So this was a couple of weeks ago. I've been so disgusted with it that I have stayed away from The Pit, haven't looked at my smokers and generally just been moping. But I've got to do at least a dozen racks of ribs this weekend, so I figured I better get this off my chest and try to achieve some catharsis so I can move on. <sigh>
So I had done a QVQ Prime brisket earlier this summer and it turned out pretty great. I aged it about 7 weeks or so after buying it, and then smoked it for a few hours and put it in the water bath. I did 144°F for 44 hours and it was pretty great. Mostly. I took it out of the bag and decided to throw it back on the smoker about 350°F to firm up the bark. I left it a little longer than I intended and it got hotter than I expected too quickly - around 180ish in the point, I believe. It was damn good, and tender, but the flat did dry out a tiny bit. It was very tender, though. It wasn't dry, but it wasn't really juicy, either. The flat, that is.
So a couple weeks ago I decided to do this again, but skip the second smoke. Also wanted to do it a little lower temp - hoping to keep a little more juice in it, make it a little rarer, etc. Maybe this was my mistake, but I'd read on here this was fine.
Unfortunately, I didn't have time to go all the way to Costco and get a Prime, so my wife picked up a Choice one at Sam's. I can't hardly convince her to go to Costco even with me, since it's over an hour away, but she was at Sam's already. I know Choice can be a bit of a crapshoot, but I didn't think it would be that big of a deal.
So I did it at 130°F for 70 hours, after smoking it for 5 hours.
Problem is, it was terrible. I mean, I was SERIOUSLY disappointed. It looked good, looked juicy when I was carving it, but it seemed a bit harder to slice than I was expecting. Turns out, it was just really quite chewy. The flavor and texture was much more like prime rib, but it was really really chewy. I wouldn't go so far as to say it was "tough", but it was just too chewy. It was soft, but required alot more chew than I ever wanted. I am so glad our church group canceled and I had to invite people over to eat it at the last minute, because I would have been SERIOUSLY embarrassed to serve that to our church group. They have all raved over my ribs and some other things I've done, but that would have really made me hang my head to serve.
Everyone else said it was fine, it was still better than most briskets they'd had, but no one took any home (it was a 15 lber), and the leftovers sat in my fridge for almost 2 weeks until I threw them away. I told them straight up if they didn't take it home, I would toss it, because I wasn't eating any more. And I didn't so I got rid of it.
So what do I do? Was it just because this was Choice? I am just really bummed... I am headed all the way down to Costco on Friday to buy 15 racks of ribs, so I guess I will pick up a Prime packer or two for the future but... I really need to find a place to put a "meat fridge". We just don't have room to store many of these.
Blargh, I'm just really frustrated. My wife isn't a huge brisket fan, she loves my ribs more than anything, and pulled pork and pulled chuck after that. But I don't want to have something I can't make spectacular! lol.
I'm just venting. Sorry. Thanks for reading. Open to any ideas.
So I had done a QVQ Prime brisket earlier this summer and it turned out pretty great. I aged it about 7 weeks or so after buying it, and then smoked it for a few hours and put it in the water bath. I did 144°F for 44 hours and it was pretty great. Mostly. I took it out of the bag and decided to throw it back on the smoker about 350°F to firm up the bark. I left it a little longer than I intended and it got hotter than I expected too quickly - around 180ish in the point, I believe. It was damn good, and tender, but the flat did dry out a tiny bit. It was very tender, though. It wasn't dry, but it wasn't really juicy, either. The flat, that is.
So a couple weeks ago I decided to do this again, but skip the second smoke. Also wanted to do it a little lower temp - hoping to keep a little more juice in it, make it a little rarer, etc. Maybe this was my mistake, but I'd read on here this was fine.
Unfortunately, I didn't have time to go all the way to Costco and get a Prime, so my wife picked up a Choice one at Sam's. I can't hardly convince her to go to Costco even with me, since it's over an hour away, but she was at Sam's already. I know Choice can be a bit of a crapshoot, but I didn't think it would be that big of a deal.
So I did it at 130°F for 70 hours, after smoking it for 5 hours.
Problem is, it was terrible. I mean, I was SERIOUSLY disappointed. It looked good, looked juicy when I was carving it, but it seemed a bit harder to slice than I was expecting. Turns out, it was just really quite chewy. The flavor and texture was much more like prime rib, but it was really really chewy. I wouldn't go so far as to say it was "tough", but it was just too chewy. It was soft, but required alot more chew than I ever wanted. I am so glad our church group canceled and I had to invite people over to eat it at the last minute, because I would have been SERIOUSLY embarrassed to serve that to our church group. They have all raved over my ribs and some other things I've done, but that would have really made me hang my head to serve.
Everyone else said it was fine, it was still better than most briskets they'd had, but no one took any home (it was a 15 lber), and the leftovers sat in my fridge for almost 2 weeks until I threw them away. I told them straight up if they didn't take it home, I would toss it, because I wasn't eating any more. And I didn't so I got rid of it.
So what do I do? Was it just because this was Choice? I am just really bummed... I am headed all the way down to Costco on Friday to buy 15 racks of ribs, so I guess I will pick up a Prime packer or two for the future but... I really need to find a place to put a "meat fridge". We just don't have room to store many of these.
Blargh, I'm just really frustrated. My wife isn't a huge brisket fan, she loves my ribs more than anything, and pulled pork and pulled chuck after that. But I don't want to have something I can't make spectacular! lol.
I'm just venting. Sorry. Thanks for reading. Open to any ideas.
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