Hello All! I've been reading this website for awhile now, and recently joined. I have an old school, barrel offset smoker, and I normally smoke whole packer briskets, which turn out great (thanks to Meathead and Amazing Ribs!) Looking forward to reading more of the forums here.
Now to my questions. Awhile back, my friend's sister raised a cow on pasture grass, had it butchered, and my friend now has a side of beef in his freezer. I offered to smoke anything for him (in exchange for a small portion of the goods, of course! So, he just brought me two pieces of brisket...and I mean, two PIECES. I don't think these are flats, or points, and there's very little fat cap anywhere. And they're extremely thin. I attached photos; that ruler in the picture is 12 inches, so you can see how small they are - about 7 inches by 8 inches each, and ranging from 3/4 inch thick to MAYBE 1.25 inches thick. There's also very little marbling. Oh, and the third picture is...almost hair? There was some actual cow hair on the meat, I scraped it off. I think that once it thaws a bit more, I'll trim more of that off, whatever it is.
Folks, how on earth should I cook these? I don't know if I should smoke them for a few hours, then wrap them in foil with some moisture, and put in the oven low and slow? I'm worried these things are going to dry out if I smoke them very long. And what about marinating? I usually inject my whole briskets, and let that sit for anywhere from several hours to 12 hours, and then add dry rub and smoke. But should I just drown these pieces in a marinade for 24 hours? Or brine? (I've never brined, kinda nervous about doing that to be honest I don't want it too salty.)
Lastly, any guesses on how long these things will take to cook?
I'd really appreciate any advice. I'm supposed to have these cooked by Saturday night.
P.S. I also went out and bought a whole brisket to smoke at the same time. Just in case. But I still don't want to ruin this meat! Thanks everyone!
Now to my questions. Awhile back, my friend's sister raised a cow on pasture grass, had it butchered, and my friend now has a side of beef in his freezer. I offered to smoke anything for him (in exchange for a small portion of the goods, of course! So, he just brought me two pieces of brisket...and I mean, two PIECES. I don't think these are flats, or points, and there's very little fat cap anywhere. And they're extremely thin. I attached photos; that ruler in the picture is 12 inches, so you can see how small they are - about 7 inches by 8 inches each, and ranging from 3/4 inch thick to MAYBE 1.25 inches thick. There's also very little marbling. Oh, and the third picture is...almost hair? There was some actual cow hair on the meat, I scraped it off. I think that once it thaws a bit more, I'll trim more of that off, whatever it is.
Folks, how on earth should I cook these? I don't know if I should smoke them for a few hours, then wrap them in foil with some moisture, and put in the oven low and slow? I'm worried these things are going to dry out if I smoke them very long. And what about marinating? I usually inject my whole briskets, and let that sit for anywhere from several hours to 12 hours, and then add dry rub and smoke. But should I just drown these pieces in a marinade for 24 hours? Or brine? (I've never brined, kinda nervous about doing that to be honest I don't want it too salty.)
Lastly, any guesses on how long these things will take to cook?
I'd really appreciate any advice. I'm supposed to have these cooked by Saturday night.
P.S. I also went out and bought a whole brisket to smoke at the same time. Just in case. But I still don't want to ruin this meat! Thanks everyone!
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