Barrister DEW's Best BBQ Beef Brisket - First Attempt

[Dewesq55]

This is a 5 1/2 lb "whole" flat from BJ's.






I trimmed all of the silverskin off of the meat side and trimmed off the thin tail from what would be the point end and a super thin "wing" from the opposite end. It is the piece that is at the bottom left of the fat side picture above.


I salted it and it is now dry brining. Tomorrow afternoon I will inject it with beef stock. Tomorrow night I will rub it up with BBBR and smoke it on Friday as of now, though that could change to Saturday.

Wish me luck!

DEW

[DWCowles]

Dang Dew, you sure got that brisket trim nice and pretty

[Dewesq55]

Thanks, DWC.

[fzxdoc]

DEW, I'm going to enjoy watching this cook.

One thing I discovered about injecting last weekend: I injected 4 chuck roasts (I use Butcher's BBQ Prime Beef Injection) but this time chose to leave each one in the plastic bag in which I had placed it after dry brining. I injected not from the top down but from the side (the thickness dimension). I just opened the end of the bag, inserted the needle into the beef in a few strategic locations and injected away. It was so much neater than the way I have injected briskets and chuckies in the past. With a brisket, for which you want to inject in the direction of the grain, this is a foolproof method, neatnesswise (I know that's not a word but you KWIM). The extra liquid from the injection just stayed in the bag, helping to marinate the beef until I was ready to dry thoroughly an hour later, apply dry rub and oil, and hang in my PBC.

Just a thought.

As a cautionary tale--when I injected a chuckie a month or more ago, I sort of got carried away/distracted and squirted the entire wall and window in back of the counter where I was working with the injection solution. I had the tenderest windows on the block, I'm guessing. Seriously, though, what a mess. From now on, I'm injecting meat that's in a plastic bag.

Kathryn

[Dewesq55]

That's great info/advice, Kathryn. Thanks for that. I will inject inside the 2 gallon ziploc. I will just be using beef stock (or broth, if I don't get to the store for stock).

[Guy]

Great idea.

[_John_]

Looks great, I trimmed my last one a lot, but not as well as yours.

[Dewesq55]

Well, if the inside looks half as good as the slices in your avatar when I'm done, I will be mighty happy.

DEW

[_John_]

I'm sure they will, and now that you mention it, i'm gonna get some leftovers!

[Dewesq55]

So, I'm really anal about creating precision so I can get reproducible results. Hence, I thought up this method to assist me in the injection process:



It's a 12" x 24 " piece of brand new, unused plastic hexmesh with 1" x 1" holes. I lined it up and folded it under and held it together with some twist ties. I then counted up the holes over the meat and divided that into the amount of broth needed at the suggested volume of 1 oz per lb and got 1.1 cc per sq. in. I then stuck the needle in each hole, at an angle parallel to the meat grain, and injected ~1 cc. It was fast and easy.

Before injecting, I double wrapped the meat in plastic wrap to hold the broth in. When I finished I put the wrapped flat back in its ziploc bag and back in the fridge to rest. Later tonight I will unwrap and rub with BBBR (with added pepper) and put it back in the fridge until tomorrow a.m. when I will smoke it.

DEW

[Jerod Broussard]

Nice......saying that cause you are doing that and not me.

I'd rather inject myself than inject another brisket.

[Dewesq55]

Why is that, Jerod? Bad experience?

[Guy]

@JerodBroussard, LOL don't do that.

[Dewesq55]

Rubbed with BBBR and back in the fridge at 1:00 a.m.

[Dewesq55]

On the smoker this morning at 9:22am:



DEW

[Dewesq55]

The brisket stalled right at 149°F almost exactly 5 hours into the cook. I am letting it go an hour unwrapped to try to firm up the crust a bit before I wrap and crutch it.

[David Parrish]

Good plan to let it go a while longer. I've got to where I cook briskets unwrapped well past the stall. I like mine nice and black like a meteorite. I usually wrap after it gets into the 180s.

[Dewesq55]

Yeah. I am so afraid of it dying out that I wussied out and wrapped after 1 hour of stall, even right there were still some wet spots on the surface. I also forgot to take a pic before I wrapped. :-(

[David Parrish]

Pics, man! We need pics. We live for them.

[Dewesq55]

This is the best I can do, Dave.


I crutched with 3-4 ozs of beef stock and double wrapped (once in each direction) and stuck the probe back in. IT is now up to 162°F

DEW

[David Parrish]

Lookin good, just be sure to pass a few pics our way after she's done.

[Dewesq55]

For sure.

[Dewesq55]

Here are the final pix. The crust got soggy and mushy. The brisket had good flavor, was pull apart tender and had SOME moisture, but was hardly juicy. I'm not sure whether the problem was crutching or not letting the crust set enough before I wrapped. The jus in the foil was really good though.







DEW