Chef Wil's Louisiana Stuffed Brisket............. A Stellar Dish

WooDoggies

<p />....... otherwise known as the Atkins-Friendly Calzone.[p]
Chef Wil posted his recipe a while back and it sounded so good I had to try it. So, my old college buddy, Cap'n, and I cooked one in beautiful Connecticut this past saturday for dinner.
Only 'brisket worthy' friends were invited.[p]The ingredients were:
~5 lb butterflied brisket flat
~2 lb freshly ground pork, salt and peppered, shaped into a patty to fit 1/2 of the flat
~1 lb andouille sausage sliced thin lengthwise
~1 onion, 1 green bell pepper, 8 cloves garlic, 2 ribs celery finely chopped and mixed
~Dizzy Pig Swamp Venom Rub [p]The flat was dusted inside and out with the Swamp Venom. Then 1/2 of the veggie mix spread over half of the opened brisket, ground pork patty layered on top of veggies, andouille layered on top of pork, and the last of the veggie mix on top.
The top flap was pulled over the layers and sewn together with butcher's twine then wrapped and fridged over night.[p]The package cooked with a few chunks of chestnut, indirect at a grate temp of about 210 for 9 1/2 hours.
We let it rest about 45 minutes before slicing.[p]Cap'n and I agreed that this was one of the best cooks we had ever done....... the combination of flavors and textures were nicely balanced with the chestnut smoke. Each bite was sublime, the presentation was awesome....... and it blew the guests away.[p]This is a stellar pie that I plan to do again......... it's a little work but well worth it. I even saved a slice for my butcher.[p]Thanks for the recipe, Wil!
John

Borders

WooDoggies, Sweet. How did you know when to pull it off the egg?

Hammer

John,
That looks outstanding! What internal temp did you cook too. I know you said 210 for 91/2 hours, but I'm sure you had some temp in mind. I know what I am cooking this weekend.
Mitch[p]

WooDoggies

Borders,[p]After 9 hours, the temp probe slid easily into the brisket.... with very little resistance. And on top of that, it looked and smelled 'done'. [p]Nature Boy taught me a while back that a good way to tell when a brisket is done, is when the probe slides in and out of the meat like butter....... and that pie was like butter.[p]So, this cook was determined finished by feel, look and smell instead of the final temp. [p]I hope that answers your question..... give that recipe a try! [p][p][p][p]

Borders

Woo, I can assure you I'll give this one a spin on the egg--soon.[p]Scott

Babyray

WooDoggies,
I am a novice to this. How do you butterfly the brisket? I want to try this recipe, it sounds great. Thanks,
Ray Price

QBabe

WooDoggies,[p]That's simply beautiful! Nice job...[p]Tonia
:~)

WooDoggies

Thanks Mitch, it tasted outstanding, too. :~)[p]The internal temp was somewhere around 172. [p]With the andouille already cooked and the ground pork finishing at 160, it was more important for Cap'n and me that the outer layer brisket be tender and done...... so we relied on the probe-like-butter test.[p]John

WooDoggies

<p />Babyray,[p]The truth be told....... my butcher butterflied it.
He stopped at the very end of the cut to leave about 1" of meat to hold the top and bottom together.[p]Note the cut is diagonal to the grain....... and just look at that marbling.......... only in prime beef, baby![p]

Hammer

John
Thanks for the reply. Two(2) other questions. I can't find chestnut wood; what substitute do you suggest?
I have real difficulty with bell peppers; is there a substitute you would suggest, or is the bell pepper taste minimized once they are cooked for the 91/2 hours?
Thanks Again!
Mitch

Cornfed

WooDoggies,[p]I am crying tears of joy after looking at that stuffed brisket. Awesome.[p]Cornfed

Cap'n

Hammer,
It's funny you say that - because I gave a slice to a friend and he loved it - but said if he we to try it he would leave out the green bells - just not his favorite taste (and the taste definitely comes through - even after 9.5 hours).[p]What I would recommend is maybe do yellows on one side and reds on the other - make for a nice presentation too![p]Happy Eatin'
Cap'n

StumpBaby

WooDoggies,[p]Momma took us to a zoo once. Ever see a baboon in heat? Man alive..you'd think the zookeepah would give the poor thing some pants or somethin. Poppa tried to tell me the darned exposed thing was a catchers mitt..till I started askin too many questions bout how that catchers mitt got stuck like that...and he had to tell me the truth. I sure wish I done believed that thing about the catchers mitt.[p]We nevah went to the zoo no more...[p]Thanks for the memories.[p]StumpBaby

Chef Wil

WooDoggies,
all I can say is A+ dude.

Nature Boy

WooDoggies,
I seriously doubt that cow missed breakfast very much.
And, bein' an Amish cow, it probably did not sit at the computer much.
Dats some shweeet meeat![p]Awesome shots dude. You been cookin up a storm!
Chris

Unknown

WooDoggies,
I cannot believe how good that looks and sounds, you guys constantly keep me wanting to egg something new and I just don't know when I'll ever get the time to do all these different cooks. Besides that I'm out of lump from cooking so much and still can't cook enough.

Unknown

John, Your advice from Nature Boy was good and after reading your posts it was wise that you heeded what Chris told you. You stated that you took the brisket off when the probe slid in the meat like butter. You state the internal temperature measured 172ºF. [p]Most recipes I have seen state the brisket is not done at this internal temperature. If you had depended on a Polder type set up where the probe was already inserted in the meat and an alarm was set to go off when your temperature reached say 188ºF, your brisket would have been over done.[p]From my limited experience, choice briskets seem to cook faster and are tender at a lower internal temperature than select cuts. I have never been fortunate to cook a prime brisket such as the one you had. I have talked to one experienced BBQ chef who had the opportunity to cook a Kobe beef brisket in a contest. He told me that the brisket cost almost $200.oo (not a typo) per pound. He also said that because of the fat content in the brisket, he had to take the meat off the cooker because when it reached 125ºF, it was starting to fall apart![p]I guess the point I am trying to make here is that temperature is not always the final determination when briskets are done. Your posts and experiment help to prove that theory is correct.[p]Lager,[p]Juggy

WooDoggies

Yo Juggy,[p]A couple years back Ray Lampe wrote, [p]"Meat begins to break down at 160 and begins to seriously lose moisture above 180. The trick is to keep it in this range as long as possible. Matter of fact you don't ever have to reach 200 if you stay at 180 long enough."[p]Drbbq was referring to any tough cut that requires a low and slow treatment to break down calogens and render the fat.... ie. ribs, butts, brisket....
I didn't quite get what he was trying to say then but last year after rereading his quote, it hit me like a revelation and I've since been using it as my mantra and relying less on internal temps and more on the final look and feel.
As a result, the quality of my low and slows has gone way up.[p]I completely agree that temperature is not always the final determination when brisket is done.[p]Pilsners!
John[p][p][p]

WooDoggies

Hey Mitch,[p]If you can't find chestnut then try using a lighter flavored wood like pecan or plum or the like.... and I'd suggest going light with the smoke.
I think beef has too subtle a flavor that can be easily overpowered by too much smoke. [p]Next time Cappy and I are going to try yellow and red peppers in lieu of green bells...... should taste sweet and look real purty.[p]Good Luck!
john

Hammer

John,
I have already bought the red and yellow peppers. I'll let you know how it comes out. Thanks for the reply!
Mitch