Brisket..... How I do it.

The Cen-Tex Smoker

Right on, thanks guys for the great feedback.  I thought soaking was de rigueur for any smoke flavor, thanks for correcting that.  Off like a wedding dress - to the store to buy some chunks!  

Travis - I am also very interested to hear how your technique works for pork shoulder.  That sounds great!

Don't wait for Travis. Get after it. There is no way it won't be awesome and it's a perfect way to get a killer cook under your belt with almost guaranteed results. 

joe@bge

Going to do this this weekend - I have been busy this past week and haven't been able to get my 'Q on - so lighting the Egg up is way overdue!   

Zick

Hi Travis! Been reading your contributions for a while. Thanks so much for all you share. Two questions: 1). How do you get your brisket done in 8-10 hours when I keep seeing 18 hours for such a big brisket at similar temps and 2). Do you only put a rub on the top side? Are you not seasoning the bottom? And I guess one more question while I am at it, do you let the meat sit in the marinade for any time before cooking, or right on the grill since you are cooking in it the whole time?

Once again, thanks for being so generous to everyone in the forum.

Zick

The Cen-Tex Smoker

Hey Zick- I don't want to speak for trav but he is cooking at a higher temp AND this is actually a braise. Water is a much more efficient heat conductor than air so it warms the meat more quickly.

I'll let him speak about he rest of the process since I haven't done it yet.

travisstrick

Zick, first question, high heat. second, yes, only on the bottom. Third, no. It only sits in the liquid during the cook and not always the whole cook.

travisstrick

Correction, only on the top. Not the bottom.

Zick

Thanks so much fellas. I,am doing it this weekend and will let you know.
Zick

Wreckt01

Great thread. I usually use a similar process for brisket and pork shoulder. For the brisket i smoke 4 hours on the grid then slide the pan in with 50/50 mix of beef stock and stout beer and some onions and garlic.
For pork i smoke for 4 hours again on the grid then slide in the pan with 25/75 mix apple cider vinegar and apple juice.  I use the dripping to wet the meat after pulling.

I like the idea of the hot sauce/beer mix, may try that next.

mrjwhit

My grassfed brisket wasn't nearly 13 lbs. I cut the recipe just to see how it turns out. I have my meat resting tonight and I'll put it in the BGE in the AM for a low and slow. I was anxious to start so I cut the onion and started the beer/marinade mixture soaking. It has my kitchen smelling amazing already. 

I don't drink so I didn't know what kind of beer to get. I chose Guinness cause it was dark. 

Dave in Florida

Great photos and descriptions!  Thank you for posting that.  I have a question for all of you experts on this thread.... It is basically a process question.  It is:

How do you get smoke chips/chunks on the fire with the plate setter and grate on the egg with the meat on? 

I can't figure out how to elegantly do that.  I have tried waiting until the fire is good and hot, then putting on the chips, then the plate setter & grate, but that brings down the temp of the egg.   Then I got the lump going with the plate setter and grate, but then I used pliers and gloves to lift it all up, but it felt like I was about to seriously burn myself while handling a super-hot plate setter.  Any input on that?  Thank you.

I use these gloves and have had no problem lifting or moving my placesetter with these bad boys.
http://www.metalclaysupply.com/Zetex-Plus-High-Heat-Resistant-Gloves-p/59995.htm

Sgt93

Thanks for sharing. I'm going to have to try this

mrjwhit

Amazing! I'm doing my best not to eat the entire brisket. Very tasty. I would advise anyone not to keen on spicy to really cut back on the Allegro. Thought the spice would cook down, but it only intensified. Once I pulled the brisket out of the remaining juice the space wasn't to much. The juice itself is HOT.

MDHog

Trying this tomorrow. Have a 7 lb flat from Sam's in the fridge. Wife and kids don't like spicy so substituting beef stock for Allegro (along with a dark beer) as the braising liquid.. 

Simple rub of seat salt, black pepper, garlic powder, and a little paprika. 

Duganboy

Amazing! I'm doing my best not to eat the entire brisket. Very tasty. I would advise anyone not to keen on spicy to really cut back on the Allegro. Thought the spice would cook down, but it only intensified. Once I pulled the brisket out of the remaining juice the space wasn't to much. The juice itself is HOT.

I used the Allegro regular, not hot and spicy, and it was plenty spicy for my tastes.  

timekpr1

My grassfed brisket wasn't nearly 13 lbs. I cut the recipe just to see how it turns out. I have my meat resting tonight and I'll put it in the BGE in the AM for a low and slow. I was anxious to start so I cut the onion and started the beer/marinade mixture soaking. It has my kitchen smelling amazing already. 

I don't drink so I didn't know what kind of beer to get. I chose Guinness cause it was dark. 

 

Blasphemy.  Guinness is for drinking!  Budweiser is for cooking!

stike

chips won't burn off any quicker.  equal weight of chips or chunks...  no real difference.

there aren't any flames in an egg.  if this were a gas grill, the chips would burst into flame (so wouldn't the chunks, for that matter).  not so in an egg.

you want the wood (whether chips or chunks) to be up and down in the lump in the middle of the egg. as long as there is enough wood, the fire will find it

Jai-Bo

I'm glad someone else uses Alegro Hot and Spicy!!!!!  That is great stuff!  Never used it on a brisket but my next brisket or butt will be like this!!! 

Fishingtampabay

Looks good. Thanks for the post.

Going to try this recipe this week. Has anyone tried venison this way?

55drum

How do you get smoke chips/chunks on the fire with the plate setter and grate on the egg with the meat on? 

You can put chips in the bottom vent hole..make sure you shove them back far enough not to interfere with the air flow...GL 

alynd

would this method still allow you to make burnt ends out of the point, or would the braising kind of ruin that option?

travisstrick

Absolutly do burnt ends this way. It won't mess it up at all.

njl

I don't have any beer in the house...just various wines, vermouth, vodka and rum.  When we oven cook briskets, the method is kind of similar to this, except we use Merlot instead of beer.  I wonder if anyone's tried this method in the egg with wine instead of beer?

I'm cooking an 8lb flat tomorrow...and trying to decide on a method.  I saw another thread recently where someone started the brisket in a rack above the pan, removed the rack after a while, then put it back on the rack to finish.  I may give that a try.

The Cen-Tex Smoker

I don't have any beer in the house...just various wines, vermouth, vodka and rum.  When we oven cook briskets, the method is kind of similar to this, except we use Merlot instead of beer.  I wonder if anyone's tried this method in the egg with wine instead of beer?

I'm cooking an 8lb flat tomorrow...and trying to decide on a method.  I saw another thread recently where someone started the brisket in a rack above the pan, removed the rack after a while, then put it back on the rack to finish.  I may give that a try.

that was Hapster. His cook is on here. I would be hesitant to do wine because that's a lot of flavor and might make it more like a roast than tradtional bbq flavor. No that it would be a bad thing, but if you want a bbq brisket, I would steer clear of the vino. go buy you a $2 coors lite at the gas station and dump it in (or use water, the beer really adds little flavor)

njl

Here's the thread I was referencing:

http://eggheadforum.com/discussion/1141813/pictures-lots-it-did-happen-first-packer-from-shady-maple/p1

The Cen-Tex Smoker

Here's the thread I was referencing:

http://eggheadforum.com/discussion/1141813/pictures-lots-it-did-happen-first-packer-from-shady-maple/p1

Do it that way. he seemed pretty fired up about it. Looked good to me

njl

Apple cider?  I've used that when doing ribs.  Is the little bit of EtOH in beer of any importance?

The Cen-Tex Smoker

Apple cider?  I've used that when doing ribs.  Is the little bit of EtOH in beer of any importance?

it's not important but I would just use water if you skip the beer. Cider is going to cook down and get hyper sweet (so is wine). I don't think you would want a braise liquid that gets too intense in flavor as it reduces

njl

I had to go to the store anyway for an onion, garlic, and a few other things...so I picked up a 6-pack of Michelob Amber Bock bottles.

Mole351

HI all. I tried this method last weekend.  8.5lb choice cut...think it is just a flat(?) but looked MUCH better than the whole briskets I saw at the grocery store (got it from the Navy commesary.)  came out ok, but was a bit dry (I think - haven't had a lot of briskets to compare to) and was disappointed in the "sauce." was planning on using the leftover liquid in the pan for sauce, but it was too cooked to do so...so just used worcestershire.  I had the dome temp at 300degrees (was calibrated) but still cooked like this.  i don't have pic of final cook but below are pics of piece of meat, meat before going on grill, and what pan looked like when done.

 

maybe next time cook for longer at lower temp?

 

oh, and it barely fit on the large with the pan...but was able to make it work!

mrjwhit

I skipped the spicy allegro. Did you all know that they make a sauce especially for brisket? I bought a bottle and I'll report back when I get a chance (this weekend).