Brisket Myth

Unknown

Hey all, i love this bb and have been scaning it like crazy since buying my large egg
2 months ago. I've just thrown out my fourth inedible brisket and i'm begining to think that properly cooked, delicious brisket simply does not exist outside of memphis minnies
resaraunt in san francisco. Each one i've tried has just cooked way too fast and just come out as stringy dry corned beef. This latest experiment was 9 pounds with a fat cap
and cooked at around 225 right on the standard grill with a pyrex dish right on the coals
under the grill for a drip pan. After about 5 hours the flat was 200 and the "not flat" (point?) was still at about 170. After 9 hours, the whole thing is in the trash, dry, stringy,
and straight up burnt on the outside. (no, not bark either) Bummer! Am I not doing indiect heat correctly? I don't have a plate setter but i've just ordered one. Could that be my problem? I've got an eleven pound chunk-o-chest in my fridge that i was hoping to have for my bbq this weekend. Dunno 'bout that now.....[p]Anyway, sorry for the rambling rant, but any insight would be so appreciated.
Anyone in the LA area want to buy a slightly used BGE?[p]m. pencil

KevinH

mechanical pencil,[p]My guess is that your thermometer is not calibrated. No way you should be able to bring a 9 lb brisket to 200 in 5 hours with a dome temperature of 225. Have you tested your thermometer in boiling water for around 210 degrees?

RRP

mechanical pencil, you are messin with us aren't you? Why would you order a plate sitter and then in the same breath state you are ready to sell your BGE? Surely you've tried something other than brisket in all this time...

Daddyo

mechanical pencil,
Dip your thermometer in boiling water and make sure it reads 212. A 9 pound brisket will take about 16 to 18 hours to get to 195 and will still be juicy. [p]I've always used the plate setter and never made a bad brisket. My idea of a myth is this - "brisket is a tough cut of meat."

Crimsonsmoke

mechanical pencil,[p]I concur with the others...calibrate your thermometer. Done low and slow, briskets are great eatin'!

tn slagamater

mechanical pencil, you put a pyrex dish ON the coals ??

Joder

mechanical pencil,[p]I agree with the others. Check your thermometer. You probably should get a plate setter, or use a pizza stone. Put the drip pan under the V-rack on the stone or plate setter. The lower and slower the better.[p]I'm a newbie myself; got my Egg on May 11th. Just made the best Boston Butt yet. It went real slow. 200-240 for 26 hrs. It's the tenderest and juiciest of any yet.
Plan on 24 hrs. It can't fail.

Unknown

Wow, thanks for such quick repiles all![p]Yup i did calibrate the thermometer and it checked out ok. (although it is kind
of a junky one....)
Yup, pyrex dish right on the coals. Last time i put the brisket in a v rack
in the pyrex right on the grill (grid). Same results, dry brisket.
I ordered a plate setter last week but haven't gotten it yet. I don't
have a pizza stone. I've read of people using fire bricks and a second grill to get the meat further from the coals, maybe I'll try to find some....[p]I will confess to having made some super tasty chickens the last few times!
But brisket is the holy grail of Q! I must tame it! (brandishing large sword...)[p]Thanks again,[p]m. pencil

Unknown

mechanical pencil,
Have I got a deal for you! Forget about your thermometer for a while, and buy a BBQ Guru. Cook just 3 briskets with it on your Egg. If you don't agree that they are the best you ever tasted. I will buy your Egg and give you your money back for the Guru. This brisket myth will simply melt in your mouth.
Have we got a deal?
Even Temps, Shotgun Fred[p][p]

UnConundrum

mechanical pencil,[p]If you act quick, you can take Shotgun Fred up on his offer, and have the guru overnighted to you for your weekend brisket cook. Check out Fred's Brisket recipes on the guru web site, and follow one of them, without variation till you get the hang of it.

As to the set up, I'm thinking that your pyrex dish right on the coals could contribute to the problem. By doing so, you're changing the air flow through the firebox, forcing the fire to the areas around the dish.... Build yourself a raised grid (buy one from an egg dealer, build one following one of the many posts on this forum, or just buy another rack (bge or otherwise) at any hardware store, and sandwich your pyrex dish between the two rack. Postition the brisket over the pyrex dish to catch as much of the drippings as possible.

Did I mention getting a guru ????

Unknown

Shotgun Fred,[p]Cocky marketing ploy, but I bet you don't end up with MP's egg.[p]Just in case MP folds and sells you his egg, I will offer her/him $60 for the Guru that he won't be able to use.[p]I'll even pick it up, SF ain't too far from Walnut Creek - Heck, I'll even bring some meat from the Chalice, just give me a half day's advance warning.[p]Pivot
Pivot

Unknown

pivotizer,[p]Drat, she/he said LA.[p]Okay, I'll spring for postage.

tach18k

mechanical pencil, Well I live in the LA area. And I have done a pulled beef, with no Guru. So it can be done. I'm near Knotts. I do have a plate setter , but will be using it this weekend. At 250 my gate is open about the size of a credit card and so is the daisy wheel. How were yours set?

Unknown

pivotizer,
Some how I just knew I would have competition for the Egg. I will also buy all of the $60 Gurus you can find. I also agree with unconundrum. The setup needs to be tuned up, and please, get rid of that pyrex dish all together. A foil lined cake pan with crumpled insulation layer makes far more sense. We be cooking some real brisket soon.
Shotgun

Pakak

This whole deal of using the Pyrex is just NOT working. Quit trying to do it that way! Read in the archives on how to approach it using the plate setter. The way I set mine up the last time (which was very successful) was:[p][p]1) Plate setter, legs up sitting on the fire ring, aluminum foil covered pizza screen (just to catch the drippings and protect my plate setter), and finally the grid setting on top. [p][p]2) Brisket with the fat DOWN on top of the grid[p][p]3) Foiled the last 1/3 of the cook, or so.[p][p]First of all though – start with a GOOD piece of meat!!! I haven’t had good luck with the cryovac packed, injected briskets. PLUS – it’s hard to see what you’re getting when buying those. Try to get a fresh, non-injected brisket with good marbling. [p]Or, you can get the Guru. (Still have to start with decent meat!)

randomegger

mechanical pencil,[p]It's my opinion that some of us are not meant to acheive the level of brisket. I have a plate setter for my large and have tried brisket several times both with and without. My wife is from TX and every once in a while she begs me to try it again. I can produce a brisket that polite folks will eat but no better than that. I have bought an extended rack to put a pork butt on top so that at least something out of the cook will be good.[p]Brisket seems not to be in the cards for me. But I can live with that - plenty of other things to cook![p]RE

usa doug

mechanical pencil,
Last week, Drbbq posted some very good directions for cooking brisket on an egg. These are some of the best directions you are going to find on any forum.[p]Check the archives,
Doug

Char-Woody

usa doug, yeh, he is pretty good. but...any forum??
Cheers friend Doug...smilin atcha..
C~W[p]

Char-Woody

Shotgun Fred, I would love to see you sell a ton of these gadgets, but I am going to stick my neck out here and question the idea that one "has" to have these to do a cook for any reason.
There are other alternatives, and for the seat of the pants ceramic grill purchaser, he can eliminate 90% of the gadgets and still make a championship brisket or anything else.
Don't get me wrong here SF..as I think your Guru is a peach of a piece of electronics equipment. Amazing in its detail and complexity..
But, I can achieve the same results 95% of the time by learning the techniques of hands on fire building and control, with a piece of bent clothes hanger and knowing my ceramics.
And there is the fullfillment of achievement.
I may purchase one of your Guru's just to play with, but its not because I "have" to have one for the cook.
Just trying to clarify this particular point.
C~W[p]

Unknown

randomegger, Please do not do that, you don't have to "live with that". You should be able to do a brisket that would make any Texan proud and they are one of the most popular meats for all eggheads. If you got it on an inverted plate setterand drip pan on bottom of plate setter and brisket fat side down on grid above and and you are sure the temp is 225, a 8 to 10 lb should take 12 hrs to internal of 190, and then foil and wrap in towel , put in cooler for 2 hrs and it should be perfect. This is all old news but I just wanted to put it in here with the plea to not settle for BGE and no brisket.

Wise One

mechanical pencil, one thing I have done is to layer my brisket with bacon. Even if the brisket is terrible the bacon is wonderful in the morning after a 12-14 hour cook.

Unknown

RRP,my sentiments exactly...I read this earlier and got the same impression...but then scanning through the post got on this again without realizing it was the same one and responded to it myself...now that I have read your post I wish I hadn't. But not harm done I guess.

randomegger

Chet,[p]Done that. Came out several levels above jerky. I have tried it with the fat cap up and down, marinated or just dry rubbed, various concoctions in the drip pan - to no avail.[p]Figure this there is at least some silver lining in seeing the inlaws in TX. Almost makes it worth it.[p]Thanks for the advice though![p]RE

usa doug

Char-Woody,
It's hard to argue with success. Yeh, I ment any forum![p]Doug:)

fishlessman

mechanical pencil, try raising the meat as high in the dome without the meat touching the dome.i do all my slow cooks this way. fire bricks on main grill, pizza stone on bricks adjust drip pan to raise meat as high as possible in dome so that a meat therm can be placed dead center and stick up just under the daisy wheel. the therm can be read by looking thru the daisy. pork butts are easy for me, but ribs and brisket come out better for me when cooking as high up in the dome as possible. just keep an eye on the dome gage when closing the dome and make sure that it doesnt touch the meat. usually cook at 215 until meat hits 175 then raise the temp as high as it will go til it becomes fork tender. check thru daisy, dont open dome

Unknown

Char-Woody,[p]I'll just stick my neck out and say that your arguement is just as valid when you compare a ceramic grill/q to a spun metal grill - you can achieve the same result about 95% of the time. Why spend the extra money?[p]My buddy does his woodwork with hand-tools, I use motorized tools. We both feel fullfillment when we are finished.[p]I hope after you buy one and start using it that you will come back and tell us if your "oppinion" was founded or unfounded.[p]btw, I did my last rack of ribs without electronic help. They came out great and I got a kick out of flying by the seat of my pants, so I conceed your point. I did however have the ability to make the choice.[p]I just read my post and the tone seems harsh, it is not meant to be - heck I'm an old Iowa boy too.[p]Pivot

Char-Woody

pivot, exactly the point. The gadgets are fine, and they may fulfill the need for the less adaptable individuals who have neither the time or ability to play with the ceramics.
Those that do, and learn the craft of hands on BBQ, find the success of achievment much more satisfying than the "automated" version.
After all..isn't that what we go BBQ for?
I hope you don't take my expressions as harsh either, but I do want the Newbie to know that there are other options and things like this are the "luxury's" not the necessities.
Cheers..Beers best of Q from the Iowa Plowboy..smile..
C~W[p]

Unknown

randomegger, the talk always goes around to calibrating the temp monitor and your internal one could be off a bunch if you've checked the other one.

randomegger

Chet,[p]You're going to make me try it again, aren't you?[p]LOL, I'll let you know.[p]RE

Char-Woody

usa doug, ouch...well.."fat side up or fat side down". :-)
I betcha a buck or two that drbbq has had a few tossed as well in his career. As well as Chef Paul. As well as the rest of us po critters..heeyaaa.
Makes good BBQ beef tho in the crock pots.
C~W[p]

Unknown

randomegger,....ALLRIGHT!!!