brisket 1 vs Skuzy 0

[skuzy]

hi folks

this one goes to the learning books for me... first attempt at this cut of meat... was pretty disappointed..

end product was a pretty dry flat end and moist point end of brisket... what also really pissed me off was the little amount of smoke ring that showed up...
texture wise i missed the mark here.. it was fall apart everywhere almost crumby (but not mush) like.. from what ive seen on pics/ videos it should still hold together...

4.2kgs Brisket from Meat Emporium ($15 p/kg!). using apple / hickory wood. Pit temps were about 210-230 dF. pretty basic salt / pepper etc rub.. no marinade no injections either.. i allowed the meat come up to room temp before putting her into the pit..

First spray of cider vinegar / apple juice was after 4 hours.. then every 1.5-2 hours after that. My Mav Et732 was giving me issues and since this was an overnight cook i decided to wrap in a foil tray (with more cider vinegar / apple juice) after 8 hours and didnt bother with any more sprays

Took this out at 192dF internal. Looked really impressive.. lots of bark... probed with a tooth pick and felt good but when slicing it was obviously dry lol.. The drippings in the tray was used to help with the dryness.... looking on the web now it didnt have the jiggle some people comment about with a cooked brisket..

lessons learned:
- more wood
- maybe try injecting
- foil earlier maybe around 150 mark before the stall.. i foiled mine around 170 .. at the time i thought this was probably ok because of the colour and bark at that time.. plus i had enough of my my ET732 beeping every 5minutes.
- different configuration for coal set up in the kamado.. pile the coal in one corner of the bowl instead and place the point end of the brisket into the same corner
- learn how to slice the dam thing and not free style it next time

cheers

[skuzy]

forgot to post up this pic.. an idea on the dryness + lack of smoke ring

[urbangriller]

192F is a low temp for brisket, it should stay there to 203ish F So good chance not finished converting the collagen, hence tougher and the impression of dryness maybe?

Chris

[Bentley]

You are never gonna have a smoke ring through fat either!

Long cook, put meat in cold!

You need something more substantial then a toothpick to get a good idea on feel. Get some sodium phosphate and start making your own injections, that will end dryness issues.

Best rule of thumb, and you probably know, but maybe not, always against the grain.

i allowed the meat come up to room temp before putting her into the pit..

...probed with a tooth pick and felt good but when slicing it was obviously dry lol...

- learn how to slice the dam thing and not free style it next time

[skuzy]

thanks for the feed back gents! definitely did not realise 192dF was low ... easy fix for next time..

btw do you gents separate the point from the flat when slicing? that picture in Bentlys post was me pulling the point off the flat

in all honestly whilst i knew the theory (slicing against the grain).. i was abit lost actually when actually doing this lol !

[urbangriller]

Some people will put a little nick in the raw brisket so the grain direction is easier to see when it is cooked.

Charcoal will often not give you a smoke ring, it doesn't create enough Nitric Oxide, like burning wood does, add a couple of heat beads to the fuel load, they will provide the Nitric Oxide.

Cheers
Chris

[Bentley]

Ohh, you are using that Basterdized Charcoal, nuff said! JaJaJa!

As far as the separation of point and flat, onced cook, and if what I consider "done", you should almost be able to separate it by hand. About the only photo I have to show it is this one, and you would just kind of slide the knife between them. If you look at the fat that runs at a 45° angle between the lines, that is right about where they would separate. You would have to cut a little, but you should feel the distinctness or ach piece when doing so.