Brisket Day!

[Max]

I've been doing a lot of reading up on brisket here on the forums. Thanks to Pachanga, SquirtTheCat, and Caneyscud, I think I'm ready to give it a try. Bought a 10 lb. flat with a good amount of fat still on it. Gave it some dry rub and whipped up some "Cowboy Braise" ala Caneyscud. Seeing Squirt's post here gives me a pretty good blueprint for what I'm aining for. I know this is NOT authentic Texas style BBQ brisket (sorry Pachanga) but a braised piece of meat is what I'm going for this time around.








Giving credit where credit is due:

Squirt: http://forum.bradleysmoker.com/index.php?topic=14882.0

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

Caneyscud: Sorry I could not find the link so I'll copy from the post I got it from...

- handful of garlic cloves, crushed
- 1/2 large onion thinly sliced
- 1/2 cup cider vinegar
- 1/2 cup Worcestershire
- 1 cup strong black coffee
- a few fork-fulls of sliced canned jalapenos
- 2 Ts of CYM
- paprika for color
- half a can of Guinness
- stick of margarine

I'm taking it a little light with the smoke, total of 2 hours combination hickory and apple wood. It's gonna be a loooong day!

Max

[NewfieSmoker]

Looks good.  Cant wait to see how it turns out!

Newfie

[Tenpoint5]

Looking good so far. Did you trim off any of that fat cap?

[pensrock]

It's gonna be a loooong day!

Yes, but soooo worth it.  :)

[Max]

Looking good so far. Did you trim off any of that fat cap?

I didn't trim any of the fat. I figure I'll do that as it is sliced, and leave some slices untrimmed for those who like the fat (ME!). It's been in the Bradley since 12 noon yesterday. After 2 naked hours of smoke I put it in the pan with the braise and it's been there overnight and this morning. It is now 10:00am and the IT is 180*. I kept the smoker temp between 200* and 210* for the majority of the time. Although the past hour I've bumped it up to 225* because I want to make sure IT gets to 195* by dinner time.



I'll take more pics when it comes out.

[SnellySmokesEm]

We are all patiently waiting for the finished pics you promised.   ;D

[Max]

Had some trouble getting pictures, but all may not be lost. Took the brisket out and went to take some pics before wrapping in foil and... camera battery dead. Ooops! So I have half the brisket left today and will take pics later after charging the camera battery.

[Tenpoint5]

Had some trouble getting pictures, but all may not be lost. Took the brisket out and went to take some pics before wrapping in foil and... camera battery dead. Ooops! So I have half the brisket left today and will take pics later after charging the camera battery.

In Other Words: That brisket looked and smelled so good as I was taking it out and cutting it up. I got preoccupied with stuffing my face with warm succulent juicy brisket. I completely forgot about taking any pictures.

[OU812]

In Other Words: That brisket looked and smelled so good as I was taking it out and cutting it up. I got preoccupied with stuffing my face with warm succulent juicy brisket. I completely forgot about taking any pictures.

Been there done that many times.  ;D

[Tenpoint5]

I'm quite sure You and I aint the only ones that have done that OU

[pensrock]

I'm quite sure You and I aint the only ones that have done that OU

guilty.....  :)

[Max]

Ha ha ha. Looks like I'm guilty of that too. Tonight made some sliced brisket sandwiches, and I chopped the rest for future BBQ sandwiches. Cold brisket just doesn't look too good on camera. But it sure did taste good! It was certainly fork tender and juicy.

Overall it was successful, a good first brisket. I think for next time I'll change a few things. First, I think I would keep the temp in the smoker a little higher to shorten the cook time some, probably shoot for 215* - 225* instead of the 200* - 210* I did this time around. Other thing is next time I won't put the braise in the smoker until I'm finished burning the wood pucks (I only gave it 2 hrs of smoke and thought that was fine for the flavor I was aiming for.) And last, although the braise was very tasty, I think I'll hold the vinegar next time. The vinegar seemed to overpower the other flavors. I figure the worchester and mustard alone will give it enough tang, and I'll use apple juice to substitute for volume.

[SnellySmokesEm]

Guilty!