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.

A second Texas revelation (it's brisket)...

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

    A second Texas revelation (it's brisket)...

    I have never made a "traditional" brisket. I've done several sous-vide briskets that I have finished on the smoker and they're good. In fact, when I started smoking meats, I generally did sous-vide first. Over time this method has soured on me because:

    1. Sous-vide isn't very fun compared to firing up the smoker.
    2. While sous-vide gives me perfect results for some things, it's just not the same.
    3. More bloody plastic and I am trying to cut down on more and more disposables.

    I still sous-vide with some regularity. There are a bunch of cool dishes (like medium rare brisket) that you can't make any other way. It's magic with eggs. I love it for steakhouse burgers. Oh yeah, and chicken breasts! Many of these items cook fine in glass or silicon bags too.

    This week, I wanted to try a real smoked brisket and see how it came out. Even with my experience I was a bit nervous. It's a big hunk of meat and a big time investment. Who wants to screw it up and waste all of that? (I would have made chili I guess.) I've never done a Texas crutch before! Wrapping ribs is too much work and pork should doesn't seem to need it.

    So... I did a brisket for the first time and I was trying to go "authentic" (or something). I trimmed it, salted it, let it sit for two days and then got busy.

    The rub was black pepper and nothing more.

    I used mesquite for the wood.

    I cooked it in my kettle for about 9 hours overnight at 225ºF. The bark had set. I wrapped, cooked for another 3-4 until it hit 203ºF. It was probe tender and I tossed it in the faux cambro for another two hours.

    This is the first time I have dug into brisket without any sauce. Seriously. When I cut it the juices poured out just like I see in the YouTube videos. It was awesome.

    I didn't get much of a smoke ring but... that was about the only complaint I had, lol.
    Attached Files

    #2
    That is a thing of beauty! And you perfectly explain why I don't sous vide. It just doesn't seem fun to me.

    Comment


    • N227GB
      N227GB commented
      Editing a comment
      One time I browsed through all the recipes on the Anova site and decided it just wasn't for me. To each his or her own.

    #3
    Very nice. That’s as good a brisket as I have every seen.

    Comment


      #4
      Beautiful meteorite and looks delicious.

      Comment


        #5
        Beautiful brisket! Congrats!

        Comment


          #6
          "it's just not the same"...

          That's the reason sou vide doesn't interest me yet... It may one day, but not yet.

          Comment


          • binarypaladin
            binarypaladin commented
            Editing a comment
            Sous-vide is neat but in general I’ve really found that I enjoy more traditional methods more. Braiding and pressure cooking have been popular here lately.

          #7
          Looks good! I think I'll add brisket to my shopping list (again).

          Comment


          • ecowper
            ecowper commented
            Editing a comment
            I know, right?

          #8
          Looks fantastic
          Nice job.... but where's the beanz, brisket ain't brisket without beanz

          Comment


          • binarypaladin
            binarypaladin commented
            Editing a comment
            Ha. Slaw is my go to side with all things BBQ. Potato salad or mashed potatoes being the other. I should try making some real baked beans some time.

          • smokin fool
            smokin fool commented
            Editing a comment
            10-4 we usually go with slaw and tater salad too but beanz are a must
            Then Tums, lottsa Tums....another must

          #9
          Your reasons are why my Anova hasn't been off the top shelf of my pantry in more than 18 months....

          Great looking brisket!

          Comment


            #10
            It tasted great. The burnt ends mixed with the juices from crutch were my favorite part too. Even my wife, who is not a big brisket fan, said, "Wow. This is like butter." (She got some nice slices from the center of the point.)

            And honestly, it wasn’t a hard cook either.

            Anyway, another success cooking outside and following the directions around here.

            Comment


            • jfmorris
              jfmorris commented
              Editing a comment
              I also take my meat straight from fridge to smoker, and agree that this helps with the smoke ring, versus the old advice about letting meat come to room temp before putting on the smoker (which it will not do for hours, and its unsafe to boot!). I take butts that are completely frozen to the smoker quite often.

            • binarypaladin
              binarypaladin commented
              Editing a comment
              ecowper I do the same actually. Fridge to smoker—and not just for briskets. In general I salt a couple days in advance and the morning before, as I tend to smoke overnight, I'll spitz and rub. The main reason for that is that come 8-10pm, if I have to do anything aside from get a fire going and pop the meat in I'm likely to just say, "Well, tomorrow I guess."

            • tdimond
              tdimond commented
              Editing a comment
              I've given some thought to going to the freezer while the pit warms up. One of my best smoke rings was when the PBC got out of control and I put the brisket on ice in a cooler while I got it reregulated.

            #11
            I want to comment a bit on the smoke ring, because I'm pretty sure it's related to a broader issue.

            In both my WSM and my kettle, I find the fire actually burns better for wood ignition when using a fuse method and no thermostatic controller, like my Flame Boss. In the kettle, for instance, I seem to get better results with the standard SNS corner fuse. I suspect "pulled" versus "pushing" (which is what the controller does) has something to do with how the fire distributes itself.

            With the controller, the coals seem to ultimately ignite from the bottom as opposed to snaking which doesn't make its way to the wood.

            Maybe I should just bury them? Does that work?

            Like sous-vide, my controller has become a little less fashionable but when I cook overnight, as I do so often, I'm nervous about using manual methods and waking up to a disaster. (Although, it's happened with the Flame Boss before too.)

            Comment


              #12
              Smoke rings are just for show. If it's juicy, tender, and tastes good, who cares about a smoke ring?

              Looks like a great brisket

              Comment


              • Jfrosty27
                Jfrosty27 commented
                Editing a comment
                Agreed

              • binarypaladin
                binarypaladin commented
                Editing a comment
                Yeah, I know. But "just" for show isn't always "just", lol. I'm not sad about the food at all, but I would like to improve that even if just as a fun challenge to smoking meats and I do think it is an indication about smoke being produced too.

                I'm not sad. The only way to experiment is to cook more meat, lol.

            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