LET'S TALK BRISKET!!

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Just picked up a prime whole packer from costco today for 3.98 lb. Won't be able to smoke it for a while so into the freezer it went, but have had a hard time finding packers here in Denver so had to grab it while I could.

Now I just need a free weekend which won't happen until after Labor Day
 
Wow, Prime for $3.98/lb.  That's unheard of where I shop.  Prices for Prime are up around $10/lb if they even have it at my Costco. 

I did a hot n fast smoke on a 5.2lb Choice grade point today that looked like Prime.  It is resting as I type.  It was $4.08/lb at Winco.  Wrapped at 156F IT and three hours.  Done to 200F IT in 4.5 hours.  We'll see how it turns out.     

Turned out GREAT!  Juicy and tender, but it is the point.  Kind of hard to screw up a point. 

 
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It was untrimmed so had a good bit of fat, but was better than the 9-15 /lb all of the butcher shops around here want for trimmed brisket. Walmart has choice for 3.00 a lb, but they usually only have 1 or 2 which loom to be over 50% fat
 
Just back from the meat market with a 14.9 pound whole untrimmed brisket.  $4.98/pound for choice.  Not great, but the best I can do around here.

I'm going to trim it later, and I'm going to inject it as I have a really long, slow cook in front of me.  I'm basing my plan on what I've read here, and what I know about my cooker.  I'm convinced that I have to inject and mop or it will be dry by the time it's done.  My guess is that it will be at least 16 hours, I'm not decided if I'm going to foil it -- I'll have to make a judgement call on that later in the cook.  I'd really like to get a substantial bark, but we'll see how the moistness look at the halfway point in the cook.

I'm going to use Myron Mixon's directions for the injections and rub.  Since I'm injecting with broth made from beef base and au jus base I suspect it's a little salty, so going with his rub too (which appears to be lower in salt) should be safe.

I'm sure I'm overthinking this, but I want to do everything I can to make sure this is a successful cook.  I'll post pics as I go and let you know how it works out.
 
Just put the brisket on at 10:30.  Lightly trimmed, injected with beef broth and rubbed with mostly black pepper (a little salt/garlic/onion/chili powder in the rub).  

Three little loaf pans of water, and a couple of scraps of brisket around the thinest part of the flat to give that part a little extra protection.  I'll pull those off in the morning.  I'm tracking the temperature on the meat and the smoker so we'll see what happens.

I need a bigger smoker, this just barely fits!

 
So I just checked it for the first time at 6:30am after 8 hours on the smoker.  I refilled the water pans, gave it a quick mop and put it back to bead.  I't got a long way to go still, but so far it looks good.  I'll mop about every hour from here, quickly so I don't loose too much momentum on the cook.  I'm guessing that it will be late afternoon before it's done, but I could be surprised.  I'm not sure about foiling it yet, I probably should, maybe around noon.

You can see the temperature has been fluctuating between 210 and 230 -- a little hotter than I thought, and not as much variation as the gauge on the smoker seems to indicate.  The meat temp has continued to climb a a very steady pace even so, and doesn't seem to have hit the stall yet.


 
You can see the temperature has been fluctuating between 210 and 230 -- a little hotter than I thought, and not as much variation as the gauge on the smoker seems to indicate.  The meat temp has continued to climb a a very steady pace even so, and doesn't seem to have hit the stall yet.

What are you using to give you those graphs? I like!
 
Still rolling along, the brisket hit 190 a little before noon, I checked with a toothpick and it was still tough.  Smoker is running a little hotter now (it's 90+ degrees outside), so we're cooking in the 250-260 range.  I didn't see a stall on this cook...I was sort of expecting it.  I'm guessing that I'm roughly an hour from being done (13.5 hours into the cook right now), so I should have plenty of time to get this finished and rested for 3 or 4 hours before dinner.

Starting to think about some sides.  Maybe mac-n-cheese and slaw.  Might make Franklin's espresso bbq sauce.
 
Forgot to add the graph...  The dip in smoker temperature a little before 10, and right at the end of the top graph just after 11:30 are when I opened the smoker to mop.  Even though the pit temperature drops 30 degrees it doesn't seem to affect the rate of the meat cooking.  

 
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The brisket (at least at the probe) is 202.  It's soft and jiggly (passes the toothpick test) everywhere except the leading 2" of the flat.  I'm going to give it a little more time and see if the flat gets better.  No foil, seems like it's still juicy.
 
Not working out that way for me -- I would have thought that too.  Maybe it's overdone?  I'll check it again in a few minutes.  It seems to be getting done-er every time I check it (I started probe checking at 180).
 
205, and the flat is definitely softening up more.  I'm concerned the rest of it will be too soft, but I'm going to stick to it and go for doneness on the flat.  I've got it situated so the point is angled toward the back of the smoker where I know it'a a bit hotter.  I suspect the temperature difference between the front and the back is why the flat isn't quite done.  It's gotta be really close now. 
 
OK, it's done.  10:30 PM last night on, 3:45 this afternoon off.  17.25 hours.  I was worried that I'd gone past "done" on the flat, although I started checking around 180 degrees with a toothpick like this thread recommended.  The temp climbed to 205 and stayed there for at least 2.5 hours.  I checked it every 30 minutes, and mopped it.  Finally the toothpick slid in easily.  Wow.  I pulled it, put it in a foil pan, and stuck it in a cooler layered in towels.  I'm going to let it rest for 3 hours, then make burnt ends and slices.

I already made some slaw from Franklin's book (w.o.w., very tasty), I'm going to make some mac-n-cheese and maybe Franklin's espresso bbq sauce for the side.


 
Just finished dinner.  I made my mac and cheese (which is always a winner), Franklin's slaw and espresso BBQ sauce (the brisket didn't need sauce though).  The brisket was GREAT.  My wife who has hated and ridiculed my brisket in the past had seconds.  It was tender, 1/4" slices supported their own weight but pulled apart easily.  The fat was buttery, loads of flavor everywhere in the meat.  The flat was good, the point was sort of amazing.  Better that I've had at popular BBQ places around here.  I'll be doing this again, thanks for your help making this one a winner!

 
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