learned something new last night (how to make a brisket with no bark)

[duffygould]

well I just purchased an electric convertor for my ECB, put it in last night and fired her up. Outside temp was great for smoking but we happend to have a pretty big wind coming through all night last night and I couldn't get the smoker up past 150. So I thougth about it for a little and ended up wrapping the whole smoker in a large moving blanket. TEMPS WENT UP!!!!!!! so i rubbed the brisket (this was the problem of the night) and put her on. 5-6 hours later (at 1am), I had to take it off since i needed to wake up in 5 hours. So i took it off and threw it in the oven wrapped in foil.

Well about the bark or lack there of... when i took it off at 5-6 hours, there was no bark, just squishy mess of rub and juices. I wanted to cry, because it may be cookin just fine but i look forward to cutting up the brisket and eating all the little bark pieces.

After some deep thinking about the situation, I've decided that the problem was in the rub itself. Since i ran out of JEFF's RIB RUB on the ribs i did last weekend, I had to just use what i had in the house. Well no sugar no brown sugar. Just season salt, chili and cayan pepper, cinnamon/sugar mix, garlic and onion powder.

So lesson learned: buy sugar/brown sugar in bulk at sams and make sure you never get close to running out. you can run out of all the other stuff but if you love bark like i do make sure you have the sugars.


Now i got a question for you all... If I were to throw all the slices and chopped brisket into a foil pan, pour some rum/cider in the bottom and sprinkle/cover the top with some real rub, put it in the smoker for a couple hours. Would the situation improve itself or am I out of luck with this one?

 

[sumosmoke]

Hey Duffy - sorry to hear about your discovery of "no bark" on the brisket. Have a question for ya though ... did you spritz, or mop the meat, with anything after throwing it on the smoker? The sugar in your spritz (juice mixed with alcohol, or straight juice) would also add to bark formation, even if you didn't rub it down with anything.

Not sure about your re-heat question to add bark but I'm sure someone will be along shortly with an answer/solution for ya, if there is one!

Don't give up - hope to see some pics of your NEXT brisket, soon!

 

[bbq bubba]

Well after a 5 hr braise in the oven, of course your not going to have any bark...

I've done salt and pepper briskets and have had some form of bark, you can't expect much from 5 hrs in a cold smoker!

Sugars do help of course, but if you want a nice bark, cook it in the smoker until finished, skip the foil, you'll be amazed!

 

[fatback joe]

What Bubba said..............


Like you said, lesson learned. I learned more from cooks that I screwed up than I did on ones that went right.

 

[duffygould]

yeah i sprayed it, once. I only did it once because i thought everything was going to come running off of it when i did. this was about 2 hours into it. and looked the same 3 hours later.

and i know that the end result will probably have little to no bark since i foiled and ovened it, but after 5-6 with no bark at all was a supprise. this stuff was like hot wax or something, i touched it to feel if it was hardening and the goop stuck to my finger (burning hot obviously) but i wiped it off before i was cooking.

i guess what sumosmoke is that i should have sprayed it more? even if its goopy like that i should spray it? would that still have helped it? if so i sure wish i did.

thanks guys it all helps

 

[geob]

I think your problem was a cold smoker. I don't use any kind of sugar and I get a great bark. Smoker is HOT 225.
I think your out of luck.

geob

 

[glued2it]

What you should have done is placed the brisket in a foil with foil over the pan. Not wrapped in foil.


I don't use Jeff's rub on beef in any case.
I like the Head Country Championship seasoning for beef especially briskets.

I don't like the carmalization you get from the sugar on beef but I do like it on butts and ribs.
Plus I don't like sweet flavors on my beef either.
It's mild but too much for me.

 

[willkat98]

As far as the reheat question, I'd lean more towards brisket chili than trying to make burnt ends or some sort of carmalized chopped beef dish.

Chop it up, throw it in a crock pot for 12 hours with your favorite chili recipe.

Nothing like brisket chili IMO.

Even mistakes and test runs can be turned into something good.

 

[sumosmoke]

You'd only want to spray it if the smoker temps were at min. 200 cause at that point, the sloppy mess wouldn't exist

.

My mistake in the advice I provided was that I didn't realize you're smoker temps never got above 150 for the smoke. Humble apologies!

 

[duffygould]

No the temps did get over 150... so i did get the temps up to smoking temps not cold smoking temps. i guess that is why temp was advised on several times.

so the temp was up there (225-250), didn't use sugar in the rub, only sprayed it once b/c of the goopy stuff (was afraid of making it run everywhere), and didn't keep it in the whole smoke which i feel now like i could have just left it since it is an elctric element anyways. (duh- first smoke on it so i learned that one for sure)

oh well, wife and i both like chili!!!

speaking of chili... any one got a good brisket chili recipe?

 

[moltenone]

yur just gonna have to try again !!!

mark

 

[ron50]

Here is SoFlaquer's Chili Verde Recipe. I highly recommend it:


SoFlaQuer's Chili Verde
Jeff's Chili Verde

Ingredients:

7 Tbsp. Red Chili Powder
2 Tbsp. Green Chili Powder (optional)
2 Tbsp. Ground Cumin
1 Tsp. Dried Oregano (crumbled)
1 Tsp. Red Cayenne Pepper (optional)
2 Cups Onion (finely chopped)
2 Tbsp. Minced Fresh Garlic
2 Cups Green Bell Pepper (finely chopped)
1 Lb. Green Chiles
5 Red Chile Peppers
6 Fresh Tomatillos
1/2 Cup Fresh Cilantro (finely chopped)
1 (19 oz.) can Green Enchilada Sauce
1 (7 oz.) can Hot Salsa Verde (Green)
Lard or Oil (for browning)
1 (10 oz.) can Rotelle Tomatos and Green Chiles
2 (15 oz.) can Dark Red Kidney Beans (optional)
1 (15 oz.) can Light Red Kidney Beans (optional)
1 (15 oz.) can Chili Beans (optional)
1 (29 oz.) can Tomato Sauce
1 (29 oz.) can Tomato Puree
1/2 Cup Turbinado (Raw) Sugar
3 Tbsp. Salt
1 Tbsp. Lime Juice/or Juice of 1 Fresh Lime
3 1/2 Lbs. Smoked Brisket/Pork/Sirloin (Any Combination=3.5#) or Fresh Pork and Beef for browning. (Cubed)


In a small bowl, combine Oregano, Cumin, Chile Powders, Turbinado and Salt.

In Large Stock Pot combine enchilada sauce, rotelle tomatoes, salsa verde, tomato sauce and puree. Start on Simmer.

Brown meat in Lard/Oil with onions and galic. Drain and add to Chili Pot. (Omit this step if using saved Smoked Meat)

Comine Tomatillos, seeded chile peppers, Green Bell Pepper, onions and garlic (If no browning needed) into Food Processor and pulse to a fine chop. Add Mixture to Pot and stir.

Add Fresh Cilantro and Lime Juice. Stir

Now add your Chile Powder, etc. from small bowl. Add slowly and stir as you go.

Add Beans at this point. (If desired)

Cook at least 2 1/2 to 3 hours - stirring occasionally as not to burn on bottom. Thin or Thicken as needed.

To thicken: Combine 1/4 Cup White Corn Meal with 1/4 Cup Cold Half and Half and mix well. Slowly pour into Chile Verde while stirring. Let cook on Low for another 30 minutes. (This is how I enjoy it!)

Garnish with Chopped Onion, Mexican Cheese and Remaining Cilantro, as needed

 

[jerkyaddict]

duff you gave it a shot , dont be discouraged nobody at least i dont think any or most body's get the brisket thing down too quickly . i have done a few and still think i have yet to score that big brisket goal....sometimes a good bark but a chewy meat , sometimes a tasty tendery meat but gooey barkless like ya said.....it's trial and of-course error wich usually turns into another dish like chili or pot pies or what ever else you make of it failure is always an option to be re-menued.....as long as it comes off as edible your good !!!!!

 

[duffygould]

well i turned some of it into chili last night.

I added:
1pk pioneer chilli mix
a little bit of water
a little bit of oil
a squirt of lemon juice
1 can of tomatoe sause
2 cans of diced tomatoes ( chili style)
some frozen corn
2 cans of ranch style beans
garlic powder
1-2 cups of brown sugar
a little bit of bbq sauce
some cayan pepper
and 2 lbs of chopped brisket

and i think that was it. all in the crock pot for about i dont know how long. it was about 6 hours when i went to bed, then the wife stayed up late with her friend thats over for the week. So don't now how long she kept it on for.

but i scooped some out for dinner once it was bubbling hot and oh man that was some good stuff, I sure am glad that i did this bc otherwise it would have been tossed out or somthing.

Thanks guys, i know theres gonna be good ones and bad ones. And thats why we do it, to enjoy the good ones and learn from the bad ones.

 

[duffygould]

oh yeah, i forgot. I threw a split chicken on the smoker last night while i was makin that chili and sure enough it was done in about 3.5 hours, so it seems to be working alright thus far. so theres no problem with the temps in there.

 

[Dutch]

Well as has been mentioned, re-menuing the brisket saves you from a complete failure.

If you have any of the brisket left you might want to give my Beef Enchilada recipe a shot.

 

[mulepackin]

And don't forget to save a little for Dutch's beans too! I intended to do that with my Memorial day brisket, but there wasn't any left over. I had added some of my smoked elk sausage to my batch for that day and that was good.