A friend asked me a question yesterday and I still haven't come up with a decent answer.
Can you cook a brisket in two stages? He wanted to know if he could either hot- or cold-smoke a packer for 4-5 hours and then refrigerate it for a day or so before finishing it in the oven. I didn't immediately have a reason to say you can't but never really considered it before so I told to let me think about it for a day or so.
Anyone have experience, comments, opinions, or suggestions before I get back to him?
Thanks.
not sure on cold smoke as 4-5 hrs it would be in the danger zone so that could be pushing it.
A 4-5 hour hot smoke then chill in foil in fridge? I think you could do it. No different than cooking to 185 cooling and reheating 2 days later. Cept yourreheatingfor a longer time.
Okay, I'll try it myself to see how it works...
Injected a trimmed packer with my secret brisket sauce and treated it with my super secret reptilian brisket rub. Put it on mesquite for 4 hours...
(http://i618.photobucket.com/albums/tt269/KaHonu/smoked.jpg) (http://s618.photobucket.com/user/KaHonu/media/smoked.jpg.html)
Note the use of the (patent pending) "Pachanga Hump." Now foiled in the fridge to be finished (in the oven) on Tuesday.
Looking forward to the results, this may help me on an upcoming Thanksgiving camping and mule riding trip.
cant wait for the results
After eight hours in a 250o oven to 185o IT. Looks good so far (For you unbelievers, note that the hump flattened out just like mi consejero y amigo sabio Pachanga tells us).
(http://i618.photobucket.com/albums/tt269/KaHonu/P1080267.jpg)
Time for a couple of hours FTC before final evaluation.
I'm liking the flexibility of the "par cook" - I can break the cook up into parts that fit my schedule without having to do an all-nighter. It also gave me some added flexibility - while the brisket was in the oven, I had cheese running on the smoker (about 15 pounds of XS Cheddar, Pepper Jack, Swiss, Gouda, and Havarti).
(http://i618.photobucket.com/albums/tt269/KaHonu/P1080271.jpg)
If the money shot and taste test work out, this may be a method worth adopting on a regular basis. I'll be back with a final report in a few hours.
Alrighty - we're done here.
(http://i618.photobucket.com/albums/tt269/KaHonu/P1080273.jpg)
Will slice part of the flat for dinner and then store the rest until I decide whether to separate the point for chili or burnt ends or keep it for slicing with the underlying flat portion.
(http://i618.photobucket.com/albums/tt269/KaHonu/P1080274.jpg)
Verdict: Tasty, tender, almost (but not quite) a tiny bit dry but there's a whole bowl of defatted drippings to remedy that.
I'd do it again.
You method seemed to work very well. I generally cook my brisket in two stages; Brisket with Onion Suace (http://forum.bradleysmoker.com/index.php?topic=10096.msg108792#msg108792). If I don't want the onion sauce, I may use just beef broth, or other sauce. I once used a Lipton Onion soup mix that worked fairly well.
After the photos SWMBO reminded me we had caramelized onions in the freezer so we pulled some out and added them to the drippings. Excellent sauce for the sliced flat!
Looks good, and the sauce sounds good.
Looks great! Glad to see it worked out for you. I'm gonna use your method, if you don't mind, as I don't like the overnighters either!