Brisket

Spring Chicken

Happy Easter Eggheads[p]I did a brisket Friday that never did reach my intended temperature of 195° but I finally took it off after twelve hours because it was so tender it was falling apart. I did this one a little different. First, it was a whole brisket (8 or 9 pounds) but I had to trim off a lot of fat. I cut some 1" diagonal cross marks into the fat-cap so the melting fat could run down into the meaty part. I rubbed it well with some of Chef Wil's Evangeline's Cajun Shaker seasoning. Then I cooked it indirect, fat cap up, at 250° until the internal temperature reached 165° and holding, at which time I basted on the first of three wet-downs with a concoction of pancake syrup, bourbon and coca-cola. I also had a drip pan with beer in it for the first hour and a lot of hickory wood chunks for smoke. At about 175° I wrapped the whole thing in foil and put it back on the Egg for about three hours until it reached 188° internal. When I took it off to return it to the grill it was so tender it was actually ready to come off and go to the table. But I laid it back on the grill and basted it once more with my pancake syrup, bourbon and coca-cola mixture. Left it on the Grill about half an hour and took it off. The smoke coming off the Egg made the whole neighborhood smell great.[p]I let it set for a few minutes (we were hungry) and I sliced off the point end, cut it up into bite-size pieces and slapped them on hamburger buns. Boring! Hardly any flavor at all. I'm thinking it will be better today after it sets awhile. If it doesn't get any better I'm gonna have to add BBQ Sauce to it. I hate having to do that. Or I can slice it up and throw it into a hot cast iron skillet with some fajita seasoning and eat as fajitas. [p]My question is, what went wrong? Seems to me there would have been more than enough flavor. Any suggestions would be appreciated.[p]Spring Chicken
Spring Texas USA[p]

Chef Wil

Spring Chicken,
I would guess you had too much sugars working.
Pancake Syrup and cola ( 3 times ) caused a barrier to not let the smoke flavor set in, I'd suggest when re-heating to drown that baby in a rub of less sugar and more spice.
Happy Easter.

Spring Chicken

Chef Wil,
It had already been cooking for about seven hours before I did the first wet-down, most of which ran right off into the drip pan. Same with the next two wet-downs. In fact, I thought maybe it didn't stay on long enough to offer any flavor change. Maybe it was just cheap bourbon. I'm real curious to heat up the flat today and see if perhaps it has all the flavor.[p]Spring Chicken

Chef Wil

Spring Chicken,
Could the syrup and bourbon be too strong a flavor that is actually covering up the smoke flavor?

Wyldwood

Spring Chicken,
Don't despair. A couple of weeks I did one also with much the results-very little smoke flavor. The next day though, it was great! I don't know why.
Wyldwood

Spring Chicken

Chef Wil,
Could be, because there was hardly any flavor at all. My thinking is that if I just threw the meat on the Egg with nothing but its fat and the lump charcoal to give it flavor I would have had more flavor than what I ended up with. Maybe next time I will rely more on the seasoning and just drink the bourbon. And, just maybe, all that flavor will come through today when I warm that sucker up.[p]Have a good Easter, as I'm sure you will.[p]Spring Chicken

Mac in NC

Spring Chicken,[p]Maybe you can inject it next time the day before the cook. That way the sweetness won't just run off the top of the brisket. Similiar to Dr. Chicken's baked ham recipe. Just a thought that came to mind.
I prefer the idea of drinking the bourbon instead of basting with it. Nothing like a little Wild Turkey now and then. Happy Easter!! Mac

Spring Chicken

Spring Chicken,
Just so y'all will know... I cut up the rest of the point today and chopped it up for BBQ sandwiches. Used regular KC Masterpiece sauce and it was fandamntastic. What was blaa yesterday was great today. Even my wife liked it and she's not a brisket person. Ididgood Ididgood[p]Spring Chicken

Unknown

Spring Chicken, I was raised in the B.Q. business in Ft. Worth. My daddy always said that the smoke flavor "draws in" in the cooling process after the pit fire goes down.[p]That means that the smoke flavor will really be better if the meat is served at or near room temperature. Or allowed to cool before it is warmed up if you prefer to serve it hot.[p]Just a thought.[p]Larry