Hello fellow BBQ aficionados! After a few good cooks with my new Primo Oval XL, I would LOVE to venture into the famed world of Briskets...(dramatic music)
So, what better place to get ideas about size, marinade (if any) rub, wood to use, temp, time....etc. I welcome your insight on this topic, and look forward to learning how to make a killer brisket.
Started Low-N-Slow BBQ in 2012. Obviously, it's taken hold (in chronological order:
1.) A pair of Weber Smokey Mountain 22.5's
2.) #LilTex, a 22" Expensive Offset Smoker (looks like a Yoder Witicha)
3.) #WhoDat1, a HUGE Gravity Fed Insulated Cabinet Smoker (cooking chamber 3'x2'x6')
4.) A Full Size Commercial Dryer/converted to Vertical Smoker.
5.) Jambo Backyard stickburner (my FAVORITE Pit so far)
6.) GrillMeister, a huge 24"x48" Adjustable, Charcoal Grill from Pitmaker.com
7.) 22" Weber Kettle with Slow-N-Sear
8.) Vault insulated reverse-flow cabinet smoker from Pitmaker
9.) BarbecueFiretruck...under development
10.) 26 foot BBQ Vending Trailer equipped with HUGE Myron Mixon 72xc smoker is HERE, Oct 2016!
11.) Opened www.PaulsRibShackBarbecue.com Food Trailer officially in March 2017
12.) Austin Smoke Works 500 Gallon Propane Tank Offset Smoker, named "Lucille" as travel pit for PaulsRibShack, Oct 2018.
12.) Opening Brick & Mortar location at 4800 Nelson Rd, Spring 2019. Had a pair of 1,000 Gallon Austin Smoke Works pits, both in RibShackRed for our new place!
Fabulous Backlit Thermapens, several Maverick Remote Thermometers (don't use any remotes anymore), Thermoworks Smoke, Other Thermoworks toys, Vacuum sealer, lots and lots of equipment...
I'm loving using BBQ to make friends and build connections.
I have #theRibList where I keep a list of new and old friends and whenever I'm cooking, I make 1 to 20 extra and share the joy.
Jerod Broussard s questions are right one. Let is know what direction you have an interest and we'll chime in.
I started with Meathead 's Texas brisket recipe, and have not veered from it still. Do this and you will have a great baseline to do your 2nd to 200th briskets after that!
Behold the best smoked brisket recipe ever! Texas style brisket is more than a recipe, it is a concept and a goal. It all begins by selecting the right meat, trimming it, seasoning it, smoking it, slicing it, and more. Follow this easy BBQ brisket guide for mouthwatering results!
OMG Dfusco , have you come to the right place to ask that question! I have learned so much about cookin that big 'ol hunk of beef from the folks here. I see Jerod Broussard is the first to comment, heed his advice.
I like the home grown red oak I cut from my property for the smoke. The directions found on this site are good. Take those, in conjunction with the Aaron Franklin Youtube videos, and you're golden.
Ditto on the Franklin videos! Only thing missing is he doesn't stress the time in a faux cambro enough. He does it when he pulls from the smokers and holds before serving but doesn't stress the importance enough. Good luck!
Well, the Primo Oval is the right grill for the job. I'm a big fan of oak wood, so get some oak chunks (not chips) and you're golden. Tune your grill to 225° F and just let it rip. Except for that, what Jerod Broussard said. Skip marinades, you want the raw beef flavor here. Salt and pepper is all you need. At least the first few times, then you can riff.
To me brisket is one of those things that really benefits from keeping it simple. Rub with whatever you want just simple salt and pepper is sometimes best. Throw it on the smoker and open up a beer and get ready for the long haul. I spritz every hour or so with a whiskey/beef stock mix. No need to temp probe it for the first 6 hours or so. When it reaches 170 or so I throw it in a pan and back on the smoker uncovered. Sometimes I add a little dark beer to the bottom of the pan. All you want to do is catch all those good juices for au jus or pan sauce. I hate listening to all those good juices sizzling away as they drip onto my tuning plates.
Let it ride to desired doneness. When the probe slides in like your sticking it in puddin' your good to go. This will usually be around the 200 mark + or -
Oh I always used oak red and white and sometimes will mix with whatever else I got but oak will work all by itself just fine.
Last edited by Frozen Smoke; April 19, 2018, 12:19 AM.
Brisket is not as difficult as it is made out to be. Like anything else, great ingredients give great results. That means don’t bother with a cheap cut of meat. I get my briskets from Costco - they are all Prime USDA. Does it make a difference? You bet. I’ve also done a choice brisket and while it is still tasty, it isn’t as good in my opinion. It’s all about the fat. Quality meat = quality results. I want to get my hands on a Snake River Wagyu brisket but my bank account keeps telling me no.
I tend to trim my briskets aggressively. I leave about 1/8 inch fat on the flat side and remove all the surface fat from the point (there is plenty of intermuscular fat running in between those muscle fibers). I also try to trim as much that decle fat as I can. That big hunk of fat between the two muscles will never render, so get it out of there as best as you can. Lastly, I clean up the brown edges remove any silver skin, and then I mark where I will be slicing my fat against the grain by cutting off a corner. (Note - Keep all that fat you trimmed off and use it to make some Beef Love that you can paint on your burgers or steaks when searing, or grind it up if you grind your own burger meat. You’ll have a ton of fat and it’s all usable).
Keep the rub simple - let the beef be the star. I like Oak Ridge Black Ops personally but Dalmatian Rub (1:1 kosher salt and course black pepper) is simple yet very effective.
Now, when it comes to cooking most are in the low and slow camp - 225 for 12-16 hours. And no doubt that gives great results. Don’t knock something that has worked for generations.
Me? I am a hot and fast guy. I smoke mine at 280-325 and mine are usually done in 5-7 hours. When the crust sets, I also sprits with water every hour. And they are warm butter tender just like a slow cooked brisket. I also get to sleep and I can start my brisket late morning or even at noon.
I also advocate wrapping in foil when the temp hits ~170. I do it for 3 reasons. 1) It braises the meat making it very tender, 2) it powers through the stall which can take several hours, and 3) You save all those juices. That jus is liquid gold. I don’t care how good of a brisket you buy; when you slice it, it’ll start to dry out if you leave it sitting out. Go to any BBQ joint and order brisket and it’ll almost always look a little dry. I slice mine and then pour those juices back on the brisket and let those slices sit back and bathe in all that goodness. Now, my crust is not as hard but I don’t want a dry hard crust on my brisket. That’s just my preference. Some prefer a hard crust, and nothing wrong with that.
Lastly, don’t use sauce. A good brisket doesn’t need sauce. Haha.
And for me, almost any wood is tasty. I’ve tried them all - posit oak, pecan, peach, cherry, combo. But I keep coming back to hickory. In fact, I read that Texas A&M does a brisket class each year and they do a blind taste test for all the attendees. Hickory smoked brisket wins by a landslide every year.
Wow...great info. I was reading Meathead’s Brisket dialog. I was also thinking of using Oak chuncks and salt & pepper only. I did read a lot about wet aging....does that have to be in the cryovac that it was sold in?
just doesn’t seem right to me to leave good meat in a styrofoam package (if that is how it comes). Is it really better to wet age?
I am using a Primo Oval XL, and currently using Wicked Good Lump Charcoal. Does a great job for cooking and not using a lot (meaning there is a lot of unused charcoal after a cook), but seems like some odd "flavors" of wood in there. I may Go for the FOGO charcoal...I’ve read that it has a mostly Oak wood in it...
sounds like I may digest all this information more and go with some ribs this weekend...It is now too late to dry brine or wet brine.
I have a Costco membership and have gotten some good meat there already, so I have no problem getting from there. There is also a local farmer who butchers the cattle and sells the meat right away. Does anyone see an advantage of that route vs. the Costco route?
After I do my first brisket, I will probably start to experiment with different rubs, but first time I will keep it simple.
I've never wet aged anything myself but I know anything you buy from the online high end retailers like Snake River Farms wet age everything usually from 21 to 28 days. I guess if they are doing it to Wagyu it must be worth the time and effort.
When I buy a brisket I just can't wait 30 days. I'm very impatient, haha. As Spinaker said, Costco has a good selection of Prime briskets and you can't beat the price. Although I went yesterday and saw the price per pound just went up to $3.50. It was about 75 cents less per pound not 2 months ago. Arrrggggh! I apply my rub the night before and the salt in the rub will do the dry brining. However, I have also applied my rub right before putting it on the grill and honestly it's still amazing.
If you want to do a test run, cook a chuck roast. Some call it the poor man's brisket. It's kind of like cooking a brisket point and, honestly, it's almost as good. Slice it, make burnt ends, or chop it for sammies. And at $12, if you screw up, no big deal. But they are really hard to screw up. I might do one tomorrow, in fact. My mouth is watering.
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