BeeRich
Sous Chef
Well, tried another brisket. It's tough as nails. I've done way better than this. I'd like some input from people that really love their brisket.
Here's what I done:
- 15 pound brisket. My butcher is a top notch butcher. I've used his briskets before, and I've had excellent results. Sealed in a vacuum bag, and stored in the fridge at the butcher. It wasn't sitting "out exposed to the air" in a display fridge. In fact it had quite a bit of moisture this time around.
- Cut it in half to fit on my WSM 18.
- Trimmed the fat. Quite a bit of it. First time doing so, because I was planning on brining it, which I did. I thought the fat cap would have messed up the one side of it, so I took it off. Pretty much all of it.
- Brined it. 1 gallon water, 1 cup salt, into a fresh vacuum bag, set for marinading. Given the right dimensions for the cut, these bags were a good choice for such marinading. They then both fit into my lower crisper. I put in some fresh herbs as well, Thyme & Oregano. Not sure if they did anything. Brining went overnight to 3pm.
- Wolfe Original on the flat, Wolfe Original (one side) and Wolfe Bold (other side) on the point. I do note that I use these rubs a lot, and they have a significant amount of salt in them.
- Apple chunks, Cherry chips, both soaked for 20 minutes, into the fire at 0 minutes. Smoked for 9 hours, 30 minutes to 190°F. Actual temp of smoker got up to 250°F.
- Meat wrapped at 150°F. Took the point up to 190°F. Sorry, didn't do the toothpick test, as I felt the meat around 145°F when I wrapped it, and it felt pretty solid. I thought wrapping it and bring the temp up would help.
- Took it off, left in the foil overnight to this morning at room temp. It was still pretty hard. I cut it today with my trusty electric knife and electric fork, and it was pretty tough. The only soft part was inside the point where that nudge of fat is.
I'd like to see what I've done wrong. Unfortunately, a brisket is big, and I can't scarf one down in an afternoon. Testing brisket is a long process, longer if your results are tough, because you can't give it away.
I have some notes here I just found (VERY useful now that I'm done) from JB, but I won't release them until I see what others say about the process I followed.
Sorry, no pictures. I'm sure you all know what I mean when I say "dry meat".
Thanks for the input, folks!
Here's what I done:
- 15 pound brisket. My butcher is a top notch butcher. I've used his briskets before, and I've had excellent results. Sealed in a vacuum bag, and stored in the fridge at the butcher. It wasn't sitting "out exposed to the air" in a display fridge. In fact it had quite a bit of moisture this time around.
- Cut it in half to fit on my WSM 18.
- Trimmed the fat. Quite a bit of it. First time doing so, because I was planning on brining it, which I did. I thought the fat cap would have messed up the one side of it, so I took it off. Pretty much all of it.
- Brined it. 1 gallon water, 1 cup salt, into a fresh vacuum bag, set for marinading. Given the right dimensions for the cut, these bags were a good choice for such marinading. They then both fit into my lower crisper. I put in some fresh herbs as well, Thyme & Oregano. Not sure if they did anything. Brining went overnight to 3pm.
- Wolfe Original on the flat, Wolfe Original (one side) and Wolfe Bold (other side) on the point. I do note that I use these rubs a lot, and they have a significant amount of salt in them.
- Apple chunks, Cherry chips, both soaked for 20 minutes, into the fire at 0 minutes. Smoked for 9 hours, 30 minutes to 190°F. Actual temp of smoker got up to 250°F.
- Meat wrapped at 150°F. Took the point up to 190°F. Sorry, didn't do the toothpick test, as I felt the meat around 145°F when I wrapped it, and it felt pretty solid. I thought wrapping it and bring the temp up would help.
- Took it off, left in the foil overnight to this morning at room temp. It was still pretty hard. I cut it today with my trusty electric knife and electric fork, and it was pretty tough. The only soft part was inside the point where that nudge of fat is.
I'd like to see what I've done wrong. Unfortunately, a brisket is big, and I can't scarf one down in an afternoon. Testing brisket is a long process, longer if your results are tough, because you can't give it away.
I have some notes here I just found (VERY useful now that I'm done) from JB, but I won't release them until I see what others say about the process I followed.
Sorry, no pictures. I'm sure you all know what I mean when I say "dry meat".
Thanks for the input, folks!