First brisket a success!

[RonB]

Smoked my first full packer Friday - put it on the Weber with SnS @ 2 AM. I woke up about 6 AM and checked the temps on my phone - they were good, so I rolled over and woke up again about 8 AM. I checked the brisket and it looked good. There was still a nice amount of charcoal in the SnS, but I added more since I had the top off. I did move the lit coals to one side and got rid of the ashes too. It got wrapped around 185*and I started probing at 190* - the point end, (including the flat under the point was much more tender than the rest of the flat. The pointy end was also at a higher temp, (flat @ 188* and point @ 195*) With advice from here, I left it alone. I wound up taking it off the Weber and putting it in a 170* oven around 2 PM. I should have left it a bit longer as the flat was still not quite as tender as the point.
An S&M rubbed chicken went in the Weber, (did I mention I love my Weber... ), around 5:30 with guests expected at 6:30. The chicken came off the rotisserie about 6:40, and looked very nice. The chicken was in case someone didn't want beef. Well, that turned out to be a non-issue even though most of the chicken did disappear anyway. My wife made M&C and a veggie tray, while I made onion dip for the veggies and some chips. I made a scratch cheesecake for desert too. Guests brought baked beans, Cole slaw, potato salad with deviled eggs, and home made chocolate chip cookies. We also wound up with four bottles of wine, and two six packs of beer - did I mention there were 8 of us? My wife always comes up with a new fancy drink too.
So here are the pics:



Trimmed and rubbed.



At 6 hours.



Done.

The rest of the food. I told people I would not slice it until they were ready to eat, so I had people standing in line ready to eat when I picked up the knife, so no photo of the whole brisket sliced. And I also forgot to take a photo of a whole slice of cheesecake...









My wife's centerpiece.



O

This cutie was in the front yard after I got up yesterday - stayed there with mom for several hours.

OK, the results of the cook... My wife doesn't really care for brisket, but said she loved it. A friend, (yes - I do have friends. ), said it was perfect, and he's the one who watches all the BBQ shows on tv, so he knows what's good or not. Everyone else thought it was great too. They even took a vote and decided I was going to smoke a brisket once a month. LOL

And the brisket was good, if not great - well, the pointy end was great, but the flat could have been a bit more tender. The flat was also moist, but not juicy. The cheesecake was a hit too. All in all, it was a great evening, and the best part was that I didn't have to drive home, so I had a few more adult beverages than when we are at friends and I do have to drive home.

[DWCowles]

Congrats on the success

[fuzzydaddy]

A home run for sure! Wow, that's a lot of delicious food.

[Nuke em]

Great job! I love to do them thar type of shindigs. Makes ya warm and fuzzy that you saw, conquered and accomplish the goals that you set out ya do. Congrats. May many more come your way

[Steve B]

Great looking cook. congrats. Sounds like everything went smooth. I also love cheesecake from scratch. I do it for special occasions.

Lets keep the smoke coming.

[fzxdoc]

Congrats, RonB , on that tasty-looking meal. Personally I never met a brisket that I trusted. For that reason, I inject the flat with Butcher's BBQ Brisket Injection. It has saved my bacon, er, brisket, on many an occasion, both on my PBC and my WSCGC. Lots of folks don't inject a brisket and get great results (are you listening, Jerod Broussard ?) but for me, the injection is simple to do and is a great insurance policy.

You've probably read it but here is what Meathead has to say about Butchers BBQ Brisket Injection:

Butcher BBQ Brisket Marinade, both moisturizes, tenderizes, and flavor enhances. Butcher contains hydrolyzed vegetable protein (hydrolyzed soy and corn protein and salt, with partially hydrogenated vegetable oil [cottonseed, soybean] added), monosodium glutamate, sodium phosphate, and xanthan gum. Some traditionalists think this is way too Barry Bonds and are repulsed by the idea. The results speak for themselves. They are winning. A lot.

Kathryn

[Jerod Broussard]

I'm listening now. I think for a "quick not enough time to brine for 2-3 days" situation I would inject. I know for a fact injection can't even save a Prime flat if you overshoot probe tenderness by at least a furlong.

[fzxdoc]

Well, then, Jerod Broussard , rein in that horse sooner!

[DWCowles]

Have you used that injection before fzxdoc ? If so do you still dry brine? I have read some reviews that it was a little salty.

[edible hen]

I dry brined and injected with butcher's this brisket I did today and it turned out to be excellent.

[fzxdoc]

I inject but don't dry brine, Guest. You're right, there's a lot of salt in that injection. Lately I've been injecting using their no-salt product (Butcher's BBQ Phosphate) and dry brining. That works well too.

K.

[DWCowles]

Thanks fzxdoc I have never done the injection thing with the briskets but I'm going to try it.

[RonB]

DWCowles - maybe the person who found it too salty injected too much?

THANX EVERYONE for the comments and suggestions - all are greatly appreciated. I consider this a successful cook, if not perfect. I guess that means I'll have to cook another one.

[DWCowles]

Maybe not

[fzxdoc]

FWIW, DWCowles , I always inject by going in from the side of the meat along the grain instead of at an angle from the top down. That way I can get long runs of the injection inside the meat and, by spacing them about an inch apart, I don't oversalt it. Here's a rough diagram with the injection paths in red:


Kathryn

[DWCowles]

Thanks fzxdoc I will try it with my next brisket and let you know how it turn out.

[Henrik]

Now that's what I call dinner! Congrats on a successful brisket cook, and I would've loved to sink my teeth into that cheese cake!

[DeusDingo]

this is like thanksgiving in the summer! jeeze i really want to eat at that party

[Spinaker]

Damn that is one hell of a meal. That brisket looked Franklin-esque. And Cheese cake is a great bbq desert.

[jlazar]

fzxdoc. I have some of the Butchers but have not used it yet. Do you recommend the amount they state on the label? Or do you use more or less? How much time before cooking do you inject? Do you wrap? Do you separate the point and flat? Thanks. I have a prime from Costco. Have always had good results but always looking to improve where possible.

[fzxdoc]

jlazar , I mix it according to the instructions. Also there is a Butcher's BBQ You Tube (Dave Bouska, owner) video that explains how to mix and inject

How to mix and FAQs: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rdQJvOWTG8
How to inject: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXO8BLPxYfg

In this video, you see that he injects in a checkerboard pattern across the grain. As I noted above, I don't do it that way, I go into the side in long injection paths, and I inject with the grain as Meathead recommends.

He also injects the meat right before adding to the cooker. I inject it earlier to give the salt in it several hours to diffuse into the meat.

I tend to inject less than he does. One full injection mix made according to the package instructions is enough for two 12 lb briskets. I usually only do one brisket, so I alter the proportions accordingly.

I inject 12-24 hours before cooking. I wrap the brisket tightly and don't wipe it down to get the injection mixture off until right before I add the rub, which I do just before adding it to my smoker.

I wrap when the brisket gets through the stall, usually at 170- 180 degF internal temp, when it's got a good bark. Just after the stall, I flip the brisket to make sure there's "Bark 360" as Huskee says. Jerod Broussard taught us that trick of flipping the brisket.

I separate the point from the flat only if the brisket is too large to fit in my PBC. On the WSCGC, I don't separate, but I do trim most of that fat separating the two so they cook more evenly. That said, Meathead says that he almost always separates the two.

Here's a video on how Aaron Franklin trims his brisket, leaving on the point:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXO8BLPxYfg

I'd love to get my mitts on a prime brisket from Costco. Where I live, the closest Costco is 2 hours away, so I pay a premium (almost $10 per pound) for my prime packers.

Kathryn

[jlazar]

Thanks so much for the quick response and info. I cook brisket pretty often. At $2.99 a pound (Costco) for prime you can't beat it. Their pork shoulders are also terrific.