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A Tale of Two Briskies

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    A Tale of Two Briskies

    Being a Texan, my style of brisket cooking is typical Central Texas style, smoke the heck out of it until probe tender. Given into further experimentation; however, I decided to try a comparison between the traditional Texas style brisket and one using a sous vide technique. For you SV purists out there, I tried to follow a Kenji recipe with one difference which I will explain later.

    Let's begin with the traditional Texas style brisket. Had a prime full packer in the garage refrig wet curing for about 45 days (including the packing time on the shipping box to Costco) so I pulled it and decided to smoke it on the pellet smoker. First gave it a good trim, then salt brined over night. Later I injected with beef broth and phosphate.....

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    ....next I seasoned with a good rubbing of my big beef blend ........

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    ....then onto the smoker at 225* for the next 13-14 hours. It fought me at the crutch (around 168*) so I wrapped it in paper. Finally hit right at 200* IT and was toothpick tender so into the cambro it went for about 1 1/2 hours to rest. Carved up real nice, flat was a bit dry but the point was tender and juicy.


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    Not long after I was trolling the meat section at my favorite HEB and happened upon the cut up brisket case. They normally have flats all trimmed up but this day they also put out the trimmed up points. Picked out a good one for my sous vide experiment. After having enough turkey for another year, I decided this weekend to try my SV brisket my way. Kenji's recipe calls for a flat that goes into the bath for 50 hours then gets smoked for about 2-3 hours to an IT of 135*. I took it one step further and started with a smoke in my WSM. Since I didn't want to smoke long, instead of wasting a good fire, I decided to stick a chicken on as well.....

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    ....after about 1 hour or so and an IT of about 100* I figured it had enough smoke so I pulled it, vacuum sealed it and stuck it in a bath at 130* for the next 50 hours......

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    ....came out looking real nice and had a distinct wabble-wabble to it like it had smoked for 12 hours !!! I ice bathed it and put it in the frig until the smoker got warmed up.....

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    ...gave it another good seasoning and put it on the pellet smoker at 300* unitl the IT hit 135* which took about 1 1/2 hours. Let it rest on the cutting board for about 30 minutes then carved.....

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    ... came out super tender and juicy, really pretty amazing. It had a smokey note to it with the consistency of sirloin steak. The only thing that I didn't like was the fat layer between the muscles. It never really rendered like in a traditional brisket so we ended up just cutting it out. Made a gravy out of the bag jus to complement the meat.....

    Oh yea and the chicken turned out pretty good too, just an added bonus.......

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    So what style is preferred? I see both as being viable alternatives. The smokey Texas traditional, with it's pull apart tenderness and unctuous collagen rich fat has always been a hit around my house. It's time consuming and sometimes difficult to hit on point. The sous vide steak like method yields a very tender and medium rare alternative that for me didn't have the proper fat rendering. Next time I believe I will separate the two muscles, remove the fatty layer and cook the meats separately.

    All in all I was pleased with the results. Works well for me using chuck, top round, sirloin and now brisket. Cheap meats make good eats is my new motto !!! As I continue to keep my smoke blue and my beers cold....Troutman is once again out !!!! Carry on ......


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    Attached Files

    #2
    Beautiful pictures! Thanks for taking one for the team and comparing the two methods! The colors on the traditional are out-of-this-world good. I'll probably do most of my Brisket the traditional way on the GMG.

    Comment


    • Troutman
      Troutman commented
      Editing a comment
      Thanks for the comps !! I actually enjoy and look forward to these challenges to my cueing abilities, but then again I'm a bit strange that way !!

    #3
    Beautiful!

    Comment


    • Troutman
      Troutman commented
      Editing a comment
      Thanks DW, can always count on your beautiful remark !!!!

    #4
    I always enjoy reading about your cooks, Troutman , and this one is right up there with the rest of them--excellent information and great photos.

    Your results confirmed what I had been thinking. Thanks for doing all the work.

    Kathryn

    Comment


    • Troutman
      Troutman commented
      Editing a comment
      Thank you lady Kathryn. I enjoy doing this and hope to continue in this same vein. Food for me is art, pleasure and darn good eats !!!

    #5
    Little jus for that sliced flat.....hmmmmmm

    Comment


    • Troutman
      Troutman commented
      Editing a comment
      Flat au jus......can my heart take it ?

    #6
    Thanks for the comparison! Think I'll stick with traditional, but it's nice to know there are acceptable alternatives for "just in case"...

    Comment


    • Troutman
      Troutman commented
      Editing a comment
      I agree traditional is my favorite too. But if you like "cheap" steak like meat, this is a good alternative.

    #7
    Trimming and presentation is awesome! That color on the brisket is perfect!

    Comment


    • Troutman
      Troutman commented
      Editing a comment
      Thank you sir !!

    #8
    Nice experiment. Thanks for doing it and sharing!

    Comment


    • Troutman
      Troutman commented
      Editing a comment
      The doing part was fun, the sharing part I hope inspires others.

    #9
    Great writeup! Thank you for sharing

    Comment


    • Troutman
      Troutman commented
      Editing a comment
      Thank you, thank you !!

    #10
    Great write up! Give me the Traditional Texas BBBQ any day. And 50 hours in the bath? That is true dedication my friend!

    Comment


    • Troutman
      Troutman commented
      Editing a comment
      You know I actually only cooked 2 1/2 hours with fire, the 50 hours of SV was set and forget. At the end of the day I'm a traditional brisket guy, but the SV method was actually easier when all was said and done.

    #11
    Troutman I’ve read both of your Sous Vide medium rare write ups​​​ and thanks for all the details and great write ups. I apologize if I misread but on the original thread (this one) I thought you sv cooked a Point only. Later you stated that the fat didn’t render between the two pieces?

    I ask as I am considering a Christmas weekend smoke of several briskets and I am considering cooking one QVQ and debating on cooking whole or separating the flat and point.

    Potkettleblack any suggestions?

    Comment


    • Potkettleblack
      Potkettleblack commented
      Editing a comment
      Separate, trim and go 130-135 for 48-72h (you pinch and jiggle test in the bag and reup if it’s not done at 48). Smoke before and smoke after.

      For more traditional texture, 155 Sv for 24-48 as the middle step.

    • dirtman
      dirtman commented
      Editing a comment
      Thanks!

    #12
    The cut was taken from the point end of the whole packer. My grocery store takes whole packers and subdivides them into point sections and flats. They trim them up real well then package and sell for about $3.99/pound. It's great if you don't want to wrestle with a full packer, you get a trimmed up piece ready to cook that yields enough to feed a group in one sitting.

    Anyway to clarify and answer your question, the point had the overlaying flat with it along with the deckle fat that resides in between. That deckle fat in the QVQ process didn't really render down like in a traditional low and slow cook. I just cut it out because I didn't like the flavor. I don't think separating the point and flat isn't going to yield anything more or less except cooking times might improve along with some additional bark. Give it a go either way, it's just easier to deal with one hunk of meat in my opinion, cutting out extra fat isn't that big a hassle.

    Comment


    • Spinaker
      Spinaker commented
      Editing a comment
      This was (is) an awesome post!

    • dirtman
      dirtman commented
      Editing a comment
      Thanks for the detailed answer!

    • Polarbear777
      Polarbear777 commented
      Editing a comment
      The fat seems fine in my pastrami (I don’t separate the muscles, just cut into pieces to fit the bags) but I always go for 72 hours and both my initial and final smoke go right up to 130IT.

      Don’t know if any of that would have made a difference.

      The SV step is almost zero effort, and can be finished days ahead. Finish brisket for a party in a couple hours...

    #13
    "Fat not rendering" - yet another reason to forgo Sous Vide...

    Comment


    • Troutman
      Troutman commented
      Editing a comment
      Let me be clear, the intermuscular fat thad the fat cap rendered nicely like traditional brisket. It was the deckle fat that came out unpleasant, I just cut it away, no big deal.

    #14
    Nice post, I really like the pictures and breakdown of positive & negatives. I thought Kenji preferred a 155 bath due to better fat rendering? He said you lose moisture with the hotter temp but gain it back from melted fat.

    Kenji's 3 hour finishing smoke seems a bit long though? He doesnt mention the target IT.

    Comment


    • Polarbear777
      Polarbear777 commented
      Editing a comment
      Tallow should melt at 104F+. Does rendering the fat require a significantly higher temperature than melting?

    • Larry Grover
      Larry Grover commented
      Editing a comment
      Polarbear777 I can't answer that with any clarity. Just for fun though I'd like to see a throw-down of traditional Texas smoked brisket vs a "traditionally textured" one which Kenji & Potkettleblack both agree is a 155 cook @ between 24-48 hrs.

      All of my SV cooks have been @ 130 with some being too chewey/steaky for my taste. Best results were expensive meat from top butchers. Next time I'll ramp up the heat with cheap supermarket stuff and see if I get better results.

    #15
    Excellent job Troutman and thanks for taking the time to post. Putting a post together with a series of pictures and explanations takes a bit of time and effort!

    Does traditional Texas brisket include injecting though? I always considered Franklin's method of just S&P fire and smoke until done to be more of a traditional Texas method?

    I'm a hard sell on the SV method. 50 hours? Sure it's set and forget but it's still time invested in that brisket and you have to hope that something doesn't happen in that 2 days that prevents you from cooking when planned. Considering you decided your traditional method won out over the extra time of SV is telling.

    Comment


    • Troutman
      Troutman commented
      Editing a comment
      To answer your question, traditional Texas brisket can vary from person to person I suppose. Yea Franklin isn't big on injecting but plenty of folks I know do inject. I do it in an attempt to get as much moisture as I can into the flat, using beef stock and phosphate. It does help. Otherwise it's salt, pepper and some BBBR.

    • Troutman
      Troutman commented
      Editing a comment
      SV brisket is more of a novelty cook for me. I've done it maybe 2-3 times with a point only. Like you say it's a lot of extra work for a good, but not great result, imo.

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