Brisket Numero Tres
It’s time to make the brisket for our Maryland wedding party! I’m pumped. Goals this time - turn up the temperature to 250℉ earlier, or put it in the oven for a long time. I don’t want to go more than 24 hours, I can’t go for nearly that long… Cut off less fat than last time. Keep the fat cap on top…
The slab of meat I got was a full brisket, point and flat, 14.6 lbs and $3.99 a pound. Brisket has gone up in price, maybe it’s the season. When I first did this last winter, it was at about $2 a pound, now it’s double that. I guess I can’t wait to smoke a brisket in winter again.
Truthfully, there are few times when I’m not looking forward to smoking another brisket. There’s the point right after I pull it off and rest it, and I’m slicing it up, and eating a little bit of the fatty parts… Usually during that time I have a little too much fat, and it’s the first thing I’m eating in the day, and my stomach gets angry at me. That’s the only time I’m not looking forward to smoking another brisket.
I mixed up 4 Tbsp salt, 4 Tbsp pepper, and 2 Tbsp garlic powder, and sprinkled it on the meat after trimming and slicing in half. I warmed the smoker up. Time to cook!
2130, 13 Jul: Started the prepped meat smokin! The smoker is set at 225℉. I’ll let this go for about 8 hours, until it hits 165℉, then I’ll consider what I’m doing next, whether I crank up the temperature or let it ride.
0630, 14 Jul: Wrapped the brisket, it was at 165℉. I cranked the smoker to 250℉ then to try to finish the meat more quickly. This time I wrapped the meat very well, tightly. If this doesn’t help, then wrapping maybe isn’t my thing. I intended to wake up and do this step at about 0530, but for some reason I turned my alarm off in my sleep. No worries, because this was exactly the right temperature.
1000: Lean brisket was at 210℉ and moist at 202℉ - it’s done!
After taking it off the smoker, I let it rest while cleaning the smoker and taking care of all the morning chores. Then I sliced it into chunks for the freezer. Before our wedding party, maybe the night before maybe the morning of, I plan to take them out, drop them into the sous vide, then warm them up to a serving temperature. After that, we’ll crisp the outside again with the grill, then slice the chunks for serving. I don’t know if this is going to work, but I think it offers the best chance to be right-off-the-smoker good, with minimum prep day-of. There’s some precedent online for this, too.
I ate a little bit - it’s delicious. This is the way I need to make brisket in the future. I have no negative notes.