My Fifth Brisket

[DaveD]

By late morning, ITs hit the target zone of 200-204/93-96, and the point remains super tender. The flat has improved significantly from a couple hours ago but still has a ways to go. I've dropped the set point on the PB to park in the vicinity of 175/80 and put a foil cover on the boat. It'll hold for the afternoon, which I hope will allow the flat to get all the way there.



Updated temp profile. You can clearly see the inflection from going into the foil boat...

I'll be making Them Taters (Jess Pryles roasted potatoes recipe) and either broccoli or asparagus for sides, and my lovely bride plans on a simple salad with cucumber and homegrown tomatoes, of which we have a bumper crop this year (she has a few pounds of cherry tomatoes frozen, destined for a killer ragu before too long).

Thanks for following along

[DaveD]

Last update before we eat. Here's the temperature history:

Cut has been holding at about 165/75 for some while now. There are still parts of the flat that are not tender, and because the thickness tapers down toward the edge, I think those thinner bits likely got overcooked and dried out. But the game plan from the start was to use a large amount of the flat to make some chilibeans, so I'm not too concerned. The point end is like buttah, so we'll just slice from that end. Six pounds after trimming and before cooking has likely cooked down by nearly 50% (I'll weigh it if feasible), so we'd likely get only dinner tonight and maybe one more meal and then use the rest in the chili pot. Because, gasp horror!, we are down to only one portion of chilibeans in the freezer! Can't have that...

After-action will be next!

[DaveD]

Deliverables! Outcome was just as I expected: the point end of the cut was outstanding, tender and juicy and all of the things. But the thinner flat end was definitely overcooked and dry. It'll do great in the chili pot I'm sure. The bark is one of my best yet, just chewy enough and loaded with smoky flavor.

Here's the finished brisket after 21 and a half hours...




The tip of the flat shows in its texture that it's too dry. It chewed just like you'd expect from looking at it.


But the other end was fabulous. Plated with some roasted potatoes, broccoli, and a simple salad.




Probably be firing up a pot of chilibeans tomorrow...

[58limited]

I'm thinking that leaving some fat cap on would help keep the flat moist as it would block evaporation from one side. I personally like the well rendered fat from the fat cap - the smoke and seasoning with the rendered fat make it delicious to me. I never trim the fat off a pork butt either for this reason.

[texastweeter]

Yes, trim all the fat off the point,but leave a 1/4 inch on the flat next time and see what you think.

[captainlee]

Color and bark are fantastic. What are your thoughts on the dry flat? Did the high amount of fat trimming work against you? That was a very long cook. You never know, I've done everything I know and sometimes you just get an uncooperative hunk of meat. I had that with a rotisserie chicken, same way every time with great results and then you get the barnyard bully and what the heck just happened.

[DaveD]

Color and bark are fantastic. What are your thoughts on the dry flat? Did the high amount of fat trimming work against you? That was a very long cook.

I think it was mostly due to the flat being fairly thin, only a couple of inches thick. Before trimming, the edge tapered down to almost nothing, definitely the thinnest flat I've had in my now five briskets. My kettle was rock solid at 250-260 all night long, so it wasn't like things got too hot.

I'm really not too bothered, that flat will work great in the chili pot, and it is tasty as hell...

[captainlee]

Thanks for the update, glad you were pleased with your brisket.

[texastweeter]

When that thin cut it off and grind

[captainlee]

I would like to smoke one, it's been a while. All the kids and families (18-20 plus us for dinner) will be here for tgiving. Maybe I can work one in on Saturday before they head out. We'll be at Costco in two weeks, maybe one will fall in our cart. You got me thinking.

[Clawbear57]

Thanks for the updates. Looks great.

[Santamarina]

Great looking brisket. Seems like you’ve got a bright future in brisket smoking!

[Rob Johnston]

Looks great. Glad I am following--and learning! Thanks for sharing

[jbones]

I cook on a Pit Barrel and found the BBQ Southern Style channel on YouTube.
He did a brisket on a PBC and didn't trim it at all. So I gave it a shot.

It came pretty good as far as I can tell.

The only change I made was I trimmed the deckle and put the wrapped brisket in the oven after taking it out of the PBC and held it at 150 for 10 hours.
Here's the link
https://youtu.be/GNm73AZxRXU?si=ACls9Px9OrHqsyvG