first time brisket
stwr8281
I'm new to the group and online comminities as a whole. I've always
loved to cook outside and recently bought a used offset smoker at a
yardsale and want to figure out how to use it properly. I guess I may
be getting in over my head but I picked up a whole flat cut brisket
and want to smoke it this weekend. Anybody have any suggestions on
technique, temperature, rubs, wood, charcoal, etc. I'm open for any
suggestions.
swibirun
"stwr8281" <stwr...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
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Welcome to the group!
Your best place to start is here:
http://www.eaglequest.com/~bbq/faq2/toc.html
That is the BBQ faq and it has some of the best advice you could ever want.
It has detailed recipes & techniques for each cut of meat.
It also has great advice for specific types of smokers.
I did my first brisket this year, following only the advice from that FAQ
and it came out perfect. I had smoked for a few years, doing lots of butts,
ribs, and chicken so I was very familiar with my equipment.
Good luck and again, welcome!
--
Chris
http://inanethoughtsandinsaneramblings.blogspot.com
Nick Cramer
Get lots of beer and check out http://www.eaglequest.com/~bbq/
--
Nick. Support severely wounded and disabled Veterans and their families!
Thank a Veteran and Support Our Troops. You are not forgotten. Thanks ! ! !
~Semper Fi~ www.delphiayachtsusa.com
hrbrick...@ij.net
Chris gives good advice here, but he doesn't tell you much
that you don't already know. Okay, you've cooked outdoors
a lot, but you just bought your first offset. You don't
mention
if your outdoor cooking was mostly gas or charcoal or a mix
of the two. We have no idea if you're an old hand at slow
cooked BBQ or if your entire experience has been limited
to grilling.
Okay; you want to cook a brisket.
Rather then try giving you instructions, I'm going to share
my
experience with my first offset Smoker BBQ Pit.
1. A typical packer cut beef brisket will weigh 12 to 16
lbs.
Anything smaller then that is either not a packer cut
brisket
or it came from a woefully immature beef. The latter is not
likely as there is no profit margin there.
2. A brisket needs to cook slowly for 10 to 22 or more hours
depending on a variety of factors, but mostly the cooking
temperature you choose to use.
3. Smoke is not absolutely necessary, but most advocates
strive for a definite smoky taste in the final product.
4. A crust on the final product is not necessary either, but
I for one am not going to go to all the trouble without
getting
a nice smoky crust on my brisket. That crust looks like
hell,
but it doesn't get wasted where I live. At least some of the
briskett always gets chopped and that crust gets chopped
right along with it. Much of the crust is likely to be
filched
right out from under your busy hands. Once folks have tasted
it, they eat it like candy.
5. I use an offset. I bought it in May of 2003. For the
first year
I wanted to junk it at least a dozen times. Only my
arrogance
kept that from happening. I knew that others were happily
making BBQ with offsets all over the planet and I wasn't
about
to admit that I couldn't.
6. Fuel: I can use logs in mine and I have, I don't advise
it.
You didn't say what particular offset you bought, but if
it's not
built comparable to a Tejas or a LazyQ offset with 1/4"
thick
walls it ain't built to cook with logs. Mine is a New
Braunfels/
Charbroil Silver Smoker. The walls aren't measured in
inches,
but by guage. Let's just say, "Way under 1/8 inch."
7. Lump charcoal is nice, but it isn't worth a dollar a
pound.
I pay 28¢/lb for Royal Oak briquettes. It makes a lot more
ash then lump, but it gets the job done. If you can get lump
for a decent price, by all means use it. My source for Royal
Oak lump at 34¢/lb dried up and I'm stuck now with using
R.O. briquettes for which I pay 27¢/lb.
8. You're going to need at least 4 inches of space under
your firegrate else you're going to shovel ash four or five
times while that brisket is cooking. (Assuming briquettes.
Lump will produce much less.)
9. Temperature. Whoo boy. There you'll get more advice
then there are people to ask. My pit likes to run at about
270°F on a 75° to 85°F day with not much wind blowing.
And the firebox end is a lot hotter then the far end. Some
folks will scream foul, but those same folks would inhale
my brisket if I didn't tell them how I cooked it. Anything
you can maintain between 200° and 275°F will work.
The major difference in the end is how long it will take. I
get a full sized brisket off in 10 to 12 hours. Some folks
take 20 hours or even more to get a brisket done.
10. I'll build a fire using about 15# of briquettes or lump.
Dump in 10# of cold charcoal and make a hole in the
middle. Dump a chimney full of lit lump in the middle.
Don't spread it around. Crack the firebox draft about
one inch, open the stack wide open and go drink a beer
or something while the pit heats up. Have your meat
ready already.
11. Figure out where you're going to put stuff in the pit
before you ever open the lid. Position the briskett with
the tip closest to the firebox and the flat out near the
middle of the chamber. Ribs will do nicely down by
the stack end. If you want a butt in there, put it near
the middle somewhere. Get it all in there quick. If you
have to stack ribs, don't sweat it. Just shuffle them
every hour or so. Not sooner. Get the lid closed as soon
as you can. Go away. Don't come back for two hours.
12. Check the stack temperature. If it's still above 225°
go away some more. Don't touch anything unless you
have stacked ribs in there. In that case, quickly shuffle
them and get the lid closed again. Don't move anything
else, (at all). Do not open the firebox.
13. Eventually, the temperature will start to fall. Have
a bucket of cold fuel ready. Open the firebox. Tap the
grate(s) with a tire iron or something similar to knock
the ash down. Dump in about 2 gallons of cold char-
coal. Don't stir it around. Close the lid. Quickly check
for ash under the grate. If it's choking the grate or about
too, shovel most of it out. I use a trenching tool and a
galvanized bucket for this chore. Don't screw around.
Get that door closed as soon as you can.
14. Now you have a couple more hours to do nothing.
Do it.
15. Even with shuffling every hour or so, my ribs will be
done in five or six hours. Check to see if they'll crack
at five hours, then evey hour after that. If you have
ribs in there that aren't stacked, they may be done as
early as four hours.
16. A butt cooking in with a brisket is going to take
seven hours and probably more up to nine. Resist
the urge to turn your meat over. Turning it end for end
one time during the cook is good in an offset because
of the wide temperature differential from end to end.
The brisket, I wouldn't mess with. The tip is a lot more
massive then the flat. It will take more heat.
17. When is it done? Personal preference will dictate
how done you want your brisket. Once it gets passed
about 170° it's sliceable, but I prefer to take it on out
to 185° or even more. I rely on eyesight as my judge
until pretty near the end. Then I use one of the little
$10 instant read analog probe thermometers. It makes
such a small hole, it doesn't bleed and I check in two
or three places. Butts, I take out to 195° or better. Ribs
are taken off when they tend to crack when bent.
18. Don't start a brisket cook in an offset unless you have
at least 40# of charcoal on hand. You shouldn't have to
use that much, but you might. If the outside temperature
drops or the wind picks up, you might even run short.
19. I hope you paid attention to Chris and read the FAQ
first. Just about everything I learned the hard way was in
the FAQ in the first place.
--
Brick(Youth is wasted on young people)
Denny Wheeler
If at all possible, smoke something else first. Maybe a small rack of
ribs one evening? Even a chicken (they're excellent smoked, but the
skin's pretty much a complete loss). You need to if possible get some
grasp of how to handle your fire. Wood-wise, just about any hardwood
should be okay--fruitwoods are almost always very good.
I suspect you'll have a lot of fun.
-denny-
--
The test of courage comes when we are in the minority.
The test of tolerance comes when we are in the majority.
BOB
Click here:
http://www.dannysbbq.com/recipes.asp?rid=75
If Danny says it, you can bet on it.
BOB
rob.ai...@gmail.com
Do what Brick says!! I couldn't have said it any better. I'll only add
that I consider it cooked when I can twist one of those very long
grilling forks in a brisket or pork butt. If it twists easily it's
good for eating. You might consider a remote thermometer to keep an
eye on pit temperature.
Good thing about this "hobby" is even your worst cook will likely be
tasty to others. Nobody but, you know how "bad" it might be. Cook
enough and you might start to notice a few "regulars" stopping by
every time you cook.
Rob
wj
I think I've read that any brisket one BBQs should have a layer of fat on
top. Is this true? I say this because my local Costco sells a brisket but
it has no fat layer.
I've never done brisket but wanted to try and didn't want to buy the wrong
type cut.
Any advice will be well used.
Bill Jones
"the_ain...@yahoo.com" <rob.ai...@gmail.com> wrote in message
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Edwin Pawlowski
"wj" <wjo...@san.rr.com> wrote in message
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> Question:
>
> I think I've read that any brisket one BBQs should have a layer of fat on
> top. Is this true? I say this because my local Costco sells a brisket
> but it has no fat layer.
>
> I've never done brisket but wanted to try and didn't want to buy the wrong
> type cut.
That is a trimmed flat. You want a packer cut. Wal Mart has them
Nick Cramer
> >
> > I think I've read that any brisket one BBQs should have a layer of fat
> > on top. Is this true? I say this because my local Costco sells a
> > brisket but it has no fat layer.
> >
> > I've never done brisket but wanted to try and didn't want to buy the
> > wrong type cut.
>
> That is a trimmed flat. You want a packer cut. Wal Mart has them
If you can't find a packer cut anywhere, put a layer of bacon strips on
top.
Rob Mills
"Nick Cramer" <n_cram...@pacbell.net> wrote in message
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>> put a layer of bacon strips on top.<<
mmm, that might be worth trying regardless of the cut. Wonder how it would
work using one of those tenderizers that uses multiple needles, then layer
it with the bacon? RM~
Dennis Gemmer
DG
" BOB" <a...@defg.com> wrote in message
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