Christmas in July

Well, big thumbs up to the new smokeware cap. I was a little
neevous using it overnight on my first cook but it locked in rock solid all night. I decided to go 2 briskets instead of brisket and ribs so I could get some sleep. I used my guru on one brisket and had to go commando on the other. I set it hoping to hit 275. It locked in around 250 so at 1:30 am I bumped it a little and "went to bed" as was necessary under current conditions. Woke up this morning and it was locked in at 270. Not too shabby for the first run. The new vent design really made a big difference in holding low temps without creeping up overnight. 

I'm also interested to see how both these briskets turn out. One was a Costco prime, which I'm very much on the fence about, and the other is a $1.59lb Excel Choice. I trimmed 5 lbs off the 15 lb prime packer and it could have used more. I trimmed 3 lbs off the 17lb choice and it looked awesome. The prime is off andit feels right through the paper. We will see. I have not had any luck with these my last 3-4 cooks. If this choice turns out better, I'm done with Costco meat for a while. Plus I have 3 more of the choice in my fridge  

cazzy said:

Legume said:

That sounds great.  Was that one of the Randalls packers or was it Costco?

He ate the Randalls choice packer.  The Costco Prime is still in the cooler.

I cracked the Costco to give everyone take home bags. The excel choice from Randall's was way better. They were both cooked right and the texture was good on both. The Excel had way more beef flavor. The Costco had so much fat in it that it watered down the taste of the beef. The point was 80% fat. Kinda nasty. 

lousubcap said:

Okay-since we don't have Randall's here in bourbon country, way to spoil those Costco primes I have on ice   But given that's where we are except for the occasional SRF treat I am happy to have any supply of prime packers up here.  Glad it was a great day!

They all source them differenty. We don't have the same brands as Houston Costco so I'm sure yours are different. When we had the shop we carried CAB. We had another group come in to try to sell us a Certified Hereford program. It was really light pink and very mild. CAB is real dark red, heavily marbled and Angus is beefy. This kind of looked and tasted like that Hereford test we did. The color was kind of washed out and it was super mild. 

The he quality was not there either Though. I've cooked 4 bad briskets this year. All 4 Costco. This one was not bad but it really didn't stand up to a $1.59 choice packer right next to it. I'm out for a bit and I'll check back in to see if they switch suppliers in the next few months. I've helped several guys with Costco cooks this year and many of them were not great too. Couple of accesses and some that were just plain tough (including 2 of mine). 

caliking said:

Too full and too sober? Whatcha gonna do? Throw up and start drinking..... Until you throw up again?  

The Costco prime briskets ain't l that IMO. I cooked one stellar o e and probably 3 more were sub par. The point has generally been smaller than on a choice brisket,  and I think I'm closer to getting a choice one done the way I like it. 

Sounds like you guys got it done right.  Not that we ever had any doubt. 

I'm with you. A good mechanic never blames his tools but I never claimed to be a good mechanic. I'm just looking for a fair advantage (as a good friend of mine is fond of saying) so I'm not ashamed of blaming meat for my misses.