When to blame the meat and when to blame yourself?
I had a cook over the weekend, a packer brisket, that was the worst brisket i've ever cooked and also the worst brisket i've ever eaten.
My local meat place (UW Provisions) that i usually go to for brisket has a "warehouse sale" which is where i bought this brisket. it was a new brand i had not seen before: "Dunkota" i believe it was (EDIT: Demkota is more likely based on a quick google). the price was decent so i bought 2.
i treated it like i normally do brisket. the last 3 i made have been the best i've ever made. my worst brisket i've ever made before this was more like a pot roast but certainly still edible. the first thing i noticed is that there was almost no fat cap. there was 1 small spot where it was thicker than 1/4" otherwise it was ~1/8" or less for 90% of it. i thought at the time "neat, don't need to trim". i think that was a red flag.
the cook went fine. it got near the end and the part of the flat with no point over it felt probe tender. parts were 200-205 degrees F. i turned down the temp on my smoker to the lowest setting so it holds ~160F for a couple of hours.
the second i pulled it out of the foil i knew it wasn't right. it was rigid. i cut into it and it was tough. the flat dried up immediately and turned DARK brown. i couldn't bite through the flat. the point was also very tough but not as dry. i swear it felt probe tender before. it's like i took it out when it hit 160F it was so tough.
i know i must have somehow under cooked it, but even at 205 i would have expected it to at least be something i can bite through. i know the first thing people will ask: check your probes! the brisket got done around the same time as the previous ones so i doubt the probes were off by much if at all. i can't rule it out, but i'm going to say "unlikely"
so my mind has been flip flopping between "you messed it up by not being thorough enough with the probe test and not being patient enough with cooking it" and "this was a tough old cow that was really lean and if you got it to 200+ and it still was this tough there's nothing you could have done to make it work"
so i know it's a thing to get some old mother-in-law tough cow that won't be good. i also know i mess up. how does one make that distinction of who or what is to blame?
one good thing came of this cook: we were supposed to have our neighbors over for brisket and they had plans so i made it anyway. this is a failure for my immediate family but not for guests and i am so happy they had to cancel/decline.
i might try Sous vide to see if that can do anything at all. if not, chili it is...or maybe slice really thin for lunch meat hah
My local meat place (UW Provisions) that i usually go to for brisket has a "warehouse sale" which is where i bought this brisket. it was a new brand i had not seen before: "Dunkota" i believe it was (EDIT: Demkota is more likely based on a quick google). the price was decent so i bought 2.
i treated it like i normally do brisket. the last 3 i made have been the best i've ever made. my worst brisket i've ever made before this was more like a pot roast but certainly still edible. the first thing i noticed is that there was almost no fat cap. there was 1 small spot where it was thicker than 1/4" otherwise it was ~1/8" or less for 90% of it. i thought at the time "neat, don't need to trim". i think that was a red flag.
the cook went fine. it got near the end and the part of the flat with no point over it felt probe tender. parts were 200-205 degrees F. i turned down the temp on my smoker to the lowest setting so it holds ~160F for a couple of hours.
the second i pulled it out of the foil i knew it wasn't right. it was rigid. i cut into it and it was tough. the flat dried up immediately and turned DARK brown. i couldn't bite through the flat. the point was also very tough but not as dry. i swear it felt probe tender before. it's like i took it out when it hit 160F it was so tough.
i know i must have somehow under cooked it, but even at 205 i would have expected it to at least be something i can bite through. i know the first thing people will ask: check your probes! the brisket got done around the same time as the previous ones so i doubt the probes were off by much if at all. i can't rule it out, but i'm going to say "unlikely"
so my mind has been flip flopping between "you messed it up by not being thorough enough with the probe test and not being patient enough with cooking it" and "this was a tough old cow that was really lean and if you got it to 200+ and it still was this tough there's nothing you could have done to make it work"
so i know it's a thing to get some old mother-in-law tough cow that won't be good. i also know i mess up. how does one make that distinction of who or what is to blame?
one good thing came of this cook: we were supposed to have our neighbors over for brisket and they had plans so i made it anyway. this is a failure for my immediate family but not for guests and i am so happy they had to cancel/decline.
i might try Sous vide to see if that can do anything at all. if not, chili it is...or maybe slice really thin for lunch meat hah
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