BRADLEY SMOKER | "Taste the Great Outdoors"

Recipe Discussions => Meat => Topic started by: _Bear_ on December 07, 2009, 09:18:46 PM

Title: OK, what is a brisket and what method for first time smoker??
Post by: _Bear_ on December 07, 2009, 09:18:46 PM
OK it is -32* out right now with a wind chill in excess of -44*, so I am planning my next smoke LOL. What is a brisket and why do I hear so much about it on this site?? Any suggestions where to get one and what is the best prep and method for a first time rookie smoker like myself?
Title: Re: OK, what is a brisket and what method for first time smoker??
Post by: Hopefull Romantic on December 07, 2009, 09:31:23 PM
Hi _beaf_

the brisket, according to the beaf cuts chart I have is the piece of meat between the two front legs of a cow. As for the preparation here are two ways to do it; WTS and Pachanga's:

http://www.susanminor.org/forums/showthread.php?t=525
http://www.susanminor.org/forums/showthread.php?p=845#post845

Also CRG has a post for it preparation and it is good I just could not find it.

HR
Title: Re: OK, what is a brisket and what method for first time smoker??
Post by: Gizmo on December 07, 2009, 09:33:14 PM
Brisket is a cut of meat from the front of a cow.  It is a tough piece of meat so requires a low and slow cooking technique for flavorful tenderness.  You typically find it in two versions, flat which is the most common in chain food stores (typically in the 5-6 lb range), and the whole brisket (whole packer) which is in the 10 to 14 lb range.  The flat is also referred to as the first cut and stores sell them at a higher per pound rate than the whole brisket.  I typically only smoke whole briskets.  The extra fat content on the whole briskets provides more flavor and tenderness which is why it is almost a travesty for the meat markets to trim the flats of all fat.

Rub, fridge over night, then Smoke at 210 degrees for 4 hours with the wood of your choice unless you are from Texas in which the only wood you can use is Mesquite.   ;)
Wrap in foil or put into a foil pan with a little apple juice in the bottom and cover with aluminum foil.
Bake at 210 degrees until the internal temperature of 185 deg F is reached.  There are more variations that will most likely be explained by others, but I have never seen this method fail to produce a flavorful, tender, and moist result.
Title: Re: OK, what is a brisket and what method for first time smoker??
Post by: Tenpoint5 on December 07, 2009, 09:34:44 PM
Here is a How to on briskets from
WTS (http://www.susanminor.org/forums/showthread.php?t=525)
and
Pachanga (http://www.susanminor.org/forums/showthread.php?t=532)

Both are very informative and helpful. I have not made a brisket with Pachanga's recipe but I have used WTS's with great success among family and friends. As to where to get one in your area. I would just ask the guy behind the meat counter at the grocery store, if he has one or if he can order you one in.
Title: Re: OK, what is a brisket and what method for first time smoker??
Post by: classicrockgriller on December 07, 2009, 09:43:05 PM
Don't use this as "a way to" but it does make for fun reading. I went with the packer cut and just bunched it in there till it shrunk.

I used some of wts and pachanga thoughts as both are very knowledgeable in the brisket smoking.

Have fun with it. You can't hurt it, it dead.

http://forum.bradleysmoker.com/index.php?topic=12906.0
Title: Re: OK, what is a brisket and what method for first time smoker??
Post by: hal4uk on December 07, 2009, 09:54:22 PM
CRG...  "it dead"?
Hmmm...  Whatchu been smokin' that it not dead?
Title: Re: OK, what is a brisket and what method for first time smoker??
Post by: classicrockgriller on December 07, 2009, 10:08:56 PM
nothin yet, but you have got me thinking.
Title: Re: OK, what is a brisket and what method for first time smoker??
Post by: hal4uk on December 07, 2009, 10:21:53 PM
Well.. okey dokey...
If you ain't in a "creative" mood..  Lemme know...
I have some ideas...
Title: Re: OK, what is a brisket and what method for first time smoker??
Post by: classicrockgriller on December 07, 2009, 10:24:06 PM
Quote from: hal4uk on December 07, 2009, 10:21:53 PM
Well.. okey dokey...
If you ain't in a "creative" mood..  Lemme know...
I have some ideas...

I bet you do. :D :D
Title: Re: OK, what is a brisket and what method for first time smoker??
Post by: hal4uk on December 07, 2009, 10:35:26 PM
Uh huh...

You just keep thinkin' Butch. That's what you're good at. -- Sundance
Title: Re: OK, what is a brisket and what method for first time smoker??
Post by: Pachanga on December 08, 2009, 06:58:57 AM
Bear,

Everyone has their own opinion about brisket.  In the milder of brisket "discussions", fists fly, knives are pulled and guns are drawn.  Alcohol, which is a constant in most brisket smoking, may be a contributing factor.  

I would advise you to pick one method, try it and stick to it for your first smoke.  After you perfect a method, I have advocated and continue to advocate trying another different method and then another to see which your taste buds enjoy and which smoking style fits your character.  I still vary my rubs (many just use salt and pepper) and slathers (many use no slather) on an annual basis and I learn nuances from others on this and other boards.  Eventually you will make brisket your own.  You could call it Bear Brisket but I would not advertise that in a forest full of grizzlies.

I have written about my techniques in the following threads but there are many other legitimate and tasty methods posted on this board and at the recipe site (http://www.susanminor.org/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=180); some of which have been previously noted. With your rather chilly outside temperatures, you may want to try WTS Brisket first (similar to Gizmo's recipe above).  His recipe finishes the brisket in the oven.

Brisket Pachanga
http://www.susanminor.org/forums/showthread.php?t=532

Photos to go with the recipe
http://forum.bradleysmoker.com/index.php?topic=12061.0

Mustard Slather on Brisket and other Meats
http://forum.bradleysmoker.com/index.php?topic=12112.0

I Prefer to Smoke Totally Naked - A Brisket and Ribs Manifesto
http://forum.bradleysmoker.com/index.php?topic=12455.0

My opinion is the best barbequed brisket ever smoked is still waiting to go into the smoker, maybe your smoker.

I advise you to start carrying a weapon soon.

Good Luck and Slow Smoking,

Pachanga
Title: Re: OK, what is a brisket and what method for first time smoker??
Post by: KyNola on December 08, 2009, 08:54:11 AM
"I advise you to start carrying a weapon soon"-Pachanga.

:D :D

KyNola
Title: Re: OK, what is a brisket and what method for first time smoker??
Post by: ArnieM on December 08, 2009, 09:19:15 AM
Good collection of links here.  I'm doing one this weekend.

You really don't need a weapon.  Remember, "it dead".  ;D
Title: Re: OK, what is a brisket and what method for first time smoker??
Post by: FLBentRider on December 08, 2009, 09:27:07 AM
My Brisket opinion.

Don't trim too much surface fat.

Kosher salt and fresh cracked black pepper suffices for my rub

I apply four hours of smoke @200-205F - Oak, Mesquite or Hickory

Continue @200-205F until and IT of 190F

FTC at least one hour, I've done up to six with brisket - slice and serve.
Title: Re: OK, what is a brisket and what method for first time smoker??
Post by: _Bear_ on December 08, 2009, 10:52:20 AM
Quote from: FLBentRider on December 08, 2009, 09:27:07 AM
FTC at least one hour, I've done up to six with brisket - slice and serve.

What is "FTC"??
Title: Re: OK, what is a brisket and what method for first time smoker??
Post by: classicrockgriller on December 08, 2009, 10:54:46 AM
After reaching your desired temp, you wrap in dbl foil, wrap in dble layer of towels, and put inside a room warmed cooler.
Title: Re: OK, what is a brisket and what method for first time smoker??
Post by: classicrockgriller on December 08, 2009, 10:56:19 AM
here is a link to some of the FAQ on the forum.

FAQ
http://www.susanminor.org/forums/showthread.php?t=481
Title: Re: OK, what is a brisket and what method for first time smoker??
Post by: Caneyscud on December 08, 2009, 11:07:17 AM
"What is a brisket and why do I hear so much about it on this site??"

THE question, just sitting there, begging for an answer on the level of exactness as the moonshot.  I can't take it any longer, I have TO!

Sorry, guys, but he asked about brisket and all you could come up with was "Brisket is a cut of meat from the front of a cow."  How mundane, how disrespectful  to the epicurean epitome of the gastronomic world!   For me, it is the true king of barbecue.  Anyone who knows barbecue knows brisket. It is truly the big daddy of barbecue.  Heaven sent food for discriminating mortals!  Universally accepted as the Finest Food in the World – well at least on this forum – by some people like me!  ;D ;D  One of the eight primal cuts of meat cooked in/on a variety of contraptions, at a low temperature (200-250 deg.), while being kissed and caressed by thin blue, sublimely wonderful and flavorful smoke, eventually intertwining with its savory tendrils of luscious mouthwatering deliciousness into oneness, the result of this marriage rendered as succulent, moist, meltingly tender morsels of eating heaven.  The end result is meat so deliciously tender that it melts like chocolate in your mouth.  Rooted deep in the culture of the Southern states, you can bet your bottom dollar that for authentic, meticulously prepared Southern cuisine you will find juicy, succulent brisket to be number one on my list! Because I was blessed to be born and raised in Texas, I can assure you that brisket, when cooked to perfection, IS the perfect comfort food.  The apogee is the umpteen-hour Smoked Brisket, a meat monster, dry-rubbed and smoked until excruciatingly tender. The brisket should served naked on  the plate (or butcher paper in Texas)  like an homage to bestial glory: commanding, bark dark as night, leaking pools of fatty juice and with the rapturous whiff of hardwood smoke and spices. Gutsy, confident, cooking, making you wish you rode this bull all the time.  Once that brisket hits 185 degrees, you will fall in lock step with Pavlov's pooches in the salivation department, just anxious to get that meat out of the smoker and into your belly! 

You may have eaten plenty of barbecue before, so if we served you brisket today you might be expecting the usual—something tasty but not transcendent—when all of a sudden your mouth is filled with a perfectly balanced bite of meat, fat, smoke, and fire. The elements almost evaporating before you have a chance to chew.  Slow-cooked juicy slices of heaven disintegrating and erupting with flavor when you take a bite.  You take another bite, then torment until another, gluttonly chasing the taste—there is something magical in the tenderness of the brisket - once absent now there.  You keep going back for just a little more and a little more until ... Your mind dances with the Seven Deadly Sins for just a moment, but then sits her down and grabs the hand of beautiful HUNGER!  Take her hand, draw her close, slowly breathe in, savor that desirous scent of smoke and beef.  Inhale it through every pore, sense it through every nerve ending, feel it's tenderness, enjoy it's juiciness, it tempts your longing.  The greatest longing may be felt for complete union, when satiation is so near and yet so far, when brisket, salt, pepper, spices, smoke unite into one.  It seduces your mind with first the smoke, then the tenderness, and finally the taste.  Your tastebuds caress the sensations, aspiring to the satiation of the only thing on your mind, the hunger that can only be satisfied by brisket.  If you knew how to draw a femme fatale out of 1's, "s 0s and d's you would award it to the memory of your first brisket experience.

Brisket, I'm told only comes in Select, Choice, and Prime.  Unless you are buying on-line, you will probably not see a prime brisket.  The grade a piece of meat receives is in large a decision based on the amount of fat marbling the piece .  You will notice the amount of fat on one.  Not a shortage there - that is why the lower grades of standard, commercial, and utility can't be found - they don't exist.  Some cooks seek out Prime, but I haven't seen much difference.  A brisket is a piece of meat that is large, tough, but packing a load of fat.   Picking a really good brisket is largely a matter of luck.  A good rule of thumb is not to pick the biggest.  The thinking goes like this: the larger the brisket-the larger the cow, the larger the cow - the older the cow, the older the cow - the tougher the meat from that cow.  Some drape the brisket over their hand, over the side of the grocery cart, or over the edge of the cooler.  The greater the bend/bow, the more tender the meat - or so it is said.  The cryovacced briskets that are the "norm" for most places make it even harder to choose.  You can't see the amount of marbling, and the cryovac packing interferes with the "bend" test.  So I try to select smaller briskets, with an evenness of thickness, containing whiter fat, and hope for the best. 

Texas legend notoriously attributes the slow smoking method to the early days of the Texas Cattle industry where German immigrants were used as the butchers and cooks along the trail.  During hard and long cattle drives, a steer was slaughtered to feed the hands but since every steer was worth money to the drive, every possible part of the meat was used.  Most meat was boiled, fried, or grilled over open flames and for most of the beef, this type of cooking produced excellent results in flavor and quickness of cooking.  The brisket presented a challenge with this type of cooking and produced a tough and almost inedible meal.  Skilled in butchering and culinary talent from their homeland the ingenious immigrants devised a pit with fire at one end and placed the brisket at the other letting the smoke immerse the meat and kept the actual heat around the brisket low and steady.  After many hours this once tough piece of meat turned into a melt in your mouth sensation that is now known as the smoked brisket. 


Ye Ode to the Brisket

How oft does want of Brisket doth torture my spirit
Slave of its delicious embrace nothing to do but tend
Like a melancholy malcontent, glistening eyes focused
Hours and times of my desire the plateau doth pass
Nothing but time and precious mesquite can I but offer
Low and slow doth my sweet love's beauty revealed
Sublime, rouse myself; and the weak wanton hunger
Shall from my bowels unloose its masculine restraint
Not at war, stomach at peace, content in fullness.
Oh mighty Brisket, penchant of memory, smoky perfection.
                                                          Shakespeare
                                                          The Bard of Hot Aire
                                                           Pontificator Extraordinaire'
Title: Re: OK, what is a brisket and what method for first time smoker??
Post by: Old_Sarge on December 08, 2009, 11:22:24 AM
Quote from: Caneyscud on December 08, 2009, 11:07:17 AM
Ode to Brisket

K, I like this guy.
Title: Re: OK, what is a brisket and what method for first time smoker??
Post by: ronbeaux on December 08, 2009, 11:31:29 AM
Makes me want to RUN not walk to the nearest butcher and buy me a brisket!!! I've eaten briskets for 35 years(also grew up in Texas) and I've always wondered what was going through my mind and why.

Caneyscud, can you make fajitas sound that good? I got some waiting for a really hot sear. I'll buy your book if you have one, if not write one.
Title: Re: OK, what is a brisket and what method for first time smoker??
Post by: Hopefull Romantic on December 08, 2009, 11:33:56 AM
Quote from: ronbeaux on December 08, 2009, 11:31:29 AM

I'll buy your book if you have one, if not write one.

I would buy that too.Your pumpkin sculptures as well if you ever market them.

HR
Title: Re: OK, what is a brisket and what method for first time smoker??
Post by: Quarlow on December 08, 2009, 11:40:20 AM
Ok,  you are just a little to intense there buddy. You need to eat some lobster or something. But get away from the BBQ for awhile.LOL.
I have to question the idea that they would spend that much time on a cattle drive cooking a brisket. They were usually lucky to have time to get a meal prepared what with having to set up and break down camp twice a day plus have something to feed at midday. ;D
Title: Re: OK, what is a brisket and what method for first time smoker??
Post by: classicrockgriller on December 08, 2009, 11:42:12 AM
Caney's Back!

Quote from: Old_Sarge on December 08, 2009, 11:22:24 AM
Quote from: Caneyscud on December 08, 2009, 11:07:17 AM
Ode to Brisket

K, I like this guy.

We all LOVE this guy!
Title: Re: OK, what is a brisket and what method for first time smoker??
Post by: Tenpoint5 on December 08, 2009, 12:24:17 PM
I see someone Rattled Caney's Cage and woke him up!!!
Title: Re: OK, what is a brisket and what method for first time smoker??
Post by: Hopefull Romantic on December 08, 2009, 12:28:52 PM
Quote from: Tenpoint5 on December 08, 2009, 12:24:17 PM
I see someone Rattled Caney's Cage and woke him up!!!

Dear Lord, I hope it wan not me.
Title: Re: OK, what is a brisket and what method for first time smoker??
Post by: Pachanga on December 08, 2009, 12:44:26 PM
Caneyscud,

You are truly a scad, cad or scud or something like that and yet a poet, artist, cook and cowboy; in other words, a true Texan.   I 'll bet you like "smoky old pool rooms and clear mountain mornings." 

I am thinking about printing and framing this work of art but if my wife reads it she may accuse me of picking it up in a topless bar and furthermore may not want me alone with a brisket for a while.

Tag it and bag it. This should be the standard board answer to “what is brisket?”

Written like a true Texican.  It makes me proud to be a native too.  Texas misses one of its true patriots, pontificators, poets, fly tying painters, pumpkin carvers and barbequers.  Get your talented self back to the Lone Star State where you belong.

I am popping open a Lone Star as I type and holding it up in a solemn salute.  There is something in my eye.  Yeah, that’s it, I’m wiping my eyes because there is something in them.

By the way, I think Ye Ode to the Brisket  is in the same little known work of Shakespeare I have quoted from in a previous manifesto; Campfire Cooking for the Traveler – Hamlet’s Guide to Smoked Road Kill.   (I Prefer to Smoke Totally Naked - A Brisket and Ribs Manifesto
http://forum.bradleysmoker.com/index.php?topic=12455.0)


Good luck and proud to know you,

Pachanga

Title: Re: OK, what is a brisket and what method for first time smoker??
Post by: classicrockgriller on December 08, 2009, 12:57:53 PM
Panchanga, Texas does need for Caney to come back "HOME".

We can always ship Him off again. ;D

Caney your are a TALENTED man.
Title: Re: OK, what is a brisket and what method for first time smoker??
Post by: _Bear_ on December 08, 2009, 01:05:48 PM
Holly crap..............I'll have what Caneyscud is having  :o. OK, you guys have talked me into it, if I can get the Jeep fired up I am going to the butchers to get a brisket and get smoking it. I guess we will see iff the Bradly can hold 220* in -30 weather  ;D
Title: Re: OK, what is a brisket and what method for first time smoker??
Post by: Quarlow on December 08, 2009, 02:37:01 PM
Oh man I think we need a "best of bradley" spot where we can place some of the best posts for infinitum. you guys crack me up.
Title: Re: OK, what is a brisket and what method for first time smoker??
Post by: _Bear_ on December 08, 2009, 03:15:35 PM
Well, I went to the butcher shop and they had no fresh briskets, they had a few frozen ones, but I did not like the looks of them...................but they did have a NICE tenderloin that they were cutting as I was there  ;D. so it looks like I am going to smoke a tenderloin instead LOL. I had quite a chat with the butcher/owner, he is an avid smoker as well, he has his large smoke room in the back of the butcher shop, but he also has a Bradly at home. So he cut me this REALLY nice tenderloin, and he injected it for me with an mango extract/spice mixture, and gave me 35% off of the tenderloin, the hickory sticks, the pepperonie sticks and the beef jerkey, so it was all good. I think he is doing what a heroine dealer does with his junkies, gives them some free samples, then when they are hooked he hits them full price  ;D. Anyway, I told him I wanted a very nice fresh brisket for me to smoke for Newyears eve, he said he would have me a perfect one in, so we shall see.
Title: Re: OK, what is a brisket and what method for first time smoker??
Post by: classicrockgriller on December 08, 2009, 03:18:10 PM
Bear, sounds like you made a new friend and a Bradley one at that. Congrats.

Looking forward to see some great things out of that tenderloin.
Title: Re: OK, what is a brisket and what method for first time smoker??
Post by: squirtthecat on December 08, 2009, 03:18:50 PM

You made the perfect new friend...  A butcher!
Title: Re: OK, what is a brisket and what method for first time smoker??
Post by: westexasmoker on December 08, 2009, 03:43:14 PM
Your gonna love that tenderloin, just keep an eye on the IT!  We want pics!

C
Title: Re: OK, what is a brisket and what method for first time smoker??
Post by: _Bear_ on December 08, 2009, 04:56:11 PM
What kind of internal temp should I be looking for??
Title: Re: OK, what is a brisket and what method for first time smoker??
Post by: classicrockgriller on December 08, 2009, 04:58:39 PM
How rare do you want it and are you going to just wrap in foil for a short time or full boat FTC?
Title: Re: OK, what is a brisket and what method for first time smoker??
Post by: ArnieM on December 08, 2009, 05:00:35 PM
I like rare to medium-rare.  I'd probably pull it at 130, cover in foil and let it rest for 20 minutes or so.  It ain't brisket  ;D
Title: Re: OK, what is a brisket and what method for first time smoker??
Post by: westexasmoker on December 08, 2009, 05:17:56 PM
Quote from: ArnieM on December 08, 2009, 05:00:35 PM
I like rare to medium-rare.  I'd probably pull it at 130, cover in foil and let it rest for 20 minutes or so.  It ain't brisket  ;D

Arnie nailed it!

C
Title: Re: OK, what is a brisket and what method for first time smoker??
Post by: Huntnfreak on December 08, 2009, 05:46:04 PM
Has anybody seen the "new, not as good as the original" Gone in 60 Seconds?  It is the one with Nicholas Cage.  In the movie there is a tall thin guy who never speaks throughout the movie until the last seen.  In the last scene he speaks very eloquently and profoundly.  Everybody stops to listen and are amazed.  That guy is now the mental picture I have of Caneyscud!  I tried to find an author in Amazon.com by the name of Caneyscud, but nothing showed up.  Too bad for Amazon because I would have been an easy sell.  I'm also going to head to the butcher shop in the morning.......
Title: Re: OK, what is a brisket and what method for first time smoker??
Post by: classicrockgriller on December 08, 2009, 05:56:16 PM
Quote from: Huntnfreak on December 08, 2009, 05:46:04 PM
Has anybody seen the "new, not as good as the original" Gone in 60 Seconds?  It is the one with Nicholas Cage.  In the movie there is a tall thin guy who never speaks throughout the movie until the last seen.  In the last scene he speaks very eloquently and profoundly.  Everybody stops to listen and are amazed.  That guy is now the mental picture I have of Caneyscud!  I tried to find an author in Amazon.com by the name of Caneyscud, but nothing showed up.  Too bad for Amazon because I would have been an easy sell.  I'm also going to head to the butcher shop in the morning.......

There is no such thing in Caney's book as a short answer and we at the forum are all better because of that.

I love to read his post. Look at the pumpkins he carved and the frickin water color paintings.

I would love to eat some of his BarBQue and if it wasn't the best I had ever eaten he would make me believe
it was by the time he got thru tellin me about it.
Title: Re: OK, what is a brisket and what method for first time smoker??
Post by: Tenpoint5 on December 08, 2009, 06:02:12 PM
The way Caney writes as well as Pachanga I am going to have to hit them up for some knowledge spots in the Newsletter.
Title: Re: OK, what is a brisket and what method for first time smoker??
Post by: classicrockgriller on December 08, 2009, 06:09:41 PM
The newsletter would have to be E X P A N D E D. ;D
Title: Re: OK, what is a brisket and what method for first time smoker??
Post by: squirtthecat on December 08, 2009, 06:49:47 PM
Quote from: Tenpoint5 on December 08, 2009, 06:02:12 PM
The way Caney writes as well as Pachanga I am going to have to hit them up for some knowledge spots in the Newsletter.

Quote from: classicrockgriller on December 08, 2009, 06:09:41 PM
The newsletter would have to be E X P A N D E D. ;D

Chris, we'll have to talk P-D-F again!