Small Brisket ... came out dry. Any tips?

[jdemoor]

Hi Guys: I'm relatively new around here as a member, and thought I'd pick your brains on the collective wisdom on cooking a smallish brisket (about 2.5 lb flat). I am part of a local meat share collective here in the Boston area that sends me some organic, pure grass fed beef and I sometimes get briskets. So, I tried to follow the instructions I've seen here and by some other bbq folks on the web fairly closely -- I'm using a kamado style smoker. I set up charcoal on one side of the smoker, and put the brisket on the other side for mostly indirect heat (I have a heat deflector, but did not use it for this). I used a simple salt and pepper mixture for a rub, brought my kamado up to 220 degrees and added some apple wood. Put the brisket on the smoker, and let it sit there for about 2.5 hours until it hit 165 degrees, then I wrapped it in butcher paper and let it continue ... I started checking the brisket at about 185 degrees for done-ness (using a bamboo skewer to check how much resistance I got). It was still a bit tough, so let it go to 200 degrees before I took it off.

The smell was incredible! ... there was a good amount of fat that had soaked the butcher paper. But the brisket itself was too dried out, so a bit disappointing (the rest of the meat will go into chili tomorrow). I'm wondering if the size of this brisket (only about an inch thick) was the issue? Everyone on this site seems to be doing 8lb-14lb BIG briskets. Are there some tricks or techniques for cooking these small ones? I did NOT spritz the meat with water or anything. I have an injector, but didn't use it (and wondering if that would be something try).

Anybody want to offer up some suggestions?? thanks much in advance !
Jd

[jdemoor]

Here's a pic of the actual brisket and the setup I used.

[texastweeter]

Grass fed beef doesnt make the best. We raise free range, grass fed but finish with corn and breeder cubes. Even then, not the best brisket (we have 100% Angus, and Texas Longhorn). Also, the flat is much leaner. I would reccomend braising it next time, and cooking choice or higher on you pit. If you DO decide to do it again, be sure to inject. I make my own injection, but start with Butchers. Inject, then dry brine 2 days in advance. The phosphates and salt will help it retain water. Also crutch when the bark is set, not by temp. Probably set sooner than you thought due to lower moisture content. Switch from the paper to foil. Your bark will suffer some, but the foil does a better job of keeping the meat moist. Also, start probe checking at 190. Dont focus on temp to know when its done, trust probe tender. Finally REST in a cooler. Let it rest gor four hours. Hope this helps.

P.S. if you can get a whole brisket (flat and piont together) it will probably help too.

[Ahumadora]

Good advice. Forget trying to get bark. Tender n juicy is more important

[texastweeter]

Ahumadora I personally love a salty, crisp,bark, but i agree, jucy and tender come first.

[bardsleyque]

I agree with get a bigger brisket!

[jecucolo]

Did you dry brine? Was it select grade? Did you leave some fat on? These have a impact on the cook and texture. The flat runs dry because they are lean. These are the places I would stay. But high grade Prime, dry brine for a couple of days and leave a little fat when trimming.

[texastweeter]

Gras fed is not graded. It is usually very lean.

[jdemoor]

Thanks texastweeter: some good comments in here: I always assumed 'grass fed' was better meat, but I've seen some other comments that brisket is better corn finished. I have another one of these in the freezer (I think slightly bigger, about 3.5 pounds), and will try your suggestions on brining and injecting -- I think those all make good sense. If I had wrapped with foil today, I might have gotten better results on moistness ... I can also get larger briskets (full packer if I want) ... so in the future (when I'm cooking for a crowd), I'll give one of those a try too, and will report back !

thanks again,
Jd

[texastweeter]

My pleasure pardner. Pick you up some Butchers injection off the interweb. It should be everyones startingpoint for phosphates.

[jdemoor]

Hi jecucolo: I did not dry brine in advance -- I only did a medium thick coating of salt and pepper an hour or so before it went on the smoker. I did leave the fat cap on ... it was only about 1/4 to 3/8 thick. I'm sure that helped some, but obviously not enough. I can see where the dry brine for a couple of days will penetrate the meat better and likely retain more moisture. Appreciate your comments !

[Ahumadora]

I am used to cooking briskets like the photo above as it is all grass feed and younger cattle here. You can tell by the light color of the meat and low fat content. Like most of what I cook now, I cook at 300-325f for briskets Wrap in foil early as soon as it gets a bit of color and add a bunch of juice or stock. Forget about trying to imitate a photo off the web it's not going to happen.

[fzxdoc]

A friend gave me several pieces of grass-fed beef from his cattle farm. I'm not a huge fan of grass-fed beef, but agreed to do comparison cooks with his beef and grass fed corn finished beef. The grass fed beef is always done sooner, can dry out more easily, and is not as unctuous in flavor as the corn-finished beef in the tests that I've done so far. At least the cuts he gave me do not have that gamey flavor that I've tasted in some grass-feed beef in the past.

The best way I've found for these lean cuts is to sous vide then sear or smoke, depending on the cut.

Kathryn

[texastweeter]

I think that the quality of the grass makes a difference in that livery/gamey flavor. You can taste it as the seasons change. If you get a batch that taste like that, a soak in buttermilk goes a loooong way.

[jdemoor]

Hey fzxdoc: I just recently got an Anova sous vide machine, and I haven't done meat in it yet ... but in terms of getting the right temp, and locking in juices, that could be a winning combo. And I bought a Searzall as well (attachment for a torch to brown meat). So I will give that a try too ! Great suggestion !

[fzxdoc]

I believe MBMorgan has a Searzall . Maybe he can give you some tips. And yes, to my mind, sous vide saves grass fed beef, making it tender and juicy.

Kathryn

[Lock Stock and Barrel]

So much good advice given above I could not agree with more. But as stated watch bark to liking not temp and make sure you wrap super tight in heavy aluminum foil to braise because moisture will sealed in but make it real tight. Also, your bark will not be as thick as some because you do not have time due to the skinny cut to let sit in the smoke like you would with a 14 pound packer. Katherine's comment on sous vide is right on target . I do not own one, but if I were a rich man.....ya da da da da da da....

[jdemoor]

Hah! Thanks Lock Stock -- the sous vide machines are under $100 -not THAT expensive, and I've seen some as cheap as $50. Restaurants have used 'em for years, so that tells you they work ... just another tool in the arsenal. Thanks for weighing in !

[MBMorgan]

As Kathryn ( fzxdoc ) said, I do indeed have a SearzAll and use it frequently. While it's a bit slow, I find it to be the absolute best way to sear meat (whether SV or cooked indirect) while minimizing gray banding and pretty much eliminating the possibility of over-cooking while searing ... especially on irregularly-shaped hunks.

Here's a recent example of a SV chuck-eye steak:



I also find that SV does a great job of tenderizing otherwise tough meats like tri-tip or (presumably) cuts of grass-fed beef. You just have to be really careful if dealing with bone-in cuts that the bones don't poke holes in the bag during SV.

Feel free to let me know if you have any specific questions ... and I'll let you know if I have any specific answer(s) ...

[jdemoor]

Damn, that looks good ! Gettin' me hungry looking at that beautiful meat !! MB, I haven't tried my searzall yet ... but I think this is exactly the way I'm going to try my next steaks. You got me pumped up!

[TBoneJack]

I always use prime-grade, full packer briskets from Costco. I always buy them as close to 14 lbs as I can.

They always turn out great, whether or not I wrap. Lately I'm not wrapping; not even in butcher paper. I'm sure there is a bit more moisture loss when not wrapping, but I can't tell it. And my unwrapped briskets always produce the bark I crave.

I cooked baby back ribs in my PBC last night without wrapping. They were very juicy.

IMHO, wrapping is overrated. However, it does speed cooking, especially for the long-haul meats like brisket and pork butt.

Speaking of pork butt, I've cooked two 9-pounders in the past month without wrapping, and they were great with plenty of moisture.

[jdemoor]

I hear ya on the big cuts, TBone ... I'm sure they're quite a bit more forgiving. Unfortunately, in my meat share program I don't get to pick the sizes. But I'm definitely gonna try one of these big boys when I have a crowd coming over!

[EdF]

I've actually never wrapped anything! Strange how life works out.