Welcome to the EGGhead Forum - a great place to visit and packed with tips and EGGspert advice! You can also join the conversation and get more information and amazing kamado recipes by following Big Green Egg to Experience our World of Flavor™ at:
Facebook  |  Twitter  |  Instagram  |  Pinterest  |  Youtube  |  Vimeo
Share your photos by tagging us and using the hashtag #BigGreenEgg.

Want to see how the EGG is made? Click to Watch

SRF Black Brisket Cook

dmourati
dmourati Posts: 1,265
edited March 2020 in EggHead Forum
Thanks to folks on the forum for getting me started on cooking brisket. I made one last weekend and included some details on the Coronopacolypse thread. This time I thought I'd show the whole cook.

Here's the brisket trimmed and rubbed with Holy Cow going on at 8 this morning.



Updates to follow throughout the day.

I decided to do a full clean out of the Egg and reloaded it with Rockwood, four small chunks of post oak, and two small chunks of cherry.
Mountain View, CA

Comments

  • Foghorn
    Foghorn Posts: 9,794
    Following and looking forward to the updates.

    XXL BGE, Karebecue, Klose BYC, Chargiller Akorn Kamado, Weber Smokey Mountain, Grand Turbo gasser, Weber Smoky Joe, and the wheelbarrow that my grandfather used to cook steaks from his cattle

    San Antonio, TX

  • Standing by. Congrats on taking the plunge deep into Texas!
  • dmourati
    dmourati Posts: 1,265
    edited March 2020
    Four hours in. The temp crept up from 280F to about 300F but I just let it ride (okay, I fidgeted with a bunch of settings and it still stayed higher than my target).



    The rub is still not set. This happened to me last time as well. I thought maybe it was because I injected the first one and had a lot of liquid squirt out. This time, no injection. Possible that this SRF Black just "sweats" a lot more because of the higher fat content? I'm only looking at it now because my original recipe said to wrap at 4 hour mark. Contemplating...Will leave it for another hour at least then may or may not wrap.
    Mountain View, CA
  • Foghorn
    Foghorn Posts: 9,794
    Agreed.  Definitely wouldn't wrap yet.  I usually wrap during the stall when the meat temp is about 160-165, and that usually proves to be too early.  Wrapping later (or not at all) gives the best bark.

    XXL BGE, Karebecue, Klose BYC, Chargiller Akorn Kamado, Weber Smokey Mountain, Grand Turbo gasser, Weber Smoky Joe, and the wheelbarrow that my grandfather used to cook steaks from his cattle

    San Antonio, TX

  • lousubcap
    lousubcap Posts: 32,166
    Give the Franklin wrap or not video a look. Will help you decide your next move.  
    Louisville; Rolling smoke in the neighbourhood. # 38 for the win.  Life is too short for light/lite beer!  Seems I'm livin in a transitional period.
  • there are there are many times I don’t wrap until I rest it. Just depends on how the bark sets up. 

    The only reasons to wrap are: 

    1- to speed up the cook
    2- to stop the bark from getting and more dried out and darker  when it looks the way you like. 

    If neither of those apply to you, let it roll until it looks the way you want it to look. 
    Keepin' It Weird in The ATX FBTX
  • thetrim
    thetrim Posts: 11,352
    I'll be keeping an eye on this one and anxiously await a picture perfect finish!
    =======================================
    XL 6/06, Mini 6/12, L 10/12, Mini #2 12/14 MiniMax 3/16 Large #2 11/20 Legacy from my FIL - RIP
    Tampa Bay, FL
    EIB 6 Oct 95
  • dmourati
    dmourati Posts: 1,265
    Wrapped for @The Cen-Tex Smoker reason number 1: time. It's 2 PM here, brisket's been on for 6 hours. We'd like to eat by 7pm. Internal temp at the thickest part of the flat was about 165F. Color looked good. Rub stayed on as I scratched at it. A huge amount of juice came out when I put in the thermapen. I'm guessing I hit a fat vein. You can kinda see a fan shape of liquid towards the back.


    Mountain View, CA
  • dmourati
    dmourati Posts: 1,265
    Back on nekkid to firm up the bark. Probing pretty soft and getting jiggly.  Temps around 200.
    Mountain View, CA
  • Photo Egg
    Photo Egg Posts: 12,110
    waiting for final photos!
    Thank you,
    Darian

    Galveston Texas
  • dmourati said:
    Back on nekkid to firm up the bark. Probing pretty soft and getting jiggly.  Temps around 200.
    Sounds like it’s nearly showtime!
  • dmourati
    dmourati Posts: 1,265
    The last hour and a half have not gone according to plan. I think my fire went out because I over aggressively closed down the air flow. I restarted the fire and am letting it ride at about 300.
    Mountain View, CA
  • dmourati
    dmourati Posts: 1,265

    Mountain View, CA
  • dmourati
    dmourati Posts: 1,265
    That was one helluva midnight snack. 

    I'd give it a B+. Flavor was amazing. Bark was great. It was tender. I dried it out on one edge of the flat and one critical portion of the point. I didn't do myself any favors with all the temperature control issues and wrapping/unwrapping/rewrapping. It probably dried it out some and led to a few crunchy spots.



    I finally got the Franklin pull test successful. A slice of the flat held up under its own weight but pulled apart with almost no effort. That made me feel good.

    A few final pics.






    Mountain View, CA
  • YukonRon
    YukonRon Posts: 16,984
    Save the dried and crunchy parts for chili....

    Thank you for posting. It takes a while to understand the dynamics between you, the egg and the cow.

    Sometimes the cow wins. It happens to all of us.

    To me that looks to be above B+.
    "Knowledge is Good" - Emil Faber

    XL and MM
    Louisville, Kentucky
  • lousubcap
    lousubcap Posts: 32,166
    Way to see it thru to a great outcome.  Every one is a learning experience.  
    Louisville; Rolling smoke in the neighbourhood. # 38 for the win.  Life is too short for light/lite beer!  Seems I'm livin in a transitional period.
  • Foghorn
    Foghorn Posts: 9,794
    Great cook and post.  That's better bark that I think I've ever achieved.

    XXL BGE, Karebecue, Klose BYC, Chargiller Akorn Kamado, Weber Smokey Mountain, Grand Turbo gasser, Weber Smoky Joe, and the wheelbarrow that my grandfather used to cook steaks from his cattle

    San Antonio, TX

  • dmourati
    dmourati Posts: 1,265
    edited March 2020
    Thanks for the feedback and interest folks. It was a learning experience as @lousubcap says. 

    One thing I learned is that foiling too early is definitely not working for me. I like the bark and it was turned to near mush after just an hour and a half in foil when wrapped at 165F.
    Mountain View, CA
  • saluki2007
    saluki2007 Posts: 6,354
    dmourati said:
    Thanks for the feedback and interest folks. It was a learning experience as @lousubcap says. 

    One thing I learned is that foiling too early is definitely not working for me. I like the bark and it was turned to near mush after just an hour and a half in foil when wrapped at 165F.
    Butcher paper will help with the bark turning to mush.  It's not that it won't happen with paper, but it allows some of the steam to escape and absorb some of the grease.  It more or less just slows down the "mushing".
    Large and Small BGE
    Central, IL

  • dmourati
    dmourati Posts: 1,265
    I wanted to try butcher paper but had none on hand. I went to Amazon to see if I could get it in time for the cook and suddenly felt guilty for my very first world problems.
    Mountain View, CA
  • Foghorn
    Foghorn Posts: 9,794
    I think either Centex or Nola put it best.  Paper arrests bark development (what you have when you wrap is essentially what you have when you finish) and foil undoes (or some better word) bark development (whatever bark you have when you wrap will be turned to mush in the foil).

    Definitely first world issue.  Having a great brisket in these times makes you a top 1%er.

    XXL BGE, Karebecue, Klose BYC, Chargiller Akorn Kamado, Weber Smokey Mountain, Grand Turbo gasser, Weber Smoky Joe, and the wheelbarrow that my grandfather used to cook steaks from his cattle

    San Antonio, TX