About sugar cover brisket, and a super_fast cook

gdenby

Thanks to those who responded yesterday about using a sugar coating overnight for brisket. I wish I could have asked more questions about the method, but my wife needed the connection for work.[p]The brisket was 7+ pounds, and after I got it our of the bag, rinsed it, and trimmed some fat, saw that it was just a big flat, no point.[p]I was uncertain about how much sugar to use. I had seen one picture somewhere that looked like the better part of a whole bag of sugar was on the brisket. I had been told by C.W.M. that the sugar would melt away, which was also what I'd read else where. Another source said be prepared to clean off lots of goo.

I got the goo. I put maybe a 1/4" coat on both sides after rubbing. In the morning I found the brisket soaking in a pool of syrup, and covered with a nice stickey coat on top. I drained and cleared as much as I could, and added some more rub.[p]What happened next may have had something to do with the excess sugar, but probably not.[p]The brisket would not fit on my medium laying flat, so I draped it over an inverted V rack. The Egg was burning steadily at about 260 dome, with the platesetter, etc. all pre-heated for about 1/2 hour.
I put the brisket on about 6 a.m. and went back to bed, hoping it would be done by 5 p.m.[p]At 7:30, checked the temp, and found it still at 260. At 8:30, noticed a fair amount of smoke coming from the Egg. When I went to check, I could hear lots of sizzling. The brisket was dripping syrup all over the place, and had shrunk way up, and was perched on top of the V-rack. I put some apple juice in the drip pan, and placed the brisket on the grate.[p]At 9:30, I saw lots more smoke. I checked to see if the drip pan was dry and burning. The dome temp was up to 275. I stuck a thermometer in the meat, and found it at 180 everywhere! I damped the Egg down, and went inside to check the thermometer. It was good. When I went back, I found the meat at 190.[p]Thought about it, decided the position way up in the dome had been too hot, and that I was risking drying the brisket out completely.[p]So I wrapped it in foil, and dropped the Egg to 230. By 11:30, the brisket was 200 internal, so I unwrapped it, and let it cook at 250 for a half hour, trying to get some bark back.[p]The end result was a nice piece of tender roast beef, but not at all a BBQ brisket. It was tender, but little of the fat had rendered. There was almost no smoke flavor. The sugar flavor was good, not burnt, but overwhelmed the spices. Total time, about 50 min./lb.[p]Ahh well, practice makes perfect.[p]gdenby

Car Wash Mike

gdenby,
We should have been more specfic. I don't I use more than 1 1/2 cups of sugar. [p]Mike

mad max beyond eggdome

gdenby,
did i you right that you had a 1/4 inch layer of sugar on that thing? ...way too much sugar. .. next time, coat it with sugar just like you would a rub. . . it will all melt in over night, and you won't have syrup. . . . also, i think by draping it over a v-rack like you did probably put the center of the brisket in a spot that was 20 degrees hotter than the edges. . .. next time, make a drip pan out of HDAF, lay it on your plate setter so that the entire brisket lays over it to protect it from dry heat, and then lay the brisket flat on the grid even if you have to pinch the edges in some to get the dome closed.. .don't worry it will shrink up after that. . . i really don't think the sugar has anything to do with cooking times. .. [p]HTH. .. and remember, "if it were all great, it would all be average"

gdenby

Car Wash Mike,[p]I probably used 1 1/2 pounds. Hah! No real loss, the meat is good, just not BBQ. Next time I'll get it right.[p]gdenby

Car Wash Mike

gdenby,
I bet I ruined 1/2 dozen briskets before 1 finally turned out.[p]Mike

gdenby

mad max beyond eggdome,[p]With the amount of sugar I used, it looks like I'll be scraping away an half inch of black crust just to get the drip pan off the platesetter.[p]As the brisket shrank, and drew up into the dome, I'd be willing to bet that its mass was throwing the dome thermometer off, and that it might have been getting a lot of heat. Flat on the grate next time.[p]gdenby