Untrimmed brisket. How do you prep?

Ozzie_Isaac

@SGH thanks for the responses!  I love reading them.  I don't always respond because what else is there to add?

I used Franklins as a guide.  I got a little more aggressive on the hard fat than he did.  Time will tell.

Btw, do you have a recommended boning knife?  I use my wood handled Chicago Cutlery knives, but I would like a solid composite handle like I see in all the videos.  Those seem much better for cleaning.

lousubcap

No @SGH here (I'm sure he will be along) but I use a Victorinox boning knife that I found at Cabella's.  Really makes it easy to trim brisket or anything else.  FWIW-

SGH

Ozzie_Isaac said:

Btw, do you have a recommended boning knife?  

Of all the knives out there, boning knives are the ones that rely on "user feel" the most. Because of this, there are numerous types. Straight, curved, stiff, semi flexible, flexible, thin blade, wide blade and a combination of all the forementioned. That said, you will have to try different combinations and see which one feels the best and is appropriate for your style of cutting. For general use, the most popular by a wide margin is a 6" curved semi flexible wide blade. My personal favorite is the 5" curved semi flexible wide blade. It gives better accuracy and control when doing joint work.  There is no one boning knife that will do everything the best. That said, I own several. But here are the two in my opinion that will cover the widest array of tasks.
5" curved semi flexible wide blade. This one is my favorite and most used for deboning and general meat work.
5" straight stiff thin blade. This one is king and unchallenged for joint work. You can seperate joints with both ease and precision with this one.
These two knife recommendations are for subprimals and smaller items such as turkey and chickens. That said, if you do your own carcass, split work and large primals, then a big breaker and a flank knife are the far superior choice. Again you need to see which feels best to you. However the two 5" knives I recomnened above can usually be used with precision by anyone. They neither are to large nor to small. I use and recommend both in either the Victorinox or Dexter Russel brand. For boning knives, I would not recommend buying the real expensive brands. Why? If you use it for what it is intended for, the knife takes a beating. You will wear it out or break it no matter how much you pay for it. When it comes to boning and breaking knives I find Victirinox hard to beat. Good knives that hold up well for the money. But you don't break the bank when you break or wear one out.

Ladeback69

Here is the one I trimmed this morning before putting it on At 9 am.  It is at 167 in a stall.  I trimmed 2 pounds off of it. 

SGH

lousubcap said:

No @SGH here 

Brother I always appreciate the kind words and compliments. I really do. But that said, yall give me far more credit than I deserve. You have been one of the very solid posters and forum contributors from day one. 

Lmidkiff

Thanks @SGH . That was very helpful to me. 

Ozzie_Isaac

@Ladeback69 Lookin good!  I thought you mentioned tenderizing in one of your posts?  Do you tenderize your brisket?

@SGH thanks for the suggestions.  I will keep my eye out for those two knives.  The knives I used worked ok, but left a little to be desired.  The one that I had that worked the best was a 6" wide thin straight blade.  The long curved thick CC knife did not do well.

Ozzie_Isaac

Oh, and my brisket is currently sitting at 176 in the flat and the pit is at 237.  I thought it would be done at 3 (started at 1am room temp), but I'm thinking it might be this evening.

Ozzie_Isaac

Jeepster47

@Ozzie_Isaac ... it'll cook faster if you close the lid!

grege345

Bump it up or no rush?

SGH

If time is of the essence, you are well into the arena to safely really get up on the temp with no ill affect. Not saying that you should, but it's perfectly safe to do so at this point. 

lousubcap

Don't push the finish-line.  You have too much invested.  Go with the feel in the flat.  And you can dial it up w/o any issues should you be up against the clock.

pgprescott

Don't forget you need a couple hours resting time! 

Ozzie_Isaac

Not against any clock.  Other than work in the AM.  Family is on spring break so no issues with them.

I'll just let it ride for now.  What temp do I start probing for tendrness?  I was thinking 195.

@pgprescott thanks for the heads up on the rest.  FTC for 1hr min?

theyolksonyou

@Ozzie_Isaac I'm certainly no expert, but I've read if you're going to serve within the hour or so, just loosely tent on the cutting board. I think @cazzy posted that somewhere. 

pgprescott

Ozzie_Isaac said:

Not against any clock.  Other than work in the AM.  Family is on spring break so no issues with them.

I'll just let it ride for now.  What temp do I start probing for tendrness?  I was thinking 195.

@pgprescott thanks for the heads up on the rest.  FTC for 1hr min?

Minimum in my opinion 2 is better. You won't be able to wait though!

lousubcap

Regarding when to start to look for the feel-If you are running a high-end SRF or better wagyu then start in the low 180's. Beyond that then give it a check in the low190's.  You will likely get to the high 190's-low 200's before you are there.  Since there is no demand finish time then just let it run and rest as noted by @theyolksonyou.  Friggin banquet awaits!

Ozzie_Isaac

@lousubcap thanks for the advice.  Its prime from Costco.  I'll start in the 90s.

Ozzie_Isaac

Checked at 192, point is like melted butter.  Flat has resistance.  Man does it smell good.  I wanted to lick the probe when I was done, but thats the dogs job.  Yes it looks the same as 2hrs ago.  I promise that was a new pic.

Jeepster47

@Ozzie_Isaac ... just noticed how you placed the firebrick.  It shields the dome, Maverick and Boss probes all at the same time.  Neat.  All temps running close?

Ozzie_Isaac

Dome temp has been 50deg.  high the entire cook.  Pretty sure I need to recal it.  Maverick probe and Flame boss have been within a few degrees.

The controller gets back to temp after peeking within a few minutes.  Very pleased.

Brick also shields the wires from direct radiant heat.

Jeepster47

@Ozzie_Isaac ... a quick and dirty cal check would be to switch out the dome thermo with the one from your medium.  If the medium reads the same ... probably both are okay.  If the medium is different ... one or both need calibrating.

Ozzie_Isaac

Ok Q'masters, the whole brisket is like butter except a patch in the center.  If I pull and wrap for 2hrs will that soften up or do I smoke for another 45 minutes?  I'm dying to try some.

Ozzie_Isaac

Whats wierd is 180 to 192 went fast.  Now its been at 194 for 1hr.

*edit*  it just went from 194 to 192!?  Everything else is same temp.

lousubcap

Okay-wierd that the center (presuming the center of the flat...) is still a bit tough.  If you plan a 2 hour carryover rest then I would pull and wrap now.  Easy for me to say as:
a.  I'm not a Q'master and
b.  not my brisket.


All kidding aside if you are good except a small flat patch then wrap it up...Film at 11

Ozzie_Isaac

@lousubcap thanks for the advice.  I bumped temp just a touch and pulled after about 20 more minutes.  As soon as the temp rose I yanked it.

It is FTC now for another 1.5 hrs.

Now just need to figure out the grain so I slice correct.  Heading to the Franklin video.

cazzy

I'll just leave this here.

Unless you finish ahread of schedule, FTC is not required.

Jeepster47

Since it's past dinner time back home, it looks like a 50/50 test would work.  Cut the brisket in half ... FTC one half and eat the other right now.  Then check out the FTC portion as a night time snack.

lousubcap

@Ozzie_Isaac- Too late for this cook but next time, slice a notch off the flat perpendicular to the grain run and use as a reference once done.  On a crap shoot-Go 90* off the thin flat run-out absent any other indicators.  Now the Franklin video series will at least save the point.  And it's all gonna taste great!