Memorial Day Weekend Brisket Cook: Who's with me? Rules are simple....

Size Egg: Large
Charcoal: Royal Oak
Wood: Pecan chunks
Source: Costco (Prime grade)
Weight: 13.77 lbs
Price: $2.99/lb
Temp: 250
Rub: Salt, pepper & garlic powder
Injected: Yes - Butcher BBQ brisket injection
Trimming: Yes - appr 2 1/2 pounds
Time put on: 5:30am
Time took off: 4pm (200 deg)
Fat cap down
No wrap
Rested 1 hour 

I had only cooked two other briskets before with mixed results.  This one turned out great.  The only change I made was the injection but I don't think that was the difference.  This time I had good temp control and pulled it when it probed easily.

     

HondaHawk said:

HondaHawk said:

Size Egg: L                                                                          

Charcoal: Rockwood                  

Wood: cherry                         

Store: Costco

Grade: Prime

Weight: 15.5 

Price: $2.89                

Temp: 250º - 270°                                                                       

Rub: mustard, salt, pepper

Injected: a little beef broth

Trimming instructions: maybe too much. I felt like I got carried away.                                                         

Time you put it on: 4:50am

Time you took it off: 10:30am (wtf moment)

Fat cap: up                                                                       

Drip pan:    Yes                               

Added to drip pan: had some rosemary laying around. Why not. 

When it got to 197° that early in the morning I was all hot and bothered. Didn't know what was going on. Kept it in the cooler till 6pm...figured I had nothing to lose. All things considered it turned out great. 

Now I can't post pics dammit all. 

I can't get these to post. Sorry fellas. 

Those " baked " beans look amazing too !! 

YukonRon said:

Anybody else inject? I really liked how mine turned out. If so, what did you use?

I did. I think it saved my cook. First time I've injected a brisket and I'll continue doing so going forward. 

12 pound plus choice packer from Sam's club, trimmed

Injected with beef stock, rubbed with Dizzy pig's Cow lick and salt

Drip pan with water, guru (set grid temp 230)

Put on at 9:30 Friday evening, with a hunk of cherry and pecan, checked on it at 1:30 and 4:40 no adjustments

wrapped around 8 done 11:00.

I was pleased with my cook

I'm willing to bet that I've cooked 25 briskets in the past 4 years and I've never had such a complete failure from start to finish.  Booze probably had a lot to do with it, but that's no excuse!  Details - 

Egg Size:  Large
Lump:  Grove Charcoal
Wood:  Combo of oak and some hickory
Store:  Costco
Grade:  Prime
Weight:  15.82 lbs, ~13.5 lbs after trimming
Price: $2.89/lb
Temp:  Wanted 270* at the time, but I couldn't move my egg off 300* and THIS is where ALL MY PROBLEMS ORIGINATED
Rub:  Equal parts, by weight, of pepper, Kosher salt and a combo of garlic powder and chili powder
Injection:  None
Fat Cap:  Down
Drip Pan:  Empty, air gapped
Time Put On:  10:45pm
Time Taken Off:  9:30am (!!)
Internal Temp at 9:30:  223* (yikes)

Notes:  Just a cluster-fudge from the get-go on this.  I know better to not make the long line of mistakes I made on this cook.  First, I shouldn't have over-served myself so much... I was polluted.  Second, for what ever reason why, I miscalculated the time needed to cook a 13-14lb brisket and put it on too early.  Third, I did not catch the egg temp at 250* and instead of being patient for another 3-4 beers and getting it down, I *assumed* that if I put this mother on when everything read 300*, just putting the brisket in would drag the temp down to where I wanted it.  Fourth, I didn't do a good enough job monitoring the cook before I went to bed (passed out).  Fifth, I didn't get up early enough on Sunday morning to check on it (hung over).

Rookie mistake after rookie mistake.  Check that, brisket rookies wouldn't make those mistakes because they'd be on it better.  Pulled this train wreck at 9:30am and FTC'd it until 6:00pm.  It was still nice and warm, so that was probably the only thing that went right.  

1/4 of the flat was toast and the only edible portions was the rest of the flat and most a good chunk of the point.  It was dry, chewy and horrible.  I was embarrassed, but this has humbled me to get back to the basics of cooking brisket. 

I only took 2 pics, the seasoning and before I cut in to it.

@Stoogie -  big plus for stepping up and posting the above.  You provided and reconfirmed many valuable points.  I'm sure many (self-included) can relate to some or all of your challenges.  Back on the cow for the next one.

And thanks @Stoogie for reminding us why we all love brisket so much. Each one is a potential disaster, but get it right and it can be sublime.  

You could have made any and all of those mistakes on a pork butt and it still would have come out great.  Brisket, not so much.

@Stoogie

Thanks for sharing.  My brisket was a failure.  I bet you about soiled yourself when you glanced down to see the brisket was at 223.  I couldn't believe my eyes when it read 215 after 10 hours on mine.  I wasn't drinking.  I monitored temp from 9pm to 12:30 am and it needed no adjustments.  I slept for 6 and a half hours and checked again and was shocked.  Like @YukonRon  points out.  Sometimes you try too hard to get it perfect, it turns out ok, then next time you just wing it and everything falls into place without trying.   It is nice to see failures we can all learn from.  Posting failures should be "FORUM CODE."  I am taking that idea from the Free Beer and Hotwings morning show.  Not sure if any of you have heard it before but they are syndicated around the eastern half of the USA I know.  I catch them once in a while.  They have "SHOW CODE" where if something embarrassing happens to them or they do something stupid in their personal life, they are obligated to share on air.  Again, thanks for sharing.

 

This was my first brisket cook.  A little worried about 10 hours into the cook that something was wrong.  I discovered that I had my temperature probe in the point and not in the large part of the flat.  Once corrected I was able to bring the brisket in at the desired temperature.  As I was letting it rest on the counter my family could not wait any longer.  We let is rest for about 1 hour and the temp was still 160 when we sliced it, otherwise I think the slices would have looked better.   The brisket had great flavor, moist, and tender.  All you can ask for in a cook.  Hope to do another one soon.  Thanks for putting this together.

kl8ton said:

@Stoogie

Thanks for sharing.  My brisket was a failure.  I bet you about soiled yourself when you glanced down to see the brisket was at 223.  I couldn't believe my eyes when it read 215 after 10 hours on mine.  I wasn't drinking.  I monitored temp from 9pm to 12:30 am and it needed no adjustments.  I slept for 6 and a half hours and checked again and was shocked.  Like @YukonRon  points out.  Sometimes you try too hard to get it perfect, it turns out ok, then next time you just wing it and everything falls into place without trying.   It is nice to see failures we can all learn from.  Posting failures should be "FORUM CODE."  I am taking that idea from the Free Beer and Hotwings morning show.  Not sure if any of you have heard it before but they are syndicated around the eastern half of the USA I know.  I catch them once in a while.  They have "SHOW CODE" where if something embarrassing happens to them or they do something stupid in their personal life, they are obligated to share on air.  Again, thanks for sharing.

@kl8ton, do you use a dual temp gauge with an alarm?  If not you can get one on Amazon for as little as $80.  I use a dual temp gauge and set alarms for when my fire gets to low or when the meat reaches the desired temp an alarm goes off.  The gauge gives me piece of mind when I want to go to bed and still be able to look at a gauge to make sure it is all good.

Better luck on you next cook.

I have this one.
http://www.amazon.com/Ivation-Long-Range-Wireless-Thermometer/dp/B00ANCXJR6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1464877496&sr=8-1&keywords=dual+temp+gauges+for+bbqing
 

There is this one as well.
http://www.amazon.com/Ivation-IVAWT738-Wireless-Thermometer-Magnet/dp/B00FM8DJHQ/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1464877536&sr=8-1-fkmr0&keywords=dual+temp+gauges+for+bbqing

The iGrill2 is great as well.
http://www.amazon.com/iDevices-IGR0009P5-iGrill2-Bluetooth-Thermometer/dp/B00NC4KU42/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1464877605&sr=8-1&keywords=igrill2

@Ladeback69
No alarms.  Thanks for the links - I will check them out.

Stoogie said:

I'm willing to bet that I've cooked 25 briskets in the past 4 years and I've never had such a complete failure from start to finish.  Booze probably had a lot to do with it, but that's no excuse!  Details - 

Egg Size:  Large
Lump:  Grove Charcoal
Wood:  Combo of oak and some hickory
Store:  Costco
Grade:  Prime
Weight:  15.82 lbs, ~13.5 lbs after trimming
Price: $2.89/lb
Temp:  Wanted 270* at the time, but I couldn't move my egg off 300* and THIS is where ALL MY PROBLEMS ORIGINATED
Rub:  Equal parts, by weight, of pepper, Kosher salt and a combo of garlic powder and chili powder
Injection:  None
Fat Cap:  Down
Drip Pan:  Empty, air gapped
Time Put On:  10:45pm
Time Taken Off:  9:30am (!!)
Internal Temp at 9:30:  223* (yikes)

Notes:  Just a cluster-fudge from the get-go on this.  I know better to not make the long line of mistakes I made on this cook.  First, I shouldn't have over-served myself so much... I was polluted.  Second, for what ever reason why, I miscalculated the time needed to cook a 13-14lb brisket and put it on too early.  Third, I did not catch the egg temp at 250* and instead of being patient for another 3-4 beers and getting it down, I *assumed* that if I put this mother on when everything read 300*, just putting the brisket in would drag the temp down to where I wanted it.  Fourth, I didn't do a good enough job monitoring the cook before I went to bed (passed out).  Fifth, I didn't get up early enough on Sunday morning to check on it (hung over).

Rookie mistake after rookie mistake.  Check that, brisket rookies wouldn't make those mistakes because they'd be on it better.  Pulled this train wreck at 9:30am and FTC'd it until 6:00pm.  It was still nice and warm, so that was probably the only thing that went right.  

1/4 of the flat was toast and the only edible portions was the rest of the flat and most a good chunk of the point.  It was dry, chewy and horrible.  I was embarrassed, but this has humbled me to get back to the basics of cooking brisket. 

I only took 2 pics, the seasoning and before I cut in to it.

@Stoogie, thanks for the funny read.  It's too bad you ended up with a briquette, but it sounds like you know where things went awry.

I may drink a little less, but I have no less propensity to having cooks go pear shaped if I don't stay on top of them.  You (like I) are probably the poster child for a Flame Boss 200 (or something else of its kind).

lousubcap said:

Some days the elevator...  Congrats @minnimoh.  Your SRF cook should warrant a separate post
Edit:  thanks again @SRFShane  for the reward.  Most eggcellent.

I will second that motion.