ALRIGHTY BRUCE.
I said I'm workin on my new BBQ project,
BRISKET!Now to start with, I don't have the right smoker. Got two Brinkmann charcoal smokers, but brisket has to be smoked A LONG TIME - Typically a dozen hours / overnight. LOW AND SLOW - typically 225° with the wet method. Or so they say, if you read up on it. Chardcore (Franktown BBQ place) hired a kid to work their smoker all night - and all the work I think is the reason they rarely have it. HotGlue does the same for the GOTF - hires kids to work the smokers all night.
OK I'm not doing that. So I need an automatic pellet feed smoker. Also these smokers are pretty good at keeping the temp steady - at least according to the Brinkmann analog thermometer I stuck in the top - the temp reported by the smoker is all over the place but that's OK as long as the temp near the meat is pretty steady.
This one holds 60lbs of pellets in a hopper on the back. Will smoke at least 24 hrs w/o fueling. However it needs the water replenished at least every 3 hours. I found this Pit Boss CopperHead locally under $400. Big box stores have it - Costco, Walmart, Lowes, Menards, Ace Hardware, Home Depot and others are all listed as sources at
https://pitboss-grills.com/Shop-Pit-Boss/Grills/vertical-smokers/5-series-vertical-smoker-wood-pelletI'm a big fan of Mesquite smoke for baby back ribs and smoked salmon. However it's too strong a flavor for brisket. Especially if you're going to smoke it LOW and SLOW. I used hickory here. Besides - it's easy to find hickory pellets. You will probably have to get mesquite online and that's much more costly. I get 20# of hickory locally for $8.88. The going rate online for 20# of mesquite pellets (and other flavors including hickory) is around $25. This smoker uses about a half a bag of pellets 10# in 9 hours of smoking at 225°. I buy mesquite wood at Denver Firewood for smoking for cheap - but they aren't pellets. That's for manual charcoal smokers.
This baby can make some SERIOUS SMOKE!
OK, we are on SMOKIN TEST NUMBER TWO. The first test, we followed the rules on a 5# brisket I got at Safeway. Came out kinda tough and dry. Yep we salvaged it, but it's clear the process needs a tweak or 2.
Smoked it too long. Didn't mop it. A couple other things.
This is SMOKIN TEST NUMBER ONE.
For TEST NUMBER TWO I adjusted the temp control up 25° as the analog thermometer inserted in the top indicated too cool. The temp reported by the Pit Boss was all over the place, generally too hot. But that probe is close to the fire so it's bogus. I lowered the finish temp in the smoker - instead of taking it all the way to 190°, I took it to 152° and pulled it. The Pit Boss has a temp probe for inside the meat. Supports 2 (2 ports on the control panel) so the 2nd one is available at their site.
Turns out, smokin a great brisket, a lot of the quality comes from picking the right brisket.
I bought a much bigger brisket at Costco - biggest they had was 14# but it was a full brisket with the point and the flat, and with a thick cap of fat. Even better, it's grade was PRIME! YAHOO, heavily marbled!!!!
I separated the point from the flat, and this time cooked only the point and froze the flat. Both times the meat was heavily rubbed. I made 2 qts of mopping juice, and mopped it every 30 minutes starting at 4 hrs. The time it took to get to 152° was the same as the flat before took to get to 190°, but this brisket point is 9#.
Pulled it from the smoker at that temp, took it into the kitchen and thoroughly wrapped it in foil, after a good mopping. After it's smoked, the brisket can be finished in an oven, and wrapping it makes it steam. Continued for 3 hours in the oven at 225°. At midnight I turned down the temp to 200°. Got up at 3AM and checked the temp - 192.6°. PERFECT! Pulled it from the oven and let it rest until dawn. Total hot time was 16 hours, with 9 in the smoker at 225°, 3 wrapped in the oven at 225°, and 3 at 200°. When I removed it at dawn the meat was totally squishy - tender. When I shoved the temp probe in it at 3AM it was like pushing a toothpick into a cake!
There are a ton of rub and baste recipes, and every brisket cook has his opinions on the perfect method. I am concluding a lot of those method variances don't matter much, as long as you follow some basic rules. Low & slow, smoking for a shorter time - say half the time is OK - once it's smoked it can be finished in an oven also low and slow, and wrapping it well in foil for around half the time will seriously tenderize it. You can have fun with a lot of different seasoning recipes, and every one of them will be DELICIOUS!.
OK so here's some pics of BRISKET TEST NUMBER TWO:
This was cut after it had been chilled in the fridge. Check the marbling! When I unwrapped the foil, there was a ton of juice captured there. I poured it into the bowl. Now that juice is great for re-juicing the brisket! I vacuum-wrapped 2/3 of the meat in serving portions for 2, and froze it. (Foodsaver) Put 3 more dinner's worth in the bowl with the juice and fridged it. When we're done with that in a week or so I'll put the remaining juice in portion containers and freeze it too.
JUICIN THE BRISKET: Put a serving in a bowl. Pour some juice on it. Cover the bowl and nuke it for 2 minutes. The juice can be returned to the storage bowl with the rest since it won't have your mouth on it.
SWEET BABY RAY'S: The best store-bought BBQ sauce there is IMHO and I've tested dozens. Of course if you have a home-brew (and I do) it just might be better but I ain't giving my recipe away!
Put the hot juicy slices on some buttered great craft sourdough bread, add some SBR and Habanero Tabasco, and you will think you're in Brisket Heaven!
