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Thin brisket strategy...

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    Thin brisket strategy...

    Hey all, first of all thankful today for those who gave their lives so we can have this blessed freedom!

    I purchased a 12.8 lb packer from Costco and have been wet aging 30 days. Today I trimmed her up and separated the flat and point. Unfortunately I ended up with two pretty puny and thin sections.

    Smoking them tomorrow after 24 hour dry brine and I'm thinking of smoking in foil pans to keep them moist. Downside is no smoke on one side but I'll smoke the flat fat side down which won't matter anyway.

    I'll also probably foil cover the pans at 160, earlier than normal and will forego the butcher paper this time. I'd imagine bark will be set fine at that point with the arid climate.

    Thoughts?

    #2
    Pans won't keep them moist, it will however collect "juices" so you add that at serving. I cook pot roast in pans all the time. If it's lean it will be dry, even if it has been cooked in a pan and covered the whole time.

    I would opt to trim off the the thinner parts and cook as normal. You can wrap early to collect "juices" and then sear at the end if you want to add some crust. The later you wrap the less "juice" available.

    Comment


    • SpeedyB
      SpeedyB commented
      Editing a comment
      Jerod Broussard thanks for the thoughts. I have had experiences where keeping the juices and "roasting" produces more moist meat. More, however, at high elevation is the benefit of wrapping early to keep from evaporating.

      You're far more experienced than I though. Appreciate your insight! 🍻

    • Jerod Broussard
      Jerod Broussard commented
      Editing a comment
      In my experience SpeedyB if it was moist at the end it was "moist" to begin with, ie. plenty fat and collagen to be broken down

    #3
    Eradicate all preconotions of fat juicy brisket with thick black crust from your head. Ain't going to happpen. Thin briskets will be cooked through long before a thick bark sets.
    Cool the brisket right down to just above freezing before tossing on the pit. This will allow more time for the smoke ring and bark. Cook 225F until it hits 145-150f internal or when has good color, wrap then at 160f raise the temp to 300F and cook until 198-200f. Thats how I would do it. Use Mesquite if you have it as it is the strongest smoking wood in the first part of the cook for flavor before wrapping. my 2 cents
    Last edited by Ahumadora; May 25, 2019, 04:06 PM.

    Comment


    • SpeedyB
      SpeedyB commented
      Editing a comment
      Ahumadora absolutely tracking with your logic. Makes perfect sense, thank you!

      Great thoughts on bringing down pre-smoke temps too!

    #4
    12.8 pounds isn’t that small. Is the whole thing thin or just a couple ends or corners? Brisket will thicken up as it cooks and contracts. I like cooking smaller packers in the 12-14 pound range. I haven’t had any prime packers from Costco in that range that were abnormally thin. I cook at 275 and wrap in butcher paper after the stall.

    Comment


      #5
      Red Man, thanks for chiming in!

      The ends of both the point and the flat were very, very thin - under 0.5 in. However the opposite ends were pretty decent, very disproportionate on the point.

      I chose to split before the cook in this case so that I can really focus on controlling the cook on each separately. In hindsight I probably should have kept together on this one.

      Comment


      • CaptainMike
        CaptainMike commented
        Editing a comment
        My 2 cents and it is what I do: spend some time really going over the packers when you're at Costco. If there's nothing you like then ask one of the butchers if there are more to choose from. It takes a little research and T&E to figure out what you want. But, just as the foundation is key to building a house, meat selection is the key first step in making brisket. IM-perhaps-not-so-HO.

      • SpeedyB
        SpeedyB commented
        Editing a comment
        CaptainMike wonderful suggestion. My wife selected this one but next time I'll get my eyes on them personally. I liked the final product a lot but would much rather have had a more consistent thickness slab of meat.

      #6
      In any case still a learning experience of what you can/can't do with brisket on a smoker.
      Interested in hearing your results.

      Comment


        #7
        Update:

        Flat weighed about 5 lbs, more than anticipated. Point was maybe 4 lbs.

        Executed game plan and had one of the best briskets to date. Both went 4 hrs on smoker at 240, then poured some jus in each pan and wrapped pans with foil. Put in oven, internal temp was 150.

        Point went 2 hrs wrapped in oven at 275 up to 195 internal, then cubed. Went 2 more hrs wrapped at 200 but wasn't getting tender (thought low heat would be fine after hitting 195 before cubing). So went another hour at 275 unwrapped. It needed a lot of time at high heat to break down collagen. Unwrapping at high heat for the last hour really put some great caramelization and crust on the burnt ends though.

        Flat went 2.5 hours wrapped at 275 in the oven and by that time there was so much liquid inside the pan that the flat was floating. That totally surprised me. So I removed from the liquid and then went another 1.5 hours unwrapped at about 300 until tender. 8 hrs total.

        Click image for larger version  Name:	20190526_132530.jpg Views:	1 Size:	3.79 MB ID:	685706Click image for larger version  Name:	20190526_180531.jpg Views:	1 Size:	3.84 MB ID:	685705Click image for larger version  Name:	20190526_181655.jpg Views:	1 Size:	4.09 MB ID:	685704

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