While a brisket is such a simple cut of meat I am having a hard time flat out mastering. Don't get me wrong it always turns out good. But my goal is to serve meals that guests want to tell others about. I'm confident that I'll get there but I just don't cook brisket all that often (it's mostly a cost issue).
What I've learned this far.
Brisket is a muscular cut of meat and to make it tender you need to cook it to around 203 to real lot really break down the fibers and make it tender. Cooking to this temperature is really going to take some patience and/or foil. Once the meat stalls at about 170 degrees you can use foil to break through the stall and cook in a more timely manner.
Also I am still searching for the perfect rub. I've tried several and haven't found an absolute favorite just yet.
My new iGrill2 is quickly becoming a critical tool for cooking large pieces of meat. It lows me to track exactly how the meat is cooking.
So for this cook I used a bit of a hybrid recipe. I used a wet rub from Big Bob Gibson's BBQ as my pre-dry rub medium and then used my own dry rub mix.
As for the meat I had a small 3lb brisket flat and for the smoke I used Hickory wood chunks.
This was the smallest brisket I have ever cooked and I ran into a little trouble as it cooked faster than I anticipated . It made it to 170 degrees and stalled in about 2.5 hours at which point I went ahead and wrapped it in foil.
Note: Once the brisket was sitting on the foil I curled the edges up and poured a half a cup of water over the meat and then wrapped the foil tightly.
Almost immediately I regretted foiling the brisket so soon. I should have left it alone for another hour to help form the bark and get more smoke into the meat. From the pictures you can see that the bark is less than desirable and there is very little smoke ring around the edges of the meat.
So at the 2.5 hour mark I foiled the meat and at the 4.5 hour mark I hit 203 degrees at which point the cooking portion is done. But the brisket is not yet ready to serve as it needs to rest while the juices absorb back into the meat. For the rest period I wrap the foiled meat inside of a towel and place it in cooler so that it will maintain the heat as I let it rest for 1.5 hours.
***When you remove the brisket from the foil make sure to save the juice. Either drizzle the juice over the meat or use it for dipping.
Now slice that bad boy into then strips and serve!
Kendra says this was the best brisket to date but I'm a perfectionist and think I still have some work to do! At least this trial and error is delicious.
Thanks for your time!
What I've learned this far.
Brisket is a muscular cut of meat and to make it tender you need to cook it to around 203 to real lot really break down the fibers and make it tender. Cooking to this temperature is really going to take some patience and/or foil. Once the meat stalls at about 170 degrees you can use foil to break through the stall and cook in a more timely manner.
Also I am still searching for the perfect rub. I've tried several and haven't found an absolute favorite just yet.
My new iGrill2 is quickly becoming a critical tool for cooking large pieces of meat. It lows me to track exactly how the meat is cooking.
So for this cook I used a bit of a hybrid recipe. I used a wet rub from Big Bob Gibson's BBQ as my pre-dry rub medium and then used my own dry rub mix.
As for the meat I had a small 3lb brisket flat and for the smoke I used Hickory wood chunks.
Note: Once the brisket was sitting on the foil I curled the edges up and poured a half a cup of water over the meat and then wrapped the foil tightly.
Almost immediately I regretted foiling the brisket so soon. I should have left it alone for another hour to help form the bark and get more smoke into the meat. From the pictures you can see that the bark is less than desirable and there is very little smoke ring around the edges of the meat.
So at the 2.5 hour mark I foiled the meat and at the 4.5 hour mark I hit 203 degrees at which point the cooking portion is done. But the brisket is not yet ready to serve as it needs to rest while the juices absorb back into the meat. For the rest period I wrap the foiled meat inside of a towel and place it in cooler so that it will maintain the heat as I let it rest for 1.5 hours.
***When you remove the brisket from the foil make sure to save the juice. Either drizzle the juice over the meat or use it for dipping.
Now slice that bad boy into then strips and serve!
Kendra says this was the best brisket to date but I'm a perfectionist and think I still have some work to do! At least this trial and error is delicious.
Thanks for your time!
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