the tale of the 5 hour brisket w/ pics. . .

mad max beyond eggdome

ok, so i did the five hour brisket that i saw that team from oklahoma do on food tv last week and that we all discussed here. . .first and foremost, it came out great. . .i will discuss the couple of things i'd do differenct later. .. .buddy brett came over to review the results, and from a straight competition standpoint, we both gave it in the 7 - 8 range for taste and texture and appearance (ok he gave it 7s, and i gave it 8s, but gee, i wasn't biased). . .now the interesting part. .. .i had to pull it after only 3 1/2 total hours of total cooking cause it was reading 202+ internal, on both my polder and brett's thermapen. .. so here is what i did. . .[p]first, on saturday night, i coated it heavily in torbinado sugar (per car wash mike's suggestion) and wrapped it and put it in the fridge. . .this was a 6.5 pound brisket btw. . .[p][p]now here it is going on the egg at 250 degrees dome temp (coated with more torbinado sugar and dizzy pig cowlick rub) over inverted plate setter w/ a couple of hunks of hickory. .

here it is after 2 hours. . .ready to foil. .. it was already reading 160 internal. . ..
[p]now its double wrapped and i let the temps come up to 300 - 325. . .
[p]after 1 1/2 hours it was reading 200+ internal, so i pulled it, and stuck it in the cooler in a towell for about 3 hours until we were ready to eat (it initially went on at noon, wrapped at 2:00 and i had to pull it at 3:30. .. we didn't eat dinner till 7:00). . .it sliced beautifully, was very tender and juicy, not a typical smoked texture, but not a pot roast texture either .. .somewhere in between. . .(btw, the reason it already looks shorter is cause brett and spawn and i had already eaten about 10 slices before it dawned on me to pull out the camera)[p][p]now, one huge side benefit to doing a brisket this way is the fantastic juices that collected in the bottom of the foil. . we brushed these right on the meat and, man, were they ever fantastic!! . ..[p][p]and here is the dinner plate, on toasted buns with more of the pan juice rather than bbq sauce. ...[p][p]so, what would i have done differently?. . .first, it had a nice fat cap, where if it had been smoking for 12 hours, would have been great to keep the meat moist. . . but doing it wrapped like this, i would have trimmed it very close, as as you can see from the sliced picture, there is a substantial layer of soft fat on top of the brisket. . .also, with a brisket this size, i probably wouldn't have let it get over 300 during the foil portion. .probably would have gone longer at 275 aiming for another hour or so before pulling. .. [p]but that is it. .. i will definitly do it this way in the future. ..the results were great, and i could do it easily in an afternoon. . .[p]cheers. . .

TRex

Max,[p]Great report - great pics. I will definitely try one this way very soon.[p]One question - did you close the foil tight or did you leave some vent holes? [p]I bet that you could adjust the unfoiled and foiled cooking times to vary the amount of traditional smoked vs. pot roast characteristics. I guess the interesting variable would be what stage the brisket is in (foiled or unfoiled) when it is moving through the fat-rendering period. What's the official range for the fat rendering? Isn't it something like 145 - 165? I think I might try transferring to the foil once it has passed halfway through this range. I wonder how much affect it has on the final results for when you transfer to the foil . . .[p]Thanks again for a good report. I will try to do the same, though I may lack pictures :-([p]TRex

mad max beyond eggdome

TRex,
i had it sealed tight for the foil portion, so it was definitely cooking in its own juices. . .as i said, next time, i'll definitely trim the fat cap WAYYY back. . . and remember, this was only a 6.5 pounder. . .i'll bet things would have been different with a 10 - 12 pounder in terms of internal temps after 2 hours, and the length of time subsequently needed in the foil. . .so, i'm sure you are right about adjusting times. ..[p]in the long run though, on a purely time/taste benefit analysis, i didn't find that the lo and slo smoked briskets i've eaten (and i'm not even talking about my own efforts here) tasted that much better than this effort to sway me from doing this as a regular thing in the future. . .it sure is nice to know i can produce a quality brisket for office functions/parties, etc. without having to worry about tending the egg all night. ..[p]give it a try and lets hear your results as well. .

Smoked Signals

mad max beyond eggdome,
I bet it rendered going up and cooling off. Great report. I'm going to have to try it as well. I went to the store on Saturday night and they only had flats. I didn't want to sped $20 on an experiment so I passed and bought 2 chickens. Next time a see a small packer, I'm doing it.[p]Thanks for the report!

mad max beyond eggdome

Smoked Signals,
i think you are right about the rendering process, but like i said, i think you want it well trimmed whether its a flat, or a packer. . .i thought (based on weight) that i had a flat, but brett pointed out to me that i had grain running in two directions so i had, in fact a small packer (or some piece thereof). . .

Chrispy Bob

mad max beyond eggdome, Boy that looks good. I think your's came out better then mine. I will definitely try it again.
For those of you that want MMBE's recipe, I have extracted the text below.[p]CB [p]first, on saturday night, i coated it heavily in torbinado sugar (per car wash mike's suggestion) and wrapped it and put it in the fridge. . .this was a 6.5 pound brisket btw. . .[p]now here it is going on the egg at 250 degrees dome temp (coated with more torbinado sugar and dizzy pig cowlick rub) over inverted plate setter w/ a couple of hunks of hickory. [p]here it is after 2 hours. . .ready to foil. .. it was already reading 160 internal. . ..[p]now its double wrapped and i let the temps come up to 300 - 325. . [p]after 1 1/2 hours it was reading 200+ internal, so i pulled it, and stuck it in the cooler in a towell for about 3 hours until we were ready to eat (it initially went on at noon, wrapped at 2:00 and i had to pull it at 3:30. .. we didn't eat dinner till 7:00). . .it sliced beautifully, was very tender and juicy, not a typical smoked texture, but not a pot roast texture either .. .somewhere in between. . .(btw, the reason it already looks shorter is cause brett and spawn and i had already eaten about 10 slices before it dawned on me to pull out the camera)[p]
so, what would i have done differently?. . .first, it had a nice fat cap, where if it had been smoking for 12 hours, would have been great to keep the meat moist. . . but doing it wrapped like this, i would have trimmed it very close, as as you can see from the sliced picture, there is a substantial layer of soft fat on top of the brisket. . .also, with a brisket this size, i probably wouldn't have let it get over 300 during the foil portion. .probably would have gone longer at 275 aiming for another hour or so before pulling. .. [p]but that is it. .. i will definitly do it this way in the future. ..the results were great, and i could do it easily in an afternoon. . .[p]cheers. . .[p]
[p]

Car Wash Mike

mad max beyond eggdome,
It is just quick and easy for hectic schedules. Good thing it turns out so good. I've been cooking flats or whole trimmed this way for around 2 years. I like slicing a sweet onion real thick when foiling. Glad you enjoyed.[p]CWM

Brett

mad max beyond eggdome,
The brisket was very tasty, and probably a preferred option for anyone that does not want to be up at 3 am putting meat on the smoker. I still would not do this for a competition, because it tastes a little like it came out of a pot, though the smoky flavor was very nice and not something that could have been done in the oven. Overall, a nice new addition to the cooking arsenal.

Marvin

Car Wash Mike,
I really appreciated Mad Max's photo essay about your method; very helpful. On question: why the turbinado sugar as opposed to a standard rub?
Thanks,
Marvin

Marvin

mad max beyond eggdome,
Thanks for a great photo essay. i asked Car Wash Mike the question, but I will also ask it here: why the turbinado sugar as compared to s standard rub?
Thanks,
Marvin

Steve-B

Marvin,
It "burns" at a higher temp than refined sugar. So it holds up better during the long cooks.

Car Wash Mike

Marvin,
I rub down the night before with the white sugar coat going on last. The next day, I add more rub. I use rub first, then sugar, then the next day more rub.
Helps NB sales. Try it, it is really good and hard to mess up.[p]CWM

1044

Car Wash Mike,
What is the benefit of the heavy sugar coatings? Is it doing something dramatically different that other sugar rubs? Do you leave it on or wipe it off to cook?
TIA,
Howard

Car Wash Mike

1044,
The sugar breaks down the tissue over night. The sugar will gone in the morning.[p]CWM

1044

Car Wash Mike,
Interesting. Does is leave a heavier than usual, as in sugar rubs, taste?

mad max beyond eggdome

Car Wash Mike,
the sugar definitely added to the flavor. .. i use the torbanado, and it too, melted into the meat overnight. .. along with the dizzy cowlick, it made for a great flavor, and the juices in the foil were unblievable. .. brett and i are going to do a large brisket overnight the traditional way for july 4th, but then i'm also going to do a small flat this way, so that we can have the juices for the lo and slow. ..we figure this way we'll have the best of both worlds. .. (great big giant grinning thing)