Grass Fed Brisket

[DTro]

Right now, all options are on the table for this, but I wanted to run it by you, pit friends. Info is sketch because I do not have the meat in my possession yet. My in-laws are visiting. They are bringing two small, about 2-3 pounds, grass-fed briskets from an Amish farm in PA. I am assuming they will be flats. I will smoke tomorrow morning and hope to have them ready by dinner. Because they are smaller, I'm guessing the cooking time might only be 5-6 hours. What do you guys think about grass-fed brisket? Has anyone had these before? Any prep tips besides SPG?

[willxfmr]

Grass fed beef is usually leaner than grain finished, so I would try to use every trick in the book to keep them from drying out. Inject, wrap, tallow mop, throw the whole works at them.

[DTro]

Got it. Thanks!

[texastweeter]

I turn all the brisket from our grass fed cows into pastrami. Too lean for regular brisket imo.

[DTro]

Thanks. Gonna have to try a regular brisket cook. Not enough days for pastrami.

[DTro]

texastweeter After cooking these and though they were good, it was a fight to keep moist, pastrami might be the best option for GF brisket.

[DTro]

Super tender. Very lean, lots of pesky silver skin. Looks like they took a full brisket sliced it in half. Very excited for the challenge. Fingers crossed. This was two separate packages.

[58limited]

Pre AR membership I did a grass fed brisket once: two small thin ones, did not dry brine because I had never heard of that. I stacked them and tied them together. Also wrapped during the cook when the bark was set. No thermometer at the time so I had to guesstimate the stall. They were OK but getting dry when I pulled them. They shrunk and looked more like a chuck roast. The flavor was great though. Pastrami would be a better use as texastweeter said.

Injecting, mopping with tallow, and wrapping with beef broth is what I would do now.

[DTro]

What would you suggest for injecting. I have some rendered tallow from other cooks, maybe enough to inject, definitely enough to mop but not both.

[58limited]

A lot of people inject beef broth and/or phosphates - the phosphates help retain moisture. I've never used it but several members here have mentioned phosphates.

[MsTwiggy]

Dry brine for as long as possible. They're really lean so consider pulling as soon as you your bark is set and finish in an oven after you wrap in paper or foil. If you have any beef tallow inject them with that before they go in the oven to finish. Hold for 3 hours. Don't forget to enjoy a cold one and enjoy those awesome briskets! 🔥🔥🔥💯❤️🐿

[DTro]

Thanks! would you suggest injecting at the start of the cook too?

[MsTwiggy]

DTro I've never tried injecting at the start when everything is super cold. I have to heat the tallow and want the meat to grab as much smoke as possible so i wait for it to at least hit 90 before I inject.

[fracmeister]

This is a time for sous vide and smoke

[DTro]

Thanks for your suggestion fracmeister. It will have to be low and slow. I don't have a hot tub, yet....

[theroc]

+1 for what fracmeister said. We had a 2lb grass fed brisket that we sous-vide, cold-shocked, then finished in the smoker. It was very tasty, although not what a traditional low and slow brisket would be.

[DTro]

Thanks! I can tell it is going to be different it is very tender and lean. I am ready to embrace that. No hot tub here so it will be low and slow.

[fracmeister]

+1 for what fracmeister said. We had a 2lb grass fed brisket that we sous-vide, cold-shocked, then finished in the smoker. It was very tasty, although not what a traditional low and slow brisket would be.

I have moved away from cold shocking... I leave the meat out for a while, then put it in cold water, then add ice.... then off to the fridge till time to put the smoke on it. I am not sure where I picked this up but it makes a difference for steaks and chicken!

[DogFaced PonySoldier]

What difference do you notice when letting it cool at room temp before chilling? And do you let it cool down all the way to room temp, or just a bit, or what?

[DTro]

Thanks for all the help!

[DogFaced PonySoldier]

Looks good! Looks tasty, better than about any effort I've ever made with briskie! <sigh>

[DTro]

DogFaced PonySoldier Thanks! Honestly, this was a tough cook to get right. I got lucky with help from here! Go big brisket if you have the choice.