I was in Costco on Friday and noticed they had full briskets for the first time. They may have always carried them, but this was the first time I noticed. And they were stamped "Prime". And they were relatively cheap. Some variation in size but seemed like they all were under $50. Never had cooked one before, but I thought this seemed like a good time to start.
The next step was figuring out logistics. I've cooked enough large roasts to know about the impact of the stall on cooking time. And I'm basically a lazy cook if I can get away with it. Briskets have been cooked for a long time without foil and insulated chests. I wanted to keep this simple so I thought I'd try getting back to basics. I've had pork shoulders take 14 to 16 hours at 225F. I figured the brisket would be similar. But how do you figure out the timing?
I decided I wanted to get finished about 5pm. Working backwards, it seemed like I should start the smoker about 11pm, hit temp about midnight, load the smoker and then off to bed (the plan). My smoker can go about 12 hours with one charcoal load at 225F. As the fates would have it, I have a major work project and I was up until about four am, so I added a charge of charcoal and then finally crawled off to meet Morpheus (reality).
Getting ready to get the brisket into the smoker, I salted the roast about 7pm after trimming off the excess fat. Ended up with about 4 pounds of beef fat which I rendered in the oven inside a cast iron dutch oven. That's going to be introduced to some potatoes one of these days. Used the Big Bad Beef Rub, liberally applied about an hour before going into the smoker.
I didn't want the brisket to cook too fast while asleep, so I started the unit at 200F and ran it at that temp until about 2pm (about 14 hours total). At that point, the brisket was just hitting the stall. It was clear I wasn't going to have this on the table at 5pm. Wasn't a big deal since I had food contingencies. Turned the temp up to 225F, checked the water pan level and let nature take its course.
I finally took it out around 11pm. I decided it was done because the temp probe went into the roast with almost no resistance, even though the temp was only 195. Incredibly tender. Nice crust. The Big Bad Beef rub made a very nice taste accent.
I can see why people like using the foil method for brisket. It's not so much that it makes a better product, but it makes for a situation in which the cook is more in control of the time. I like the results with this 23 hour cook. Having done it once, I'll be starting the next one about 3pm to serve at 5pm the next day. Live and Learn.
The next step was figuring out logistics. I've cooked enough large roasts to know about the impact of the stall on cooking time. And I'm basically a lazy cook if I can get away with it. Briskets have been cooked for a long time without foil and insulated chests. I wanted to keep this simple so I thought I'd try getting back to basics. I've had pork shoulders take 14 to 16 hours at 225F. I figured the brisket would be similar. But how do you figure out the timing?
I decided I wanted to get finished about 5pm. Working backwards, it seemed like I should start the smoker about 11pm, hit temp about midnight, load the smoker and then off to bed (the plan). My smoker can go about 12 hours with one charcoal load at 225F. As the fates would have it, I have a major work project and I was up until about four am, so I added a charge of charcoal and then finally crawled off to meet Morpheus (reality).
Getting ready to get the brisket into the smoker, I salted the roast about 7pm after trimming off the excess fat. Ended up with about 4 pounds of beef fat which I rendered in the oven inside a cast iron dutch oven. That's going to be introduced to some potatoes one of these days. Used the Big Bad Beef Rub, liberally applied about an hour before going into the smoker.
I didn't want the brisket to cook too fast while asleep, so I started the unit at 200F and ran it at that temp until about 2pm (about 14 hours total). At that point, the brisket was just hitting the stall. It was clear I wasn't going to have this on the table at 5pm. Wasn't a big deal since I had food contingencies. Turned the temp up to 225F, checked the water pan level and let nature take its course.
I finally took it out around 11pm. I decided it was done because the temp probe went into the roast with almost no resistance, even though the temp was only 195. Incredibly tender. Nice crust. The Big Bad Beef rub made a very nice taste accent.
I can see why people like using the foil method for brisket. It's not so much that it makes a better product, but it makes for a situation in which the cook is more in control of the time. I like the results with this 23 hour cook. Having done it once, I'll be starting the next one about 3pm to serve at 5pm the next day. Live and Learn.
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