Questions about a SRF brisket

Stoogie · July 2014

I received a 17lb SRF brisket yesterday to do for the 4th of July party we're having. I'm going to keep it simple with just s&p and chunks of oak done at 250-275 on my large.

Here's my question - in the past when doing choice or prime brisket, I can expect about 1.5 hrs/lb before it's done. Should I plan on a SRF brisket taking a longer or shorter time? I don't want to screw this up by miscalculating the time. We are supposed to eat at 6:00 on the 4th and I'd like it done by 3:00-3:30 so I can FTC for a couple of hours.

Thoughts?

lousubcap · July 2014

@Stoogie-Congrats on the SRF brisket. I have only cooked one of those (Father's Day self gift) and it was 13.5#'s before trimming. Figure it ended up somewhere a bit above 12#'s when trimmed. I was alerted thru the forum members who have cooked them in the past that it would likely finish (smooth probe of the flat) at a lower temp than other cuts. They were right-I started checking once in the low 180's and it was "done" around 188*F. This is most probably due to the extensive marbling of the beef. The cook (at around 260*F +/- on the dome, LBGE) took around 13 hours. Hope this helps. Maybe @cazzy will be along as he has done them, along with @nolaegghead and @Cen_Tex and a few others. Enjoy the journey and Happy Birthday USA.

nolaegghead · July 2014

I only cooked one and it cooked faster than choice and select briskets I had cooked in the past. Lousubcap is right about checking for doneness earlier.

marysvilleegger · July 2014

Congrats on the srf! Got one coming also soon from daddy's day. Following this one close. Am thinking mine will be around 12 lb on arrival. Please post results on time and temp. Gonna go s$p as well but unsure on timing since this will be my virgin brisket. Have a safe an Happy 4th! USA!

lousubcap · July 2014

@marysvilleegger-that is quite a way to jump into the brisket pool! You may want to "practice" on a "training brisket" before casting your lot with the SRF. That way you will also have a taste and texture comparison. Just an opinion and we all know what those are worth.

marysvilleegger · July 2014

Thx @ lousubcap! Brought this exact same argument up to swmbo last night and her rebuttal was if yer gonna do it lets do it right! What can I say....I gotta winner! Might try and sneak one in before but who knows :P

lousubcap · July 2014

Gonna be a fun ride for sure-best of luck...and if you can "sneak in a brisket cook" then you are running in a different SWMBO world than I am eggsperiencing.

>-

Stoogie · July 2014

Thanks for the info! I would have not started checking it until it hit 190* otherwise. I'll make sure to take pictures and update the post. Thanks again!

R2Egg2Q · July 2014

+1 for probing earlier but they don't always finish earlier.

4Runner · July 2014

My SRF finished in low 180s so I was say think early instead of late. You will enjoy it that's for sure!

nolaegghead · July 2014

There is so much fat in an SRF brisket that it's more resistant to "over cooking" than your typical brisket. They're all overcooked - the fat and collagen turned gelatin make them seem moist.

Stoogie · July 2014

Well, I can say without a doubt in my mind that was the best brisket I have ever had. It was so flavorful, so tender and damn good!

I started this bad boy at about 11:00PM on July 3rd, hoping to pull it off at 4:00PM July 4th. I started with the temp on the Egg at 260* and the IT started out at 55*. 2 hours later, I'm staring at an IT of 140 and climbing. I'm freaking out because it rocketed so fast. So I cut the temp down to 230* and prayed for an early stall. The IT slowed down, I calmed down and hit the rack at about 3:30AM.

I woke up at 7:30AM and the IT was 157* and it stayed there until noon. At 2:30, the IT hit 180*, so I started probing. Only the very outer edges of the brisket probed like butter. I bumped the Egg temp back to 250* and waited until the IT hit 185*. It was better, but not where it needed to be, so I waited until the the IT hit 190* and checked again. Closer, but the thickest part of the flat was still not probing like butter. My other problem was that I needed the Egg because I had prepared 80 pig shots and those needed to start. So, I bumped the Egg to 300* and once it reached 300*, I took the brisket off and FTC'd it. This was at 4:30. When I took it off, there was still just a little resistance, but I could live with it.

I didn't end up slicing it up until almost 7:30 and it was great! I had a lot of compliments. I'm definitely a fan of SRF brisket now and now know that the hype matches reality.

Some general thoughts.....I seasoned with only s&p....cut maybe a half pound of fat off before seasoning, so I'm calling this a 16.5lb brisket.....it was too long for my Large, so I put a rib rack underneath it, which might have contributed to the temps rising so fast....I took the rack out from underneath it at about 11:00AM.....I definitely agree with what people who posted above said regarding starting to probe at 180* for two reasons - one, the SRF brisket does cook much differently than a "choice" brisket and - two, this is an expensive piece of meat and deserves that kind of attention.....I wish that I could afford to do SRF briskets every time, but from now on, there will be a SRF brisket done at least once a year in this house!

Sorry for no finished pics....when I was ready to slice it up, there had to have been 10-15 people around me watching what I was doing.

lousubcap · July 2014

Glad it was a success and to your point, the quality of meat does have the biggest impact. Thanks for the detailed write-up as well. I too would like to spring for SRF for every brisket cook but I think you can do quite well with a nice prime cut. But definitely a once (or maybe twice) a year treat.

GATraveller · July 2014

My first brisket cook on the egg was a SRF. AMAZING!!! Finished faster than expected and IT was around 197. Thanks for the write up.

HendersonTRKing · July 2014

Cooked a wagyu brisket Saturday night/Sunday (not SRF -- bought at a place called Meat House and the price made me feel like a meathead). Short answer: it was the best brisket I've ever cooked or eaten, hands down.

Had a fair amount of issues getting it done, though. It was huge -- close to 16 lbs; I planned for at least 15 hours on the egg and it was basically done in 11. Used IT as a guide (shooting for 203), but the probe was sliding in and out like buttah at 195. Figured with all that marble, it'd be fine at 203, 205 and it was. Pure awesomeness.

Longer story and pix here if interested:

http://eggheadforum.com/discussion/1167845/wagyu-brisket-15-lbs-help#latest

Questions about a SRF brisket

Comments

Categories