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Butt or Brisket?

Trouble
Trouble Posts: 276
edited November -1 in EggHead Forum
I'm hoping you generous experts can point me in the right direction. I've had the egg for a while; I received my Maverick Redi-Chek for Christmas, and I am ready to venture into the world of low & slow cooks. [p]I like pork and beef equally (pork tenderloin last nigh with olive oil and Raging River--simple and incredible). So if you had to make a recommendation, would you recommend the first effort be a butt or a brisket? It's a three-day weekend. Hectic holidays are over. Time to take the next egg step.[p]Thanks, everybody.
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Comments

  • Trouble,
    i think most would agree that it is easier to get consistent results from a pork butt than a brisket. .. i've done lots of pork butts and they all came out exactly the same, delicious and moist. .. [p]having done briskets as part of a competition team, it seams like you can do them exactly the same every time, and every time they will come out a little different, texture/taste/moist/dry...[p]so you may want to go lo and slo with a butt first...you will impress all who eat it. ...[p]if you care, here is how i do mine. .. .i inject them with a 50/50 solution of apple juice/cider vinager, rub generously with dizzy dust, and throw it on the grid set over a drip pan on inverted plate setter... egg dome temp at 220 - 250 degrees. . .maybe put a chunk of apple wood in the fire. . .thats it. .. .i know there are a lot more sophisticated methods/rubs/injections out there. ...and i'm sure others will weigh in who have lots more experience than me. .. all this is just IMHO. ..

  • Yazoo
    Yazoo Posts: 145
    Trouble,[p]Well, I'll chime in and even though I have much less experience than mad max and the others. I agree that you should try a butt first. It's easier to make good slow cooked pork butt than good slow cooked beef brisket. I've only cooked one brisket myself. It wasn't too bad, but it wouldn't impress anyone either. With a butt, you can get good results even if you just slap a plain ole butt on the grill, but mad max's prep sounds good. I'd get used to maintaining a dome temp of 250 for 12+ hours before cooking such an unforgiving piece of meat like a brisket.
  • Trouble
    Trouble Posts: 276
    mad max beyond eggdome,
    Thanks, MMBE. I have an amazing amount of techniques printed out, yours included! I think an uncomplicated approach like yours is best this time as it allows me to focus on fire control. Lot's of research there, too...[p]Thanks again.

  • jake42
    jake42 Posts: 932
    Trouble,
    I agree. The pork is far more forgiving than a brisket.

  • Trouble
    Trouble Posts: 276
    Yazoo,
    I hate to be hasty, but after only two responses, I might just close the voting. I hadn't heard so directly how inconsistent briskets can be. I don't know if I'll ever go there...that's a lot of work for unpredictable outcome!

  • Trouble
    Trouble Posts: 276
    mad max beyond eggdome,
    My redi-check is a dual probe. Should I take out the BGE thermometer from the dome and insert the second probe in that position to monitor dome temp? Or should I put the second probe at grid level and use a different temp reference (we're assuming I'd like to get a little sleep and redi-guy is just going to wake me up if he needs me).
    Thanks.

  • thirdeye
    thirdeye Posts: 7,428
    Trouble, I'd also vote for trying the butt before a brisket. Butts are very forgiving and yield wonderful results. Plan on long cooking times. It's common for a pork butt to reach a temperature plateau of 155-170°F during cooking--a point at which the internal temperature stops rising and stalls. Sometimes this can last a few hours - don't freak out! A general range for pulling is 195°-205°, and for slicing 180°-185°. Since there are various areas of fat content, take an average of several readings when your deciding when to pull. A 1/2 hour rest in foil, in a prewarmed cooler is also a good idea.[p][p]
    Happy Trails
    ~thirdeye~

    Barbecue is not rocket surgery
  • Chuck
    Chuck Posts: 812
    Trouble,[p]Great advice so far but....Shoot for the moon...get a whole untrimmed or lightly trimmed brisket and stick it under a couple of butts. Or if you aren't quite ready for that start the butts tonight and put on a small brisket in the morning. You always still have the butts even if you aren't happy with the brisket. I almost always do a brisket at the same time I do butts. I agree with everyone else that butts are much more forgiving. On the other hand even if the brisket ain't perfect you can make some awesome chili or bbq beef sandwiches out of it. [p]Chuck [p]bnb.jpg
    BGE on right is the finished view of above photo
    bigcook2.jpg

  • fishlessman
    fishlessman Posts: 32,671
    Trouble,
    pork butts are very forgiving, if you would like to try pulled beef, see if your butcher will cut you a nice chuck roast from the chuck roll. pretty much the same as cooking a pork butt except at 180 degrees internal wrap in foil with a little juice for moisture and continue cooking until its over 200 degrees. make sure to buy choice, not select.

    fukahwee maine

    you can lead a fish to water but you can not make him drink it
  • Yazoo
    Yazoo Posts: 145
    Trouble,[p]I wouldn't say never to cooking a brisket. I'm trying another one again soon. I just wouldn't jump in and try it on my first low & slow. Keeping the egg at 250 for 15 hours without it going out or TRex'n my butt was enough work for my first low & slow. That's all. I assume you've read all the advice on setups and estimated cook times. Good luck!
  • Trouble,
    don't be too scared to try a brisket. .. while i've had some unpredictable outcomes, the bad ones were still 'good'. .. and if you don't want to go all night, try the 5 hour brisket method. .. its easy, you don't lose sleep, and the results are awfully good (i originally saw this done by some big time competition team from oklahoma on food tv. .they do this in competitions)[p]night before, take your brisket and coat it heavily with torbinado sugar, wrap and refrigerate. ..[p]next day. ..set up your egg at 250 degrees, grid over inverted plates setter. .. take the brisket, coat it with more sugar and your favorite rub (dizzy cowlick is excellent). . .put it on the grid for two hours. ..after two hours, take the brisket, wrap it tightly in aluminum foil and put it back on the egg for 3 more hours at 300 degrees. .. .after the 3 hours, remove it and wrap it in a towel for another hour or two (leave it in its aluminum foil). . .careful when you unfoil it, save the accumulated juices, they are fantastic. .. [p]what you will end up with is still a smoked brisket. ..the texture leans a tad more towards a pot roast style brisket, but its not pot roast. . .it will be moist and tasty. . ..and this method is pretty foolproof...

  • Trouble,
    i've never used a dual probe so i wouldn't know for sure....one thing i've seen lots of here on the forum is guys going crazy sometimes with too many thermometers, and then they panic cause dome temp is one thing, grid temp is another, meat probe temp is something else. .. .i just stick to what my dome temp tells me. .. but thats just me, and there are lots of guys/gals here with way more lo and slo experience than me. ...

  • thirdeye
    thirdeye Posts: 7,428
    7872cfe6.jpg
    <p />Trouble, Chuck has a good idea! Now If you don't want to do the fresh brisket, How about a pastrami?? It's a smoked corned brisket. For ease (until you try home corning) you can buy a prepared one at the store. They cook easier than a fresh brisket due to the corning process. They love that dripping pork fat too.[p]d6a66362.jpg[p]They cook at the same temps as the butt, and are really good! I'll post an easy recipe and rub if you like.[p]

    Happy Trails
    ~thirdeye~

    Barbecue is not rocket surgery
  • thirdeye,
    dang, that looks great with that bright color. .. how does it compare to pastrami you'd buy in a deli???. . .do you just coat the corned beef brisket with lots of black pepper like a traditional one??

  • Trouble
    Trouble Posts: 276
    thirdeye,
    That looks great. Yes, plese...recipe and rubs.[p]thanks!

  • thirdeye
    thirdeye Posts: 7,428
    mad max beyond eggdome, Like almost everything else, you won't buy pastrami at the deli after you try homemade. I'll dig up the recipe and post it.

    Happy Trails
    ~thirdeye~

    Barbecue is not rocket surgery
  • thirdeye,
    ah, the test will be whether or not my 80 year old dad (who's dad was a deli man in new york for many decades) will agree with that statement :-)[p]you don't have to convince me, but if i can convince him, then we'll something. .. i've convinced both mom and dad that my pot roast style brisket in the egg beats anything mod has made in the last 50 years. ...pastrami would be a real coup!! . .[p]i'll look forward to seeing your recipe. .[p]thx

  • ChrisC
    ChrisC Posts: 107
    mad max beyond eggdome,
    I cannot agree more about focusing too much on the temp - I have found that on a low and slow the dome temp will start out higher than the grill surface but as the egg material heats up the temp on both the dome and cooking surface will come closer or equal. Not true on a hotter cook.

  • thirdeye
    thirdeye Posts: 7,428
    mad max beyond eggdome, I make extras for a local Jewish cardiologist from NYC. He loves 'em. It will be interesting to see what your dad thinks.

    Happy Trails
    ~thirdeye~

    Barbecue is not rocket surgery
  • thirdeye,
    works for me. . send the recipe!!. . .email it if you want:[p]max@mitre.org[p]thanks again

  • fishlessman
    fishlessman Posts: 32,671
    thirdeye,
    i stock up on corned beef for pastrami during the sales after st pats day. would look forward to trying it from scratch, please post your recipe

    fukahwee maine

    you can lead a fish to water but you can not make him drink it
  • thirdeye
    thirdeye Posts: 7,428
    d6a66362.jpg
    <p />Trouble, mad max,[p]Pastrami [p]
    1 corned beef brisket[p]Rub:
    4 tablespoons freshly ground black pepper (more if you like it peppery)
    1 teaspoon ground coriander
    1 teaspoon granulated garlic powder
    1 teaspoon onion powder
    2 teaspoons Canadian seasoning
    1/2 teaspoon thyme, dried
    1 teaspoon paprika[p] Combine all ingredients and mix thoroughly. [p]For store-bought corned brisket: Discard the little package of seasoning. Soak in cool water, in the fridge, for 3 or 4 hours, change water twice as this helps to extract some of the injected brining solution. For home-corned brisket, no need to soak. Dry the brisket, lightly score the fat side with a knife to mark the grain direction, apply about ½ of the rub to all sides. Let sit from a few hours to overnight in the refrigerator wrapped in plastic. (the longer the better) Bring to room temperature, season all sides again with the remaining rub.[p]Cook indirect with pecan, fat side up at 225° to 250° rack temperature until the internal temperature is 180° to190°. (This will cook faster than a fresh brisket). Apply gentle smoke for the first few hours as a corned brisket takes smoke easily. Loosely wrap in foil then overwrap with newspaper and place in a preheated cooler and rest for 1 hour. Slice thin, against the grain. Serve warm, on good dark rye bread, dill pickles, deli mustard, cheddar or swiss cheese, and sauerkraut. [p]PS I've read so much about cooking fat side down in the Egg, but have never tried it. Any comments appreciated. [p]

    Happy Trails
    ~thirdeye~

    Barbecue is not rocket surgery
  • BluesnBBQ
    BluesnBBQ Posts: 615
    thirdeye,[p]What's Canadian Seasoning?
  • Trouble
    Trouble Posts: 276
    thirdeye,
    cut/paste right into my folder of recipes...thanks!
    Joyce

  • Chuck
    Chuck Posts: 812
    thirdeye,[p]Thats not fair posting that so close to lunch time. I will give this a try, maybe this weekend. Thanks for the recipe.[p]Chuck
  • thirdeye
    thirdeye Posts: 7,428
    BluesnBBQ,
    Somtimes marketed at "Montreal" it's a coarse steak seasoning with salt, black & red peppper, dried onion as the main ingredients.

    Happy Trails
    ~thirdeye~

    Barbecue is not rocket surgery
  • BluesnBBQ,
    same question from me. .. . hi steve. .. you've been following this as well, aye compadre?? heeee. . .i'm definietly gone give this one a go. ..

  • Chuck,
    hey stranger. .. you started it!! . .... hope you and kathy had a good new years!! . . [p]spawn and i were talking about stromboli just last night. ...don't know if you saw it, but i did this lobster stuffed tenderloin on new years day. . .the mushroom pancetta mix that went into it as well was outrageous, and spawn says, and i agree, that it would make for a fantastic stomboli stuffing. . .

  • Pakak
    Pakak Posts: 523
    mad max beyond eggdome,[p]"email it if you want"[p]No, no, no! Post it here please, under it's own thread preferably. :)

  • Pakak,
    look just above in this same overall thread... he posted the recipe along with another picture. ...