Ok this cook is in the books. I have to say I’m delighted with the outcome. The slices down near the end of the flat were firm but not tough. I tried one to make sure they were edible and didn’t need to get chopped up. They were ok. The slices near where the point and flat join were great. The picture of the limber slice came from that area. That is a thick slice because I believe if you slice brisket thin enough it will droop over your finger even if it’s dry. I managed to keep it from being grainy or mushy by watching temps closely. If you were our guest for dinner this evening I’d serve you this without any reservations or explanation of what it was.
Here’s an overview of the cook. This was a 12 pound select grade brisket. I trimmed about 2 pounds of fat and edge meat off, leaving about a 1/4 inch fat cap which I placed on the bottom when it went on the smoker. It was seasoned with kosher salt, 16 mesh black pepper and granulated garlic which I applied generously. It was smoked on a Kamado Joe Big Joe with the heat deflector in place and a stainless platter on top of the deflector to catch grease. It was fueled with B&B hickory lump and had 4 chunks of apple wood laid on top of the charcoal for smoke flavor. I cook briskets hot and fast normally and after reading Harry Soo’s advice that the leaner the brisket the faster it needs to be smoked I went with hot and fast again. I put the brisket on at 300 F , which is my normal brisket temp. The Smobot kept the smoker within 4 degrees of 300 for the entire cook. At almost exactly 5 hours I had 203 F in the flat and 195 in the point. At that time I double wrapped it in foil and brought it in to a 200 F oven
and let it braise at that temp for 2 hours. The next step was to just turn the oven off and let coast down for another 2 hours.
When I unwrapped it it was still much too hot to pickup. The point and most of the flat were very probe tender. The thin end was firm but I’ve been served worse in a restaurant. This is a good moist, flavorful brisket that I gave $1.99 a pound for. There is no magic involved here. You can get the same result. Don’t be brainwashed into believing you have to spend a fortune to serve a good brisket. I apologize for the photographs I”m not a great food photographer and I was hungry.
Here’s an overview of the cook. This was a 12 pound select grade brisket. I trimmed about 2 pounds of fat and edge meat off, leaving about a 1/4 inch fat cap which I placed on the bottom when it went on the smoker. It was seasoned with kosher salt, 16 mesh black pepper and granulated garlic which I applied generously. It was smoked on a Kamado Joe Big Joe with the heat deflector in place and a stainless platter on top of the deflector to catch grease. It was fueled with B&B hickory lump and had 4 chunks of apple wood laid on top of the charcoal for smoke flavor. I cook briskets hot and fast normally and after reading Harry Soo’s advice that the leaner the brisket the faster it needs to be smoked I went with hot and fast again. I put the brisket on at 300 F , which is my normal brisket temp. The Smobot kept the smoker within 4 degrees of 300 for the entire cook. At almost exactly 5 hours I had 203 F in the flat and 195 in the point. At that time I double wrapped it in foil and brought it in to a 200 F oven
When I unwrapped it it was still much too hot to pickup. The point and most of the flat were very probe tender. The thin end was firm but I’ve been served worse in a restaurant. This is a good moist, flavorful brisket that I gave $1.99 a pound for. There is no magic involved here. You can get the same result. Don’t be brainwashed into believing you have to spend a fortune to serve a good brisket. I apologize for the photographs I”m not a great food photographer and I was hungry.
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