Nut House Cook and recipe thread

[osurox]

Going to attempt a brisket in the smoker this Saturday.  I have failed in the past, with the meat coming out extremely dry and lacking flavor.  Any tips for success?

Hey Rox, ready for the season? Tailgate and all!!


Anyway, I have a RecTec pellet smoker have done a few briskets in the past my first one was on the dry side although I had a rub on it. I tried some suggestions and found that a good way to get a moist brisket is to inject it. The have a lot of stuff, but I injected it with plain beef broth. It also depends if you are going with a whole brisket packer or just the flat. If you are going the who packer(16 lbs.), it takes about 16 hours at 250* roughly give or take. If you are just going with the flat roughly 9 lbs., it will take about 9 hours give or take. There is going to be a stall period around 165* and it won't seem like it's going nowhere, that's expected. Keep going to 190*.When the stall happens you have 2 choices, either wrap to speed up the process or leave it unwrapped. I usually wrap because it keeps the juices in the foil or butcher paper. The only negative on wrapping is that you loose the bark. When the temp get to 190*, you begin to probe the meat. It should feel like a knife through butter. I use a toothpick to probe it all over. When it is that tender, you take it off the smoker, wrap it in towels and put it in a cooler to rest between 1-3 hours. When you are ready to carve, only carve as much as you will use and then put the meat side down on the board so it won't be exposed to the air and start drying out. I use apple and or maple pellets in my smoker. You can have a pan of water sitting in the back of your smoker for added moisture.

Hope this helps. BTW, I know that you cook good and have some awesome recipes that you shared for tailgate, brisket is hard to get right and trust me, I've messed-up my share.

Can't wait for the season to start my good sir!  Love football season, and tailgating for sure.  

Thanks for the tips.  I have started wrapping my boston butts to retain more of the juices, so I imagine I will try the same for the brisket.  I was not planning to trim it down to the flat before putting it in, but the packer is 13.5 lbs in total so I was aiming at around 13 hours or so (1 hr per lb.).   I was going to go with a dry rub (salt, black/white/cayenne pepper, onion, garlic, chili, paprika, oregano, brown sugar) and injection using some beef broth/oil combo.  I have apple wood chips and mesquite wood chips that I normally do, but I also have some jack daniels chips someone got me a few years back that I may try (no idea if there is any bourbon/whiskey flavor to them, but worth a shot).  

My plan was to put the brisket in at 4 AM Saturday morning at 250F, with hopes it would be done a little after 5 for dinner.  The last time I tried this, I trimmed it down and cooked it according to what the guys at amazingribs.com tell you and boy did it come out dry and tough.  Here's hoping I can catch magic this time!

[BWT30]

I forgot to mention the fat trimming. Trim down the "hard" fat but leave about a 1/4". I do fat cap down for a nice bark, but I don't think it makes too much of a difference.

[osurox]

Brisket came out delicious. I did trim quite bit of fat off, and put the sucker on at midnight. I probably could have pulled it off an hour before I did (around 11 am, wrapped in foil, then towel, then into a cooler for an hour until we ate at noon), as some of it was dryer than I wanted but all in all was very good. Thanks for the tips!

[BWT30]

Way to go ROX!! Game this weekend, wish I was in C-bus and get in on one of your tailgates. Just having wings and suds here in Tennessee. Have a good one!

[osurox]

Baby #2 is due in a few weeks so no tailgating this year until Wisconsin. I will make a thread thursday like always. I know we are making cuban sandwiches though, since FAU is so close to Miami.

[BWT30]

Didn't know you were expecting!! Congrats!!

[zigbee]

Baby #2 is due in a few weeks so no tailgating this year until Wisconsin.  I will make a thread thursday like always.  I know we are making cuban sandwiches though, since FAU is so close to Miami.

Best wishes with the new addition and congrats by friend.

[Jacketbuckeye]

Tonight's meal was a failure. Sea scallops (the large kind) seared and combined with mixed veggies. It's an old staple, and the scallops are super easy to make. I screwed up the veggies (bok choy, mushroom blend, celery, onion, and carrot stir fry), and it came out super bitter. The child liked the scallops until she ate a bite with veggies on it. Oh well.

[zigbee]

Tonight's meal was a failure. Sea scallops (the large kind) seared and combined with mixed veggies. It's an old staple, and the scallops are super easy to make. I screwed up the veggies (bok choy, mushroom blend, celery, onion, and carrot stir fry), and it came out super bitter. The child liked the scallops until she ate a bite with veggies on it. Oh well.

Scallops are a treat I think.   The bay scallops can be tad bit bitter.   Sea scallops pan fried to JUST RIGHT which is nice and soft is really delicious.  Have to be careful not to over cooked similar to shrimp.

[Jacketbuckeye]

Tonight's meal was a failure. Sea scallops (the large kind) seared and combined with mixed veggies. It's an old staple, and the scallops are super easy to make. I screwed up the veggies (bok choy, mushroom blend, celery, onion, and carrot stir fry), and it came out super bitter. The child liked the scallops until she ate a bite with veggies on it. Oh well.

Scallops are a treat I think.   The bay scallops can be tad bit bitter.   Sea scallops pan fried to JUST RIGHT which is nice and soft is really delicious.  Have to be careful not to over cooked similar to shrimp.

Oh yeah. A couple minutes per side. I learned a long time ago the tribulations of overcooked shellfish.

[osurox]

Thanks for the kind words guys. Wish my mom were still around to meet her newest granddaughter, but now she can see her at all times.

Making spicey mexican burgers tonight; seasoning includes chili powder, cumin, oregano, onion, and cayenne pepper. Saute some jalapenos, red/green peppers, and onions for toppings, and using pepper-jack cheese.

[Syncro]

Smoking a brisket for the first time this weekend. Anyone have any tips/tricks? Will be making it easier on myself by using the Traeger, oak pellets.

Plan is to basically follow the Aaron Franklin method. Fat side up, 50/50 blend of salt and pepper, wrap in pink butcher paper once it hits 160*.

I've already picked it up, 14lb Prime Grade.

[BWT30]

Smoking a brisket for the first time this weekend.  Anyone have any tips/tricks?  Will be making it easier on myself by using the Traeger, oak pellets.

Plan is to basically follow the Aaron Franklin method.  Fat side up, 50/50 blend of salt and pepper, wrap in pink butcher paper once it hits 160*.

I've already picked it up, 14lb Prime Grade.

Sounds like you have it. Here a tip that I follow that I found in one of the many brisket guides on the net. I follow it "mostly" as was written with a few mods. I use the pink butcher paper as well, and sometimes I change up and foil. Don't see a difference. I do try and use a normal grade of beef not the expensive stuff because I'm cheap.

Let me preface this by saying that I am not bragging, just establishing credibility in stating that I am a competition BBQ cook and I have qualified for The Jack before and have won multiple large contests. I definitely know how to cook a brisket.
I have a few pointers for you:
In the first place, you need to measure temperature accurately on each of your cooking surfaces. In a vertical smoker you can have significant variation between the racks. Buy a cheap oven thermometer and do some experiments. Once you establish the difference between the stock thermometer and the cooking surfaces, you are good to go.
We cook our brisket at 225, but anywhere up to 250 or so should produce a nice brisket.
Second, when the heat source is below the meat you should cook fat side down.
Third, until you have a whole lot of brisket cooks under your belt, you should use foil. There is a reason they call it the Texas Crutch. It just makes a tough cooking situation much more manageable. With that in mind, when the brisket hits 160, foil it and return it fat side up to the smoker and leave it there until the internal temperature reaches 190. At that point, pull it from the smoker, wrap it in a few more layers of foil and put it in a cooler that is not much larger than the piece of meat and let it rest for up to 4 hours. (Fill the extra space in the cooler with old towels or crumpled newsprint.) Then it is ready to slice and serve.
More advanced techniques include injection (Beef Consomme or Fab-B are common) and extreme low temperature smoking.
Also, you should talk to the butcher in your local grocery store and ask for a packer cut brisket. Look for something under 10lbs and at least choice grade.
Good luck!

[osurox]

I injected my brisket last weekend with beef stock; definitely recommend doing that. I chose to mot use foil or paper, and rode out the stall. I pulled the brisket at 195 (checked it and saw 180, waited 45 minutes and it rose to 195). Came out a little dryer than I wanted, but was still damn tasty and juicy. I think wrapping in foil and taking off at 190 would have helped keep it more moist. Also, salt...use coarse salt (bigger pieces). Brisket can take alot of salt, so don't be too conservative.

[BWT30]

I'm doing some of my Wally Wings for the game tomorrow. They are on the order of sweet, hot-hot!