Bison Brisket Help

[CaptainMike]

I follow a Facebook page (yeah, the trolls lurking in the FB basement tricked me into logging back in) called Smoking meat low and slow. One of the guys is asking for advice on how to smoke a bison brisket and I said I'd post here to ask for some advice. Here's his question: "Hey everyone! I need some advice on traeger pellet smoking a 3-4 pound bison brisket please! Looking for time and temp and any suggestions for getting a nice and crispy bark. All advice is welcome, this is my first brisket and being it is bison I dont want to ruin it. All I know is it is more lean than beef and should be cooked about 1 hour/pound... but at what temp??"

Here's a link to the page for any that are interested: https://www.facebook.com/groups/9061...omment_mention

[radshop]

I don't know if this is true, but I've been told that because bison is so much leaner and lacking marbling compared to beef, that a 24 hour wet brining will draw moisture into the meat. Maybe Meathead or docblonder can clarify on this point.

[texastweeter]

I would treat it like I do wild pork shoulder. Wet brine for 24-48 hours, inject the beejesus out of it with an injection that has phosphates, bind, rub, and then smoke over oak at 225°. At 165 degrees or when bark is set, crutch in FOIL. continue smoking at 225° until probe tender (probably around 200ish mark). Pull, and a LOOOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNNNNNNG hold in a cambrio or quality cooler stuffed with towels. Just my two cents worth.

[texastweeter]

Or he could use it to make chili...IJS

[FireMan]

I would tell him it’ll cost him $24.95 to find out how to cook what he’s cookin or juss go ahead and ruin it. We need everbody we kin git. 🕶

[CaptainMike]

I figgered someone (prolly you or RonB ) would make that suggestion. I look at it as chumming one in...

[klflowers]

I like it.

[Troutman]

Yea good point by my cheese headed friend, we don’t give out no free info here

But seriously like the guys have said I eat bison occasionally, they sell steaks, small roasts and ground in my grocery store. It’s really too lean for me. I would think the brisket would be dry as dust after a 12 hour cook. I’d sous vide that sucker then sear it. Keep as much natural juices within it as possible, only SV can do that outside of braising.

[Red Man]

I had a Yak brisket a friend cooked on his Traeger. It came out really dry. He ended up pulling and saucing it.

[MBMorgan]

My first question would be "point or flat?". If the answer is "point" then I’d go with SVQ. If "flat", I’d probably think about using it as a drywall patch before just moving on. That said, I might be tempted to give bison jerky a try.

[Murdy]

I'm not sure that it would make a difference, but is this wild game or is it a farm-raised bison?

He may have already found these, but there are a few recipes out there on the interwebs:

https://thehonestbison.com/slow-cooked-bison-brisket-2/

http://bisoncouncil.com/bison-recipes/beer-braised-bison-brisket-with-root-vegetables

Not exactly what he's looking for, but may pick up a little analogous guidance.

[TheQuietOne]

I did a bison brisket. My advice is do something else with it. Make a stew or whatever. It's so dry as to be inedible.

[CaptainMike]

That was my original advice to him but he's determined to try it. Others chimed in on the FB post and mentioned they were successful. We'll see...

[TheQuietOne]

Yeah, I only did it because one of the farmers I buy meat gave one to me. If I hadn't done a good beef brisket before, I'd have thought it was me. It might work if you have a meat slicer to slice it real thin and like a lot of sauce. I don't like sauce, so it was awful IMO.