Fresh cut Brisket

[Salmonsmoker]

Johnny, for more info on smoking a brisket, Aaron Franklin has several YouTube videos. He is the BBQ guru of Austin TX and does central TX style BBQ. The videos are fairly short and fun to watch. I have his book "FRANKLIN BARBEQUE- A Meat Smoking Manifesto" that has a lot of good info on process, recipes, etc. Another meat arrow for your smoker quiver.

[Johnny]

Awesome! Ill check out those videos and look into that book as well. I have about 20 lbs of brisket to experiment with now so I'm a happy guy!
Thanks for the info,
Johnny.

[Habanero Smoker]

Brisket is a tough cut of meat, with tough connective tissue. In order to make this cut tender, you need to slow cook it for hours for the connective tissue to break down, until it reaches tenderness. That means taking the brisket to anywhere from 185°F to 205°F. The meat does become dry, but the collagen from the connective tissue converts to gelatin, and that gelatin coats the meat fibers, that is what provides the moisture.

It is easier to place the brisket in a pan, and cover the pan with foil. You can wrap the brisket in foil, but I found that using a pan works better.

The cut you got you should not cut it until it is cooked. You don't want to trim a brisket that much, unless you are into competition barbecue, and you are experience in cooking brisket fully trimmed.  When it is done slice it against the grain.

[Johnny]

So I've let this slice of brisket rest in the fridge for over a week now, applied the rub tonight and sealed it up. Will over night be long enough with the rub applied or would you experienced  guys leave this for longer? I'd like this to turn out as good as possible.

[Ka Honu]

Overnight is fine.

An alternative that some people use is to place bacon on a rack above the brisket, so the fat from the bacon drips down. That will alter the taste of the brisket, and doesn't work as well as foiling. So if you want to see what brisket tastes like, the foil pan is the best way to go at this point.

Another alternative is to use the fat you trim off the brisket instead of bacon. It doesn't affect the flavor like bacon would.

[Johnny]

Ka Honu,
The packer came in trimmed, (guessing thats called a market ??? ) anyhow Habs mentioned boating this in beef broth instead of using bacon,  thats my plan.. although I do have lots of beef fat in the freezer I use for my sausage. Maybe I can do both?

[Johnny]

End result, not entirely sure if this is how it's supposed to be or not but we enjoyed it none the less!

[Ka Honu]

If you enjoyed it then it's EXACTLY how it's supposed to be.

[Habanero Smoker]

It looks good. How was the texture (tenderness)?

What was the final internal temperature when you took it out of the Bradley?

[Johnny]

Well the thin side was much better than the thicker, I'm guessing that was the piont (thin pc.)
I guess i was expecting a fall apart texture, almost melt in your mouth meat.. I cant really compare it to anything because its different from any cut of meat I had. The thinner side was really tender, so much you could cut it with a fork, I was happy about that. The side with the fat going through it was not so tender (guessing thats the section best used to make pastrami)
None the less the flavour was awesome!
Habs the temp was 195 F when i pulled it and foiled it for 1.5 hours ( I would have Foiled it for longer but we ate it for supper)
As you suggested, when it reached 160 I placed it in a foil tray with low sodium beef broth and wrapped tin foil over it.  I also had beef fat on the grate above it instead of bacon.
Not sure if I did everything as I should have but I do have another one to try in the future.

[TedEbear]

What chamber temp did you cook it at?  For things like pork butts I've noticed that they are more tender when I cook them at 210*F instead of a higher temp like 225*F or higher.  I think I'm going to go with a chamber temp of 210*F for my brisket next week and shoot for an IT of 195-200.

[Johnny]

220 F was what I cooked it on, pulled at 195

[Habanero Smoker]

Overall you did a good job for the first time cooking that cut.

From looking at your earlier pictures, the way the butcher cut your brisket, the thin part was what was left of the flat. It looks like you didn't separate the two muscles before you slicing it. The thicker part of the piece of brisket you have is the point. I can tell this by the marbling and the shape. Where the flat and the point connect, those two pieces the grain goes in different directions. In your first picture of slices, you were cutting across the grain, which makes a more tender slice. In your second picture when you came to the thicker part where both muscles meet, I can see when sliced part of the slice is with the grain, and part is against the grain. Slicing with the grain make makes it tougher to chew. Also I like the keep my slices less than 1/4" thick, unless I overcook it and I have to slice it thicker for it to keep from falling apart.

You should go by temperature, and tenderness; because different cuts may cook differently. When a fork is able to be inserted easily, your brisket is done. Many like to use the temperature probe, and use that to test tenderness. When you are able to slide the probe in and out easily, that is another sign that it is done. For myself, I don't like fall apart brisket, I like a little "give" to it.

[Johnny]

The more and more you talk about this makes more sense to me, I can visualize what you are telling me and this is valuable information, thank you for your knowledge!! I think im going to concentrate on learning how to cut meats because goes to show you can't always count on your butcher. I have a complete packer cut into 3 equal sections ( which i now have vacuum sealed and frozen) and wishing I have left this as a whole. Perhaps it will be fine, who knows!

[Habanero Smoker]

It's best to either keep the brisket whole, or separate it where the two muscles join - point from the flat. I'm sure your other briskets will turn out fine, even better. This one looks good and turned out good. You just need to tweak a few things. It is difficult to get the brisket "perfect". The three sections you now have cut; I would to cook them in the same manner - just make a few adjustments.