All Things Brisket

[Walte464 450]

It’s a great marketing gimmick that keeps restaurants and bbq joints buying CAB meat.i sell food for a living and it’s always fun to stump a restaurantuer when i inform them of the marketing gimmick that has been played on them and they immediately fire the rep that’s screwed them over with price for the past 3-5 years.

[ChampKind 1314]

Its a marketing scheme that has trained the consumer to believe that CAB is better. Which means restaurants can charge consumers more for the “higher quality” meat

[utee94 15825]

2 minutes ago, ChampKind said:

Its a marketing scheme that has trained the consumer to believe that CAB is better. Which means restaurants can charge consumers more for the “higher quality” meat

Like Zoloft advertising directly to target end-users. 

 

 

[mdleast 8295]

I'm with you 100%.  Price to quality ratio is unbeatable. 
...And, you don't have to wait for $1.99/lb sales.
 

This is good info to know as I never otherwise shop at WM. Surly rep (or whatever it is) to you, good sir.

[dcbc 14487]

This is good info to know as I never otherwise shop at WM. Surly rep (or whatever it is) to you, good sir.

For reference, that brisket pic I posted above is from WalMart.

[Buzzrock 14921]

I knew it was horseshit. So what should one look for? Just prime beef packers?

[ChampKind 1314]

On 4/1/2018 at 10:27 PM, Both Tacos said:

On 4/1/2018 at 8:56 PM, Steel Shank said:

Always cracks me up when people talk shit to Champ.

He is a little surly.

Sanctimonious is the prefered nomenclature

[TXLNGHRN10 341]

18 hours ago, Buzzrock said:

I knew it was horseshit. So what should one look for? Just prime beef packers?

Champ may be able to tell the difference, but for the everyday cook a select packer will be good.

Prime will most certainly be a CAB and cost you more

[thunderlounge 7849]

1 hour ago, TXLNGHRN10 said:

Prime will most certainly be a CAB and cost you more

 

Wait, wut?

[ChampKind 1314]

Leave him alone, he's on a roll

[Baboontyme 2812]

After my visit to la BBQ on Friday, I've been rethinking this whole thing. I seem to recall some talk of this on the old thread but I didn't pay a ton of attention to it. 

The brisket I had there was impossibly moist, even the flat. I've always just assumed the flat could only be so moist and was going to dry out pretty quickly once sliced because that was my experience, and admittedly due to my current geographic location and living in TX before the BBQ explosion, I have never really seen or sampled brisket that juicy until last week. 

So I've been thinking about it, and the conclusion I have arrived at, without any experimenting yet, is that it has to be the rest. I think these briskets are "done" many hours before opening, wrapped in butcher paper and held at a temp that keeps them warm but not warm enough like a faux cambro (which I consider to be a towel and a small cooler, Mr. Champ can correct me if I'm wrong) where it would keep cooking. I've had some really juicy briskets when I have pulled them short of probe tender and left them in a faux cambro for 5-6 hours prior to cooking. I'm thinking that these top end places finish their briskets, wrap in butcher paper, and hold them around 100 degrees or so for 5-6 hours before serving them, and that adds an element of moisture that is heavenly. 

Champ, am I talking crazy? 

I don't know if this pic is a great representative of what I'm talking about. This is a fatty slice, but you can see the flat slice in the background and a couple slices underneath. 

Incidentally, while we didn't order brisket, I did catch a glimpse of someone else's brisket plate at Stiles Switch the next day and pardon my expression it looked "dry as fuck". Nothing like what we at at la. 

[workswithseed 2112]

What is a cambo and what is a flat?

[Baboontyme 2812]

A cambo is a type of camera and a flat is a type of apartment.

[ChampKind 1314]

You’re not crazy

[Baboontyme 2812]

I didn't think so....I'm going to give that a run this weekend I think. This may alter my plans for the school picnic. I still may hit you up on that as details emerge...thanks Champ. 

[kevwun 15790]

Do you have a water pan in your smoker during cooks?  That also helps keep them moist.  If you can fit in a big enough one it also helps hold a steady temp.

[Baboontyme 2812]

I don't use one in my offset but I've cooked many briskets in my WSM with water in the pan. I'm not sure if it made a difference or not, but if it did, it certainly wasn't life altering like the brisket I had last week. 

[kevwun 15790]

Every little bit helps.  Do you spray or mop during the cook?  I have learned how much the quality of your pit can make a difference also since I got my new one.  I've got something comparable to what the pros use now and it has made a difference.  My briskets have just the right amount of smoke because the pit makes good clean and even heat.  Cooking in a smokey oven at a steady temp helps produce the texture and level of moisture that you are talking about.

Edited April 5, 2018 by kevwun

['stache 21817]

My new toy. I named her Smokey Daniels. Clearly homemade a long time ago, thick metal, and crafted to last a lifetime. Found her on Facebook marketplace for $250 (though I paid an extra $50 renting a trailer and on gas to pick her up from about 90 miles away). Can’t wait to fire her up and smoke a brisket. Need some good wood (no homo) and a weekend with nothing else to do. My new prize possession. Sounds lame but this makes me incredibly happy!

[Southernthunder 38]

So do yall add anything to the brisket when yall wrap it? 

[kevwun 15790]

I spray mine one last time and that's it.

[luke duke 6413]

La BBQ rests their briskets for a very long time in an Alto Sham.

[RMac5 1551]

Kevwun what do you spray it with? I spritz mine with all apple juice or apple cider vinegar, water might be just as effective.

[Baboontyme 2812]

7 minutes ago, luke duke said:

La BBQ rests their briskets for a very long time in an Alto Sham.

How long are we talking? 5? 8? 12? 

I plan on putting one on tonight and pulling in the AM to rest for dinner tomorrow as an experiment. 

[kevwun 15790]

12 minutes ago, RMac5 said:

Kevwun what do you spray it with? I spritz mine with all apple juice or apple cider vinegar, water might be just as effective.

I have a 32oz spray bottle so that's what this recipe makes.

2 cups apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup Worcestershire
juice of two lemons

I pour all that in the spray bottle and then top it off with water.  It makes enough to do 3 or 4 briskets so I usually end up pouring a lot out.

[thunderlounge 7849]

Also temperature.

Guessing any establishment is holding at 135* or higher to keep above the bacteria temp range?

 

[kevwun 15790]

I saw the warmer at Truth was set at 140 the last time I was there.

[dcbc 14487]

49 minutes ago, Southernthunder said:

So do yall add anything to the brisket when yall wrap it? 

I hit it with some apple cider vinegar.

[ChampKind 1314]

Holding temp is 140-160. When I hold mine, its overnight. But always at proper temps

[RMac5 1551]

How long can you alto sham one before quality starts to diminish? 

[Buzzrock 14921]

How is it that holding in a cooler with towels causes it to overcook, but holding it in an actual warming device (alto shaam or whatever) doesn’t? Witchcraft?

[kevwun 15790]

You can't put it in the cooler until it's had time to cool 30 or 40 degrees.  If you go straight in to the cooler, it's got enough heat in it to turn a well insulated small box in to an oven. The warmer can regulate it's temp so that even if it's full of brisket, it stays cool enough that the briskets can't keep cooking.

[Buzzrock 14921]

Well that makes sense. How about rmac’s question?

[kevwun 15790]

That I have no clue.  I don't have one and have never had to keep a brisket warm more than a few hours.

[Steel Shank 9426]

Also, one thing I learned the hard way (and I've learned a whole bunch of things the hard way) is that coolers are meant for cold things. Hot things make them expand, then crack open along the bottom. I have numerous large coolers to provide as Exhibits A, B, C, etc. before I figured out what was a-going on.

[thunderlounge 7849]

I put mine in a insulated bag, then a towel around that, and then in a cooler. No issues, and the cooler doesn’t really get warm as all the heat is kept in the bag. 

 

[Baboontyme 2812]

Experiment got delayed by a few weeks but it's on for now. I put a trimmed, 11 lber (before trimming) on about 8:30 tonight. My wife has a PTO meeting tomorrow night and I'm having a couple of buddies over for beers and to entertain the kids with their jackassery and eat brisket. The plan is to eat around 8. I will let the WSM run wherever it wants overnight (probably around 260-275) and I figure the thing will be done around 8 AM. I will let it cool to about 175? and then double wrap it in butcher paper with a probe still in it, wrap that in alum foil, wrap that in a towel and place in a cooler and monitor. If the temps start dipping too fast into the danger zone I'll just pop it in the oven at 170 for the rest of the day. 

Any recommended changes to this plan? Champ? Shoeless Joe? Luke? Shaggy brisket mafia?

[Hanrahan 1306]

Start at a later time, dumbass.

[Baboontyme 2812]

I have no idea what happened at 10. I went out to check figuring the bowl fell or some shit and it was all good. 

[Baboontyme 2812]

6 minutes ago, Hanrahan said:

Start at a later time, dumbass.

Missing the point bud. 

[Both Tacos 1806]

Good luck keeping it warm and moist for that long period of time after taking it off the smoker.

[Dr Fear 1268]

I think testarants stores theirs waiting to serve wrapped at 140 (or is it 120)? Most ovens wont hold that low of a temp.

Sent from my SM-G900P using Tapatalk

[Baboontyme 2812]

This thing won't probe correct. I'm 202, 205, 206...and it's stiff. 

[Dr Fear 1268]

Panic time! Jebus, I hate that feeling.

Have you probed temp with an instant?  You could just be reading hot on the probe or it could be in a bad place.  What was the exact probe temp of the stall?

[Baboontyme 2812]

Yeah, I stuck the Thermapen in a few places in the flat and that's what I'm getting above. I'm going to pull it in 10 minutes because I have a 1:00 conference call. 

The stall, who the hell knows since my Gateway disconnected during the night (see Thermoworks thread). When I woke up it was at 165 and the fire was at 240. 

[Baboontyme 2812]

I don't know, we'll see. It was probing at 206, 207 in most places. A little better feel but not great. I let it rest until it got down to about 170, wrapped it back up, wrapped another layer of butcher paper over it, taped it, and it's into the 170 degree oven. It's hanging in the low to mid 160s now. Plan to keep it somewhere between here and 140 until serving around 8. We'll see how it goes. 

[jimmyjazz 45963]

Once you've had 51% black, you'll never go 51% back.

[Mack Tripper 696]

On 4/4/2018 at 3:22 PM, TXLNGHRN10 said:

Prime will most certainly be a CAB and cost you more

Prime or HEB Prime1???

[ChampKind 1314]

Yeah, I stuck the Thermapen in a few places in the flat and that's what I'm getting above. I'm going to pull it in 10 minutes because I have a 1:00 conference call. 
The stall, who the hell knows since my Gateway disconnected during the night (see Thermoworks thread). When I woke up it was at 165 and the fire was at 240. 

Bro, always go by feel. Always. I give fuckall about what temp the probe says when we’re talking brisket

[Baboontyme 2812]

I do know better. I just knew that I would not be able to break away from my meeting to pull it for another 90 minutes so I got antsy. I think it's fine but TBD. I really hope it didn't ruin my experiment.