This brisket "secret" makes too much sense

[StrikeBBQ]

This video is very enlightening! I thought the brisket secret was Lawry’s and waygu beef tallow! But it’s just like sous vide without the H2O

[Steve R.]

I have believed for quite a while now that a long hold is the most important step in the process. This is video evidence!

[realdocBBQ]

Quite interesting.... bottom line is, he says to smoke up to 190ish or so, get your bark and everything set, then hold at a rock solid 150 internal meat temp for 10-12 hours. How you achieve the 150 meat temp is up to you, he lists a few ways, but it sounds like a good plan.

My only question is this:

At 4:59 he says to place it in an aluminum pan wrapped in tallow-soaked butcher paper with 1/2 cup of water. I agree with all this, but I question the 1/2 cup of water in the pan - is the brisket held off the bottom of the pan with a rack, or is it literally wrapped in paper and set in the bottom of the pan IN the water? I can't tell from the video, he doesn't give a good look.

I would be hesitant to put it in the pan IN the water and get the bottom of my brisket all soaked and waterlogged. I would assume this would make the bark on the bottom really mushy. So my ASSUMPTION is that the water is there to keep moisture in the pan which is wrapped tightly in foil, but is not intended to be in direct contact with the paper wrapped brisket.


Do you concur or disagree?

[StrikeBBQ]

I think the small amount of water was for humidity

[realdocBBQ]

Right, but my question is, is the paper wrapped brisket sitting directly IN the water, or on a rack slightly OVER the water? The video doesn't show, and he doesn't say. I just find it hard to believe it is sitting in the water, regardless of how shallow it is...

[Bogy]

I'm not sure what the difference is between "perceived" tenderness and juiciness, and "real" tenderness and juiciness. If you perceive it as tender and juicy, isn't it tender and juicy?

[JHB]

Now that's an interesting philosophical question. Our senses can be deceived, so we can perceive something as wet that is actually totally dry. There are objective criteria for the presence of water. But for taste, perception is the whole point. I don't think that you can be deceived that something tastes good. Taste is a purely subjective experience (Other people may not agree with you that it tastes good, but that's a completely different issue.)

[Uncle Bob]

You might want to contact Schrodinger................

[hoovarmin]

Reminds me of something I heard growing up in the Southern Baptist church over and over. "Those people might think they're happy, but they're not really happy." I did ask the same question that you did, Bogy. Didn't go over well.

[DennyWoo]

I'm a believer in a long hold in tallow soaked butcher paper for briskets after the last two that I've done. One held for 8 hours at about 160-165 and the other held for 12 hours at about 150. They were easily the best two briskets I've done. What I may try after watching this video is pulling off the smoker and wrapping at 190 rather than going to probe tender as I would normally do. I've got a 15lb packer in the DMF now. Might have to invite a few friends over this weekend to try it out.

[HawkerXP]

Interesting.

[Huskee]

Meathead had a temp chart somewhere with help from Dr Blonder, but I cannot find it online right now, that stated that collagen begins breakling down/rendering/melting at about 190, so I would side in favor of 190 and not 180.

I might have to try an earlier pull and a longer hold when I have the time. I usually pull (stop cooking and start the temp-waning hold phase) about 197-200ish and power cambro hold a minimum of 2 hrs, unless it's getting late and we're hungry then I give it only 1.

I'd like to test his theory of a longer, lower hold. I would always hold mine in the 180-150 range in the cooker insetad of a cooler, as the cooker's naturally slowing down. Once it's been 2hrs I then bring it inside. It's usually a juice bomb. I know too long of a higher hold leads to a crumble fest, so this sounds like a fun experiment.

My curiosity is if the extra time for all of this (read: getting up that much more early) will be worth it in the finished product, will it be that much more noticeable? Hmm

[realdocBBQ]

I just threw on my brisket for tonight's cook - I'm going to try this with maybe an 8-10 hour hold, we'll see when I have to pull it off. I figure since I'm doing 225ºF temp in the cooker, it'll be a 12-hour cook, I might pump it up a little later tonight, but I"m trying to get as much smoke on it as possible, hence the smoke tube burning down in the lower left.




I think I can get 8 hours rest in on it, debating at the moment if I'm going to do it in my oven, or run the Camp Chef Smoke Vault, which I think I can run super low to get around 160ºF. I'll try to test out the Camp Chef at super low later this evening, maybe. Temp alarms are set at 185ºF for point and flat, I'll play it by ear.

[Andrrr]

It bugs me when he says "laser steady".

[Huskee]

Give me a laser and I'm flipping that thing around wildly and loving it.

[mrteddyprincess]

Huskee stop that! You're making my cat crazy..