Welcome!


This is a membership forum. Guests can view 5 pages for free. To participate, please join.

[ Pitmaster Club Information | Join Now | Login | Contact Us ]

Only 4 free page views remaining.

Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Dry Aging Brisket - UPDATE

Collapse
This is a sticky topic.
X
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

    #16
    Henrik Troutman Do you guys have digital thermometers that produce graphs? It would be really interesting to see visually in a graph if these claims of "no stall" are true.

    Did I mention I'm excited?

    Comment


    • Troutman
      Troutman commented
      Editing a comment
      I just got done cooking mine....detailed report to follow....oh yea this is gonna be good !!!

    • grantgallagher
      grantgallagher commented
      Editing a comment
      Troutman SUSPENSE!!!

    • wcpreston
      wcpreston commented
      Editing a comment
      That is just not fair

    #17
    OK grab your popcorn and beer, the day is finally here. As a quick recap, I wet aged a full packer brisket for 45 days and dry aged it in an Umai bag for another subsequent 45 days. Had no idea what to expect but based on some recent YouTube videos, it looked rather interesting.

    So let's first talk about the brisket itself and what I expected. To be honest I scoffed at the videos that showed tons of juice running out of the dry aged briskets after they were cooked. Logically I thought that like dry aged rib-eyes I've done, the meat would loose moisture and thus the opposite would occur, the meat would be dense and somewhat dry. That couldn't have been further from the truth.

    The brisket itself was a Costco Prime, weighing in at 16 lb 2 oz. As I usually do I cut off the thin flat and made pastrami with it. That knocked the overall weight down to right at 12 lbs. At that point the remainder, which had wet aged in the cryovac for 45 days, went into an Umai bag (see previous pix). So yesterday was the target 45th day of dry or a total of 90 days of wet/dry aging. Here is the result after months of being in my meat frig ....

    Click image for larger version

Name:	45 day brisket 02.jpg
Views:	939
Size:	114.9 KB
ID:	648181

    As you can see, it lost over 26 ozs or about 14% of it's total weight in volume. That primary due to the Umai bag allowing moisture to escape while the enzymes naturally occurring in the meat begin to break down the connective tissue and collagen.

    Unbagged it was like a giant piece of beef jerky, stiff as a board....

    Click image for larger version

Name:	45 day brisket 04.jpg
Views:	761
Size:	99.9 KB
ID:	648182
    Click image for larger version

Name:	45 day brisket 03.jpg
Views:	789
Size:	136.9 KB
ID:	648183
    Click image for larger version

Name:	45 day brisket 05.jpg
Views:	772
Size:	148.9 KB
ID:	648184

    It almost appears to have a layer of plastic wrap glued on it. Well it had to come off so I carved away at the thing for a good 30 minutes. The resulting meat had a dark rosy color and the fat was remarkably like butter to the feel once it got a little warm. As you might also notice, this piece of brisket was full of fat, more so then I generally like. I just did a backyard trim instead of a full comp trim, so the deckle fat was left on....


    Click image for larger version

Name:	45 day brisket 06.jpg
Views:	795
Size:	112.6 KB
ID:	648186
    Click image for larger version

Name:	45 day brisket 07.jpg
Views:	777
Size:	98.0 KB
ID:	648185

    So here's the bad news, by the time you get done trimming, you loose another 2.5 lbs of total volume. I ended up, bottom line, with about 7.5 lbs. of raw meat to cook. Given a whole bunch of fat will render and be cut away after the cook, I probably ended with a yield between 5-6 lbs. of meat. So, long wait and way less weight.

    Regardless, I went ahead with the cook. This is where things got interesting. Decided not to do anything too out of the ordinary, so I went ahead and dry brined over night and seasoned with BBBR and extra pepper the next day. I also wanted to inject, fearing once again that the meat would come out dry. So I injected with one cup of Butcher's BBQ for Prime Brisket dissolved in some beef broth.

    I used my pellet cooker set at 275* and put the brisket on at exactly 10 am ......

    Click image for larger version

Name:	45 day brisket 08.jpg
Views:	741
Size:	56.1 KB
ID:	648187
    Click image for larger version

Name:	45 day brisket 09.jpg
Views:	742
Size:	196.5 KB
ID:	648188

    As usual I spritzed it every hour on the hour until it got up to about 160*. The whole time I'm waiting for a stall to occur but it never did. The thing just made a bee line to my target temp of 195*. it set off the alarm at almost exactly 7 hours into the cook. As I lifted the cooker lid the brisket began to wiggle like a piece of jello without even touching it. It probed like proverbial warm butter all over, so I pulled it, put it in a pan foiled up and into the oven to rest for about an hour and a half...


    Click image for larger version

Name:	45 day brisket 10.jpg
Views:	784
Size:	54.1 KB
ID:	648189
    Click image for larger version

Name:	45 day brisket 11.jpg
Views:	755
Size:	163.9 KB
ID:	648190

    Well as you can immediately see the no-wrap bark turned out amazing. So I began to carve the flat thinking that would be the real acid test. Much to my amazement, it turned out soft, I mean almost pot roast soft. It was a bit over tenderized, the connective tissue and fat had completely dissolved and juice was running all over the cutting board....

    Click image for larger version

Name:	45 day brisket 12.jpg
Views:	781
Size:	153.3 KB
ID:	648193
    Click image for larger version

Name:	45 day brisket 13.jpg
Views:	727
Size:	127.2 KB
ID:	648192
    Click image for larger version

Name:	45 day brisket 14.jpg
Views:	766
Size:	77.8 KB
ID:	648191

    Probably the most tender and juicy flat I've ever cooked. It had a nice mild taste as well, not like pot roast, but beefy. It literally melted in my mouth. The only assumption I can make is that I didn't need the injection and maybe, just maybe I could have pulled it at 190*.

    As for the honey pot point end, well it was the same. Super juicy, extremely tender with rendered fat just gushing out....

    Click image for larger version

Name:	45 day brisket 15.jpg
Views:	837
Size:	158.3 KB
ID:	648194

    All in all it couldn't have been a more perfect cook. The results; however, were not what I expected. I'm dying to do another one, this time adjusting the cook to try and achieve a firmer result. But I can tell you one thing, if you're a fan of aged steak, you're gonna love aged brisket, it's the bomb !!!

    Did a little gai lan cooked in an oyster sauce, a few slices of brisket and a shrimp fried rice for dinner last night. Mighty tasty !!!

    Click image for larger version

Name:	gai lan.jpg
Views:	741
Size:	173.5 KB
ID:	648195Click image for larger version

Name:	45 day brisket 16.jpg
Views:	738
Size:	136.0 KB
ID:	648196

    Henrik, you're up brother. Can't wait to see how his turns out !!!! Troutman is out !!!!





    Comment


    • Sweaty Paul
      Sweaty Paul commented
      Editing a comment
      Hungry again

    • Troutman
      Troutman commented
      Editing a comment
      The trimmed pellicle was ground up and will be mixed with hamburger and a bit of it for my puppies.

    • wcpreston
      wcpreston commented
      Editing a comment
      I've been putting the trimmed pellicle into an instant pot for like 4 hours. Trim the fat off for beef love, and the beef is perfect for a beef stew. I can't believe it starts as something so gross.

    #18
    I would very much like to dry age some prime rib.

    Comment


      #19
      I need a meat fridge.

      Comment


      • SmokeyGator
        SmokeyGator commented
        Editing a comment
        Yes you do. I keep telling my wife we need one too.

      • klflowers
        klflowers commented
        Editing a comment
        Wife is on board, I just need to get off my lazy but and make room in the garage.

      • Mr. Bones
        Mr. Bones commented
        Editing a comment
        klflowers
        Same situation, here, Brother...

      #20
      Ok, you convinced me. I need a dedicated dry aging fridge

      Comment


        #21
        Troutman I love ya brother and you have some serious bbq skills and thanks for taking the time to do this but I gotta say it. Messing with a brisket for 90 plus days and then losing 50% of the meat?
        I have a hard time rationalizing this. I just can't convince myself that it can be that much better than a traditionally smoked brisket while adding all the extra time and sacraficing all that meat.

        I don't know maybe my stubborn stick burning head makes me miss out on some real treats!

        Comment


        • Troutman
          Troutman commented
          Editing a comment
          Taste was not 10x better. I don't think that's possible even with the best of the best brisket. It was definitely about texture, complete rendering and I suppose a mouth feel (umai ?)

        • wcpreston
          wcpreston commented
          Editing a comment
          BUT I don't think think everyone is taking into account the amount of weight a brisket typically weighs after cooking. Was this brisket any lighter AFTER cooking? Of course it was lighter before; it lost a lot of moisture. I didn't see an after-cook weigh in, nor do most people do an after-cook weigh-in. (At least I haven't seen any.)

        • Polarbear777
          Polarbear777 commented
          Editing a comment
          You do typically lose a lot when cooking but here you have to trim off the entire surface so there’s a quite a bit there.

          Probably should start with the largest brisket one can find.

        #22
        I'm glad I'm not into dry-aged flavor one bit.

        Comment


        • Troutman
          Troutman commented
          Editing a comment
          To be honest, there was no "dry aged" flavor. Tasted like real tender brisket, period. Was it worth the effort, meh .... I might do it again, definitely not going into the rotation though.

        #23
        Troutman do you mean SVQ, sous vide-q (using both sous vide and standard BBQ preparations) or is QVQ an acronym for something else I am not aware of?

        Comment


        • Huskee
          Huskee commented
          Editing a comment
          Red Man Polarbear777 I just called that SVQ, part of the SVQ style anyway. I never realized the order it was done in was its own acronym. Couldn't figure out where the extra Q came from.

        • Polarbear777
          Polarbear777 commented
          Editing a comment
          Call it what you want, but I’ve been disappointed with every SVQ recipe I’ve tried so I want to be explicit about the technique difference. I started calling it QVQ after PKBs interview.

        • Troutman
          Troutman commented
          Editing a comment
          Yea Polar helped start the whole movement. I like it a lot but it's similar to this dry aging process, it's long involved cooking but with really good results. It's the "technique" I suggest we take a look at.

        #24
        Thanks for the detailed update! Very nice cook. I’ll report back soon with my brisket. The brisket you did looks like a textbook brisket cook to me! Nice!!

        Comment


        • Troutman
          Troutman commented
          Editing a comment
          Looking forward to it, it was an interesting journey

        #25
        I do not believe we should leave you to yourselves to judge your own test. I being a self appointed professional taste tester believe I can be unbiased. Let me know the time and date and I will gladly test your next test results. (:
        Last edited by THE Humble Texan; March 11, 2019, 07:18 AM.

        Comment


          #26
          I did this more out of disbelief and curiosity then anything. Brisket is a staple for me but waiting 45, much less 90 days, to cook a piece of meat kind of makes me lose interest. In fact I've kind of gotten away from aging steak, it's just not that much better to me. I also wanted to take one for the team and show you guys the results. I may do another one and tweak the timing while looking to start with a leaner piece of meat. Other than that, well I guess I can tick it off the ta do list !!

          Regardless it was a lot of fun and now I'm itching to get back to more "normal" cooking. Got a freezer full of meat in the que, need to get to cookin' it !! Hope you enjoyed this !!

          Comment


          • Polarbear777
            Polarbear777 commented
            Editing a comment
            Yep. If we don’t try new techniques or try to optimize existing ones, how will we ever know what we are missing?

            Sure beats doing it "the way we’ve always done it".

          • klflowers
            klflowers commented
            Editing a comment
            Thanks for the effort, Troutman. I for one thoroughly enjoyed it.

          #27
          Well, after Troutman's expose,' I may go for 18 days dry aging (after 31 days wet aging) and go for the BBQ next Sunday. But I still have a bunch of the umai bags. Thank you for the great effort. Now to see Henrik's. Here is my Costco Prime Rib and Brisket.
          Attached Files
          Last edited by ddmcwhirter; March 11, 2019, 09:27 AM.

          Comment


          • Troutman
            Troutman commented
            Editing a comment
            I take the harder pellicle and throw it out, it’s not too edible, like shoe leather. The softer stuff and fat make great grind for burgers.

            I suppose if you took the hard stuff and rendered it into gravy it might be tasty !!

          • EdF
            EdF commented
            Editing a comment
            We've used the outside for stock base, and the fail-safe dog recycling method.

          • wcpreston
            wcpreston commented
            Editing a comment
            Troutman The rendered hard stuff from by aged rib roast made perfect beef love

          #28
          Alright, the wait is over, here's my take on dry aging a brisket for 60 days.

          Executive Summary
          I have now smoked my dry aged brisket. I used my own rub and smoked it with cherry wood on the Weber kettle with the Slow 'N Sear. It went fast, and it tasted amazing.

          Cameo role
          You may notice a four legged meat inspector named Sally, eagerly hovering the premises :-)

          Hickups
          I used the Fireboard + Pit Viper. Or I planned to anyway. I wanted a smooth cook that I didn't have to baby sit. But the Fireboard refused to work with the Pit Viper fan. I got it running as always, and set the target temp to 130 deg C. The fan started blowing. After a while it stopped. No matter if I rebooted the FB or set the target temp to various values, it didn't work. I tried switching to manual mode and specified a fan speed the fan should run at. Nothing. Very frustrating. This is the third consecutive time the FB+PV fails me.
          In the first hour the temp was all over the place, until I pulled the plug and decided to run manually. Also, I moved the probes halfways through, so I don't have a pretty chart to show you.

          Except for that? Good times. The brisket was the most tender brisket I have ever eaten. I did leave the flat on, even though it was way too thin. And the flat came out dry. But that has nothing to do with the dry aging. The flat was simply too.....flat. I’m making chili out of that one.

          The verdict
          Will I do another one? Yes, it was easy. Storing a brisket in the fridge was zero effort, and except for that it is the same routine as any other brisket. It cooks faster too, which was nice. But is the difference huge? No. I think a well smoked, juicy ’regular’ brisket is delicious as is. I think dry aging lends itself better for steaks. My reasoning is that you can taste the dry aging better in a steak that isn't cooked to such high internal temps. But it sure was tender!

          /Hank, over 'n out


          Timings
          09:00 - brisket on the grill

          13:00 - past micro-stall (temp was 78 deg C / 172 deg F). Could have more bark, but it felt right, so I wrapped it.

          14:00 - wobbly, tender, time to take it off the grill. Internal temp was 90 deg C / 195 deg F). Into the faux cambro

          16:00 - dinner


          Oh, and here's the video. It took a while to make, so I hope you appreciate it. Heck, I even created the music for it. Have a smokin' weekend y'all!

          Comment


          • Polarbear777
            Polarbear777 commented
            Editing a comment
            The fireboard I have had issues with as well. Email them and they will help. Also power cycling it completely and killing the app and restarting usually works.

            The nice thing about a fan controller is that if you do have problems, running manually is an easy switch.
            Last edited by Polarbear777; March 15, 2019, 07:14 AM.

          • Henrik
            Henrik commented
            Editing a comment
            Thanks Polarbear777, good to know. Sent an email to their support today. Extremely annoying. I hope they can fix it.

          #29
          Troutman and Henrik Great work guys. This was a fun journey for all of us here. We appreciate all of your efforts.

          Comment


            #30
            OUT FRIGGIN' STANDING VIDEO !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



            Couple of observations;

            1) Surprised you hit a stall. Mine acted like it wanted to get cooked. My graph disappeared on my new Signals app but it was almost a 45* angle, shot up without any effort. Fasted cooked brisket ever.

            2) I started cutting off the thin flats a long time ago and making pastrami or burgers out of it. I just can't ever get a flat to do what I want it to do, especially knowing that you're going to lose volume during this process.

            3) I think we both agree that it's an outstanding result, the tenderness is off the charts, but not something you'd want to do regularly. Kind of a novelty really, but a great result none-the-less.

            4) I've been thinking of having revolving briskets, always have one dry aging and another one staggered wet aging. That way I always have a brisket in the que, either a normal one or a dry aged one every other month. That way the process doesn't seem that long of a wait !!

            5) I'd email Fireboard immediately using your AR email (hint, hint) and tell them your issue. It may just be your cable. Does the Fireboard seem to work otherwise? When I had my problem last fall they replaced my unit, no questions. Of course I was still under warranty. The power of AR will get things sorted.

            Well, as usual my Swedish brother in smoke, another outstanding job on your part. I enjoyed this collaboration, hope we can do it again some time !!

            Comment

            Announcement

            Collapse
            No announcement yet.
            Working...
            X
            false
            0
            Guest
            Guest
            500
            ["pitmaster-my-membership","login","join-pitmaster","lostpw","reset-password","special-offers","help","nojs","meat-ups","gifts","authaau-alpha","ebooklogin-start","alpha","start"]
            false
            false
            {"count":0,"link":"/forum/announcements/","debug":""}
            Yes
            ["\/forum\/free-deep-dive-guide-ebook-downloads","\/forum\/free-deep-dive-guide-ebook-downloads\/1157845-paid-members-download-your-6-deep-dive-guide-ebooks-for-free-here","\/forum\/the-pitcast","\/forum\/national-barbecue-news-magazine","\/forum\/national-barbecue-news-magazine\/national-barbecue-news-magazine-aa","\/forum\/national-barbecue-news-magazine\/national-barbecue-news-magazine-aa\/bbq-news-magazine-2019-issues","\/forum\/national-barbecue-news-magazine\/national-barbecue-news-magazine-aa\/bbq-news-magazine-2020-issues","\/forum\/national-barbecue-news-magazine\/national-barbecue-news-magazine-aa\/bbq-news-magazine-2021-issues","\/forum\/national-barbecue-news-magazine\/national-barbecue-news-magazine-aa\/bbq-news-magazine-2022-issues","\/forum\/national-barbecue-news-magazine\/national-barbecue-news-magazine-aa\/current-2023-issues","\/forum\/national-barbecue-news-magazine\/national-barbecue-news-magazine-aa\/current-2024-issues","\/forum\/free-deep-dive-guide-ebook-downloads\/1165909-trial-members-download-your-free-deep-dive-guide-ebook-here"]
            /forum/free-deep-dive-guide-ebook-downloads/1165909-trial-members-download-your-free-deep-dive-guide-ebook-here