Let's Talk BBQ
Tips, Tricks & Just Good Advice! => Burn it in the Back Yard with Hub! => Topic started by: Jim_R on September 28, 2014, 09:54:29 PM
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Hi there. Brand new to LTBBQ, and brand new to pit cooking in general. Anything besides simple grilling, anyway.
My nephew shared some of his brisket and chicken with me a few weeks ago, and it made me realize that I was missing out on something fun. I don't have a lot of room, I'm a complete novice, and I wanted a cooker I would _want_ to use (i.e., simple to set up, simple to clean, and simple to get decent results with), and I ended up getting a Pit Barrel Cooker. So far, I've done ribs, chicken, and salmon on it, and have been very pleased.
Today, I tried brisket for the first time (in my life). I think it came out fine for a first try, but I'm an easy guy to please. I'm sure there's plenty of room for improvement. My plan is to try a variety of cooking methods, and start feeling out what I think I prefer or don't prefer.
I wanted to keep my first cook as simple as possible...sort of establish a "baseline" to which I could start adding variables. I decided to use a simple 50/50 mix of kosher salt and course cracked pepper, and I also chose to cook straight through on the cooker without a wrap.
The brisket was ~13-14 lbs after trimming, and I let it go for about 6.5 hours. Probe thermometer near the top read 197 when I took it out.
Temp in the PBC varied a fair bit during the cook. Had my probe through one of the rebar holes and it dipped from 277 to around 240 after the first couple of hours. Opened up the vent at the bottom a little bit to keep it from cooling any more than that, and cracked the lid a bit to let it fire back up. Got up to over 300 before I closed the lid again (didn't think it'd ramp up that quickly). When I checked again around 3 hrs, it was back to around 280. I moved the probe from the rebar hole to straight in from the top of the brisket, and started watching internal temps. I routed the probe wire under the lid instead of through a hole, and later I noticed a lot of smoke seeping from under the lid; I think my probe wire might have allowed a fair bit more airflow and hotter temps, but since the probe was in the meat, I don't really know. Next time, I'll keep the wire routed through the side hole.
When it got to the upper 190s and the "toothpick test" indicate it was tender all the way through, I pulled it.
I didn't wrap it in foil, or paper, or towels. I didn't put it in a cooler, or in the oven. I set it on an aluminum cookie sheet and tented some foil over it, and let it set for about 40 minutes. That was about all I could stand; the aroma had permeated the townhouse by then and I wanted to try some. (I did manage to take a few photos; they're attached.)
So I sliced some of the flat, and it had a good flavor and was a tender chew, but it wasn't fork-tender. I really liked the bark. Later, as I was cutting the slab-o-beef into smaller chunks that would fit well in the fridge, I sliced off some of the thinner, more crusty bits of the point. Honestly not sure what "burnt ends" are yet, but maybe that's what I served myself...the combo of crunchy bark and soft fatty meat made a flavor explosion in my mouth that I really enjoyed. Some might have called those bits overdone, but if they don't like it, I'll take it!
At any rate, I now know what this method will produce. Next time, I plan to try the "wrap at 160" method to see how that works. Later, I'll try some different rubs.
I'm looking forward to a long series of experiments!
Jim
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Looks like you are off to a great start to me!
From the pictures - I think that is a brisket flat you have there. When you get ready to cook your next one, for fun - you may want to try a full "packer". That would be the brisket point and flat together and intact. More fat to moisturize during the cook ;)
Yours appears to have turned out really good!
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Thanks, tee.
Well, okay, maybe I don't yet know what I'm talking about, but I thought I had a packer-style brisket. See "brisket3.jpg" for where (if I'm using the correct terminology), I have cut away most of the flat, and you can see part of the point below it where no bark set up because the flat was sitting on top of it. (Do I have that right?) ("Brisket4.jpg" is the piece of the flat that is missing in the "brisket3.jpg" photo, sitting on a cutting board separate from the rest of the brisket.)
I may have over-trimmed it, though; I did take out quite a bit of fat from the middle, based on "how to trim a brisket" instructions I found in various places. Wasn't sure how much would render out; next time, I think I'll leave a little more in place all around.
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Great looking PBC brisket. ;)
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Brisket looks great to me!
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Great first brisket and sure it will not be your last!! Don
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Thanks, tee.
Well, okay, maybe I don't yet know what I'm talking about, but I thought I had a packer-style brisket. See "brisket3.jpg" for where (if I'm using the correct terminology), I have cut away most of the flat, and you can see part of the point below it where no bark set up because the flat was sitting on top of it. (Do I have that right?) ("Brisket4.jpg" is the piece of the flat that is missing in the "brisket3.jpg" photo, sitting on a cutting board separate from the rest of the brisket.)
I may have over-trimmed it, though; I did take out quite a bit of fat from the middle, based on "how to trim a brisket" instructions I found in various places. Wasn't sure how much would render out; next time, I think I'll leave a little more in place all around.
JIm...I may have not looked at your pics closely enough - my apologies :-[....I can tell you that "trimming" a brisket makes us feel better as for participation in the process. But, for me - I have never found it to be worthwhile. Just season and cook. Now: Having said that - I would recommend placing a pan below it to catch the drippings so as to not quench your fire - or cause a flare up. And...they can be mighty tasty if you separate the fat from the juices, and make a "dip" with the juices ;)
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Nice job,thanks for sharing.
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Very nice work.
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Looks great! I still have not tried to cook a brisket.. intimidated I guess.
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Great job, Jim ! ! !
BD
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Nice smoke ring , looks very moist .
great job.
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Nice smoke ring , looks very moist .
great job.
X2
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Nice looking brisket. Good Job!
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So you let it hang the whole cook?
That's one fine brisket for a first timer!!!
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The first brisket I ever cooked could have been used for resoling shoes ::)
Welcome to the forum and to the wonderful hobby of burning stuff in the back yard!
Hub
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Great looking brisket Jim - from the looks of your first ever - it most certainly won't be your last!!! Nicely done
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The first brisket I ever cooked could have been used for resoling shoes ::)
Welcome to the forum and to the wonderful hobby of burning stuff in the back yard!
Hub
There's no words in the English language that describes how bad my first brisket was. And the cooking method I used I would never admit in public, it was that bad. Thank God I've come a long way since those early days of learning how to cook decades ago.
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So you let it hang the whole cook?
That's one fine brisket for a first timer!!!
Thanks to everyone for the encouraging words!
Yes, I set the hook and didn't lift it off the bar again for 6.5 hours, when the probe registered 197.
I have decided it's a little drier than I'd prefer (but it's a far cry from shoe leather, thankfully!). I think in large part that has to do with how much I trimmed it--the bites I take that have some fat on them are plenty moist enough. I think the next cook I do, I'm going to let it hang the whole time again, but I'm going to leave more fat on it and see how that does. I'll eventually try the wrap method, too.
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The first brisket I ever cooked could have been used for resoling shoes ::)
Welcome to the forum and to the wonderful hobby of burning stuff in the back yard!
Hub
There's no words in the English language that describes how bad my first brisket was. And the cooking method I used I would never admit in public, it was that bad. Thank God I've come a long way since those early days of learning how to cook decades ago.
When you sliced into my son-in-law's first one, you would've thought that he'd invented a new way to make jerky. His second one wasn't much better, so he turned the brisket cooking over to me. That was a little over six months ago.
Fortunately, I had a good coach (you know who you are!) and mine have been moist, well flavored, and consistently in the mid to low 20's. And now I'm even cooking them just for family get-togethers.
BD
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Jim_R, there are many different ways to do a brisket and experimentation will allow you to get it to your liking. For me, I experimented with not trimming any fat before cooking and it turned out that fat is real easy to trim after cooking. As someone all ready said, be sure to put a pan under it to collect the drippings and not kill the fire. Another thing I discovered is that you can take the internal temp up real high like 210 -215. I keep testing the meat by poking it with a long toothpick. When it slides in like soft butter, it is very tender and ready for some good eating.
Your brisket looks great and that PBC will give you many good cooks. Keep experimenting.
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Fortunately, I had a good coach (you know who you are!) and mine have been moist, well flavored, and consistently in the mid to low 20's. And now I'm even cooking them just for family get-togethers.
Sorry for the n00b question, but what do you mean by "consistently in the mid to low 20's"? I can think of many possible units of measurement (years? pounds? degrees? scoville units?), but none of them make any sense in this context. I'm bumfuzzled.
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Fortunately, I had a good coach (you know who you are!) and mine have been moist, well flavored, and consistently in the mid to low 20's. And now I'm even cooking them just for family get-togethers.
Sorry for the n00b question, but what do you mean by "consistently in the mid to low 20's"? I can think of many possible units of measurement (years? pounds? degrees? scoville units?), but none of them make any sense in this context. I'm bumfuzzled.
No apology needed ! ! !
I can see where that really didn't make much sense.
I'm referring to my position in recent KCBS cooking contests. For instance, in my last contest, I came in 22nd out of 64 competitors.
BD
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Fortunately, I had a good coach (you know who you are!) and mine have been moist, well flavored, and consistently in the mid to low 20's. And now I'm even cooking them just for family get-togethers.
Sorry for the n00b question, but what do you mean by "consistently in the mid to low 20's"? I can think of many possible units of measurement (years? pounds? degrees? scoville units?), but none of them make any sense in this context. I'm bumfuzzled.
No apology needed ! ! !
I can see where that really didn't make much sense.
I'm referring to my position in recent KCBS cooking contests. For instance, in my last contest, I came in 22nd out of 64 competitors.
BD
Way back in my younger days I consistently did low to mid 20's too, now they run away from me. :P :P :P