Brisket???

Pcody5

I bought what I think is a brisket at Costco the other day, but I am not sure. It is only 5.25lbs, but it has fat, etc...unlike the flat cuts they also sell with no fat at all. What did I buy? From reading here, I see that a "full" brisket is usually in the 12lb range? Any cooking tips besides low and slow until 195?

Nature Boy

The flats at Costco are often totally trimmed. They also jaccard them at our local coscto,  Not the best brisket for bbq, but it will work. I would recommend cooking to 170 or until you have a nice bark, then wrap it in foil to finish. 

Good luck!

Chris

Pcody5

Jaccard? How would I tell if that is mine? I see the ones labeled flats and they have no fat at all. Mine is vacuum sealed and appears to have fat but is just smaller.

If you do wrap at 170, do you stick the thermometer back in through the foil and if so what temp are you shooting for? A 5.25 lb cut shouldn't take more than 8hrs or so, right? Any wood smoke favorites for brisket? I am reading mostly hickory but saw a pecan and cherry too.

Solson005

If it is a flat, I make those all the time and have very good results. Here a post of my method Flat out Tasty it was a 8.5 lb flat. I foiled it as @Nature_Boy suggested. 

If you post a picture of your brisket everyone can help you figure it out. 

Pcody5

Never posted a pic before...will try. The fat in the second pic is what differentiates it from a flat I thought.

Eggcelsior

That's not the type that Nature Boy means. The Northern VA, DC and Balt/ Costco's don't carry any cryo'ed briskets. They only have very-well trimmed flats(more or less for braising - corned beef). I even asked the manager if they could get packers and was told it's not even on their order sheet. I know he would hook me up since we are friends- I worked at that store for 5 years. It looks like you have the full thing or at least an untrimmed flat. Do you have another top shot with more of the meat? Side view?

The jaccard is a device that pokes a bunch of holes all at once to tenderize the meat

Here is a pic to demonstrate what the meat should look like if whole:

Pcody5

Maybe it's just a poorly trimmed flat? The extra fat should help keep the meat tender anyhow. The top isn't as fatty, but the pure flats at costco have no fat at all and aren't vacuum packed.

Eggcelsior

That looks like a cryo'ed  flat. Especially at that weight. It comes that way from the distributor(that's why it's still cryo'ed). The meat guys at Costco clean them up for oven braising. That's what you are seeing on styrofoam and shrink-wrapped. FWIW, I have done those, but I had to baby them to keep them moist. I did one like your's from Wegmans and had no problems leaving it alone at a steady temp. The again, the first was on an offset, and the 2nd on the Egg.

Pcody5

So do you look for an internal temp target or tender test it starting at a certain temp?

Eggcelsior

I used to do the "fork test" pre-thermo. Now, I look for a target of 195 and test with the probe itself. Once it slides in and out like butter, it is done. Somewhere between 195 and 205.

Pcody5

I imagine it gets a bit iffy if you wrap the thing, although that does sound appealing for a small chunk like I have. I think I am going to go at 235 until it hits ~180, then wrap with beef broth and maybe some wine and hope for the best. Next time I'll buy a full brisket.

Eggcelsior

You'll be fine. I have done great with both. You may sacrifice some "barkiness" with wrapping but it will speed you through the stall. Personally, I have had no difference between the 2.

Pcody5

Thanks for the advice. Much appreciated. Cheers.

Dave in Florida

Looks like you got a flat. Flats can be tough to get right.  This method worked well for one of my flats.

http://eggheadforum.com/discussion/1141803/i-might-be-catching-on-to-this-cooking-brisket-flats#latest

Pcody5

Interesting, Dave, thanks. Don't think I am equipped for injection just yet though. Next time.

Dave in Florida

You can do it without the injection.  I just bought a cheap turkey injector first, I think I got it at Walmart.  Good luck on the flat.

Solson005

I suggested you post pictures then left, sorry about that. It looks like you got some great tips already. You could buy a creole injection kit and just use the injector with beef broth on this and use the liquid that comes in the package on a turkey down the road. This is a cheap Tony Cahchere's injectable kit that I kept the injector. 

Pcody5

Post mortem: Well, my 5.25lb flat took forever yesterday...I finally pulled it after 8.5 hours because we needed to eat. It had gotten as high as 183 internally but had gone back to 180 by the time I took it off to wrap for an hour in beef broth. I can't understand how it took that long especially since I cooked at roughly 275 dome temp? It stalled in the low 160s for 4 hours, no joke. In the end, as I suspected, it had a great flavor (rub + mesquite smoke) but was way too dry for what I expected/hoped for. I guess there is always next time. Where did I go wrong? Would it really have gotten juicier at 200 internal?

U_tarded

Yes it would because you had driven off water (evaporative cooling that causes the stall) bit hadn't really rendered the collagen and fat to make it moist