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Costco USDA Prime Full Packer Brisket -- notes and review

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    Costco USDA Prime Full Packer Brisket -- notes and review

    Back in September, I purchased a 17lb full packer from my local Costco. Sticker says USDA Prime. It was a whopping $63. Now, although I am not stranger to preparing brisket, I consider myself still a rookie. I have 3 previous brisket cooks under my belt (literally). I decided that I wanted to try something new, so I looked up the posting about doing the brisket 'Hot and Fast'. Add to that the fact that I also had never done burnt ends, so I was planning, in case of some failure, to have a whole mess of them! Anyway, this is my pictureless story.
    I let that brisket thaw for a few days. When It felt pliable, I pulled it out of the fridge, rinsed it down and started trimming. The package said 17lb and change. I took about 4lbs of fat off of this thing. I do not think I have the process "down" yet, but I am getting better. I tend to take the fat away until it no longer feels like there is cardboard backing the fat. I try to leave some and I try to leave it fairly even, but it often looks like I gave my child a pair of scissors and let them cut my hair. After getting the fat whittled down enough that I was comfortable with it, I went ahead and salted it (Kosher coarse), wrapped it up, and but it back in the fridge for about 30 hours. During that time, I mixed up some of Meathead 's Big Bad Beef Rub, with a couple of small changes. I did not have any American chili or ancho, so I substitued with chili chipotle powder. I also added a pinch or two more of the garlic powder.

    I fired up my RecTec RT-680, set it for 300F **, and let it warm up a bit. I brought the Brisket out, spritzted it with some water, dusted it with the rub, and spritzed it some more. I use a Fireboard, so I put 3 probes in. One in the point, one in the thick part of the flat, and one in between the two ##. I placed the brisket on the smoker and walked away for a while. That's part of the beauty of the pellet smoker. I checked on it, and spritzed it a bit more after about 45 minutes, but then left it alone until it reached about 170F (3.5 hours), wrapped it in peach paper, and went back to other tasks. Around the 5 hour mark, each probe was reading in the high 190s. I did find this a bit odd that they would be so close in temp. I mean, this thing was super thick on the point side, and quite thin on the flat. So I went back up, repositioned my probes, and noticed that the temps were still fairly close @@. I started to prep my faux cambro, did a few more things and then checked when the flat hit 200F... pretty probe tender. Let's check the point... also probe tender. Welp, this is the time the magic happens. I turn off the smoker, unwrap it from the paper, re-wrap in foil and throw it in the old cooler, surrounded by towels.

    Fast forward 2 -1/2 hours. I bring in the brisket, put it on the cutting board and start slicing. A-Mazing! I am truly sorry I don't have pictures, b/c the smoke ring was a good 3/16" around, the flat was still moist ++, and there was absolutely no need for any type of sauce.

    Here comes the 'new' part. Having never made burnt ends, I wanted to try. I saw a number of recipes, some sounded gross, some far too technical for me... so, I melded them together and made this really simple. I did cheat a bit though, but I think you'll support my choice. I took part of the point, not wanting to waste a bunch if I did it wrong, and cubed it to about 1/2" or so. I took my square cast iron skillet, put a small amount of grapeseed oil in it, coated, then dumped. I added about 3 tsp of bacon grease, recovered juice from the brisket cutting, and got that stuff pretty hot. As it started to crisp up, and I stirred it about, I added some Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce, about 2T. and let it cook a bit longer. As I saw the BBQ sauce start to reduce, I added ~2oz. of Coca Cola, turned the heat up a bit, and let it begin to reduce again, stirring often. As the Cola stated to congeal, I reduced the heat, covered the ends and let them goo-up. I took the small batch to my office, and was told I needed to quit my job and open a food truck. Although that is a nice compliment, I don't think that is in the works. =)

    I thank you for reading. I'd welcome any constructive comments on my process as I am always ready to learn. I'll also answer any questions. I do have on photo of the burnt ends, but that is on my phone... so maybe later I can attach it.


    ** Mistake #1: I had forgotten to add my wood chunks on top of the heat diffuser, so my smoke profile was diminished. If you look for my other posts, you can see the tips I was give by RecTec directly to help increase smoke.
    ## Yep, I realize measuring the temp of the fat does me no real good, but it did let me see what was happening between the two chunks.
    @@ I'd love to know if this is because it is a 'better' cut of meat and therefore cooks more consisitently or operator error. I'm going with operator error.
    ++ this has to be a combination of the shorter exposure to heat and the better quality of the meat... right?

    #2
    I have been smok'in briskets at 225 instead of 300 and found they can dry out even with pans of water and the Texas crutch. I am intrigued at the 300 degree F. level. I may try this on my next Brisket. Did you wet age before rubbing? If so, how long? I got one about 2 weeks old waiting in the fridge.

    Comment


    • shush
      shush commented
      Editing a comment
      Dry brined only for about 30 hours. No wet-brine, no injection. I _really_ think the grade was the winner here.

    #3
    Fantastic write-up. There is a reason briskets cook so well in the PBC - it runs hot. Mine runs in the 260-300 range. We have a 13 pound prime packer in the deep freezer recently picked up from Costco for $2.99 per pound. After this write-up I am completely convinced that 270-300 is the range I'll be targeting.

    Thanks again for such a detailed write-up. Very informative.

    Comment


    • shush
      shush commented
      Editing a comment
      I was not optimistic the first time I went fast-n-hot, and it was a lesser grade brisket, but still ended well. I decided this time, to try with a better cut, albeit lower cost/lb. (Thanks Costco!).

    #4
    Thats a five hour brisket off my Hunsaker
    Attached Files

    Comment


    • JeffJ
      JeffJ commented
      Editing a comment
      That looks terrible.....NOT!!! Great smoke ring and very moist. Nice!

    • Elton's BBQ
      Elton's BBQ commented
      Editing a comment
      Looks fantastic!

    #5
    Great write up! Thanks for sharing. I need to do another brisket cook. It’s been far too long!

    Comment


      #6
      Actually, your first mistake was not taking photos. No photos, it didnt happen. Note: you could always be a fiction writer!

      Comment


        #7
        Most of the brisket is gone now... here is the one photo I took of my first round of burnt ends. Click image for larger version

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        Comment


          #8
          Thanks for sharing this shush! I too only have a couple of brisket cooks under my belt - lots still to learn and try - I appreciate hearing how you approached this - detail appreciated.

          Comment


            #9
            Sounds like a great cook!!!

            USDA Prime from Costco is the *only* brisket I’ve ever cooked in ~5 years of brisket smoking. I believe it’s a much more forgiving cut at this quality.

            250°F is my target pit temp, but with an offset stickburner I sometimes run up to 275+°, and have never had a dry brisket. They usually finish in ~9 hours too...may try running the next one up to 300°.

            My method involves dry aging the brisket for about a month, although I’ve never had any complaints when I cook one the day i buy it! I used to dry brine for a day or so then rub with BBBR, but a few briskets ago I gave Dalmatian rub a go (50/50 kosher salt and coarse ground black pepper). No brine period...just pull the brisket from the fridge, rinse, trim, hit with Dalmatian, and throw it in the pit!

            These last few have been the best briskets I’ve ever made. Gonna try the higher temp next time and see if I can cook this bad boy faster and still have it come out moist. The last brisket I also did a LONG hold - kept it in a 170°F oven overnight, then killed the oven and let it rest in there until 140°F internal temp. It was a 24 hour cook, but I slept all night!

            Can’t wait to hear about your next cook!

            Comment


              #10
              shush Thank you for the write up especially on the burnt ends. I will absolutely try that the next brisket I cook. I am going to tell you that I was dubious of the hot and fast method....until I did one. It turned out great. I did it on my Weber kettle with a slow and sear. I have also done one on my PBC and it really is amazing that it will turn out a brisket that is so great in a short amount of time. I for one am convinced and will probably keep doing it the hot and fast way from now on (and I am a big one for tradition so do this mean I have to turn in my low & slow brisket card?)

              Comment


                #11
                Thanks for all the feedback and comments. When I am cooking for me and my family, I think the hot-n-fast method is great. I don't need to invest too much time, which means less baby sitting (still far less than stick/charcoal because of my pellet pooper). If I was doing a few, or a larger hunk for a group of people, I may actually go back to the longer, lower temp cook. why? for the obvious reason, when people ask, you get to say 'oh that? It cooked for 18 hours' and you get the 'ooh/ahh' moments. =)

                Comment


                  #12
                  This is very helpful and really looks great!

                  Comment


                    #13
                    Only thing I can really add is to try to learn to "feel" when the brisket is done, instead of using thermometers. I used to go to 200, and sometimes it was overdone. So I decided to learn to go by how it felt in my hands, and it was always spot-on.

                    I know that is heresy sometimes, but the amount of connective tissue and marbling is different in every hunk of meat, and sometimes 200 or 203 is just too much of a cook.

                    Comment


                      #14
                      Love the way you did the burnt ends. I do them like that all the time (sans the coke) and call it "Quick Burnt Ends". I guess if two of us are doin' it that way I ain't nuts!

                      Comment

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