pretty excellent"!

[Strat50]

John, the mark of a good chef is making a consistent product with inconsistent ingredients. Sounds like you nailed it pretty well. Congratulations!

[fzxdoc]

Nice going, John. You tamed that beast nicely!

Kathryn

[smarkley]

Woots... I knew you would turn this into a good thing! Great Job!