Smoked Brisket

I smoked my first Brisket today. About 4 lbs and used apple wood chunks. I thought it tasted pretty good, but havent actually had brisket in about 15 years.

What is a good brisket supposed to taste like? Mine was somewhat juicy, but a little chewy.

Any thoughts?

 

Juicy and melt in your mouth.

"Good brisket" begins with good selection. Not all briskets are created equal. There's a "Packer's Cut"which is a whole brisket. Then sometimes it's sold as either "Point" or "Flat" cuts. The point is the "fat end".


Here is one cut where I look for fat. If the brisket is quality graded then go with at least USDA choice. The select grade will have less marbling.
The "fat cap"on a brisket keeps it moist as it cooks down- as does any marbling throughout also. The fat cap also is a barrier against burning it too.
I prefer to purchase my briskets untrimmed and trim the brisket at home to insure the layer of fat is about 1/4 to 1/3 of an inch thick. Trimmed briskets are okay if the fat cap is that thick.


After you pick out your brisket, inject it and leave it in the fridge for 6-12 hours.

Low and Slow is the ticket with cooking brisket. After I cook it some on the pit, I wrap it in foil and place the fat cap down. I also keep a container with water on the pit to keep some humidity. My tell-tale sign that a brisket is cooked enough is that 1/4 inch smoke ring around the edge when you slice it.

Below, "A" is the flat and "B" is the point. If you look closely at the piece cut on the left, you can see that pink smoke ring I was talking about.

 

I definitely got the smoke ring part right, though it was a little bit more red than the pic above. I didnt get a packer, more than likely it was a point cut. I think for my next one, I will try to inject it.

When you say "melt in your mouth", do you mean like say a good filet would taste?

Also, this was my first one, so my trimming skills aren't necessarily great. I trimmed almost all of the fat off.

 

The fat in brisket, whether smoked or braised is more easily removed after cooking. You just need to scrape it off with a spoon.

You've gotten good advice from everyone so far.

I smoke brisket for about 12-14 hours at 250 degrees. It will dry out in that time if you don't do as Red says. After about 4 hours of smoking, your brisket will have plenty of enough smoke flavor...after that, it's all heat.

Instead of wrapping with foil, an alternative trick to keep it moist is to use a mustard slather and rub before smoking. this makes a kind of "bark" that keeps the moisture in.

The technique is to mix mustard(s), sugar and some vinegar...slather it all over the meat and completely cover the wet meat with the rub until the rub on the outside is dry and not wet.(it takes a lot of rub to do this. Make sure you don't have much salt in the rub or it will draw water out of the meat and make the meat dry.

There's lots of help from the web...

http://www.thesmokerking.com/page1a.html

...as well as Youtube...

 

Melt in your mouth meaning it's very easy to eat- tender. I slice mine into thin slices with an electric knife. Make sure you cut against the grain- it makes ALL the difference tween tough and tender imo.

And DO NOT trim off all of the fat. THAT will help keep it juicy.

 

Dam son, that is high tech! Sounds like a great thing but I'd be afraid to fail unless I could watch someone do it.

 

Some great advice on here. I did use a rub, but not with mustard. I used vegetable oil instead. i have used a mustard base before on a smoked ham.

 

I learned almost everything I know about cooking from someone else, either on the job, through conversation, or through reading.

So when I decided to learn a lot more about grilling and smoking, another chef recommended this book by world champion Paul Kirk (of Kansas city)..."Championship Barbecue". I tried his methods exactly as described and immediately produced what customers called some of the best barbecue they've ever eaten. Now, they may have been polite and they may not really know great barbecue from OK barbecue, but their opinion counts more than my own.

People from Texas continually tell me that there's no real good barbecue in Louisiana and I tell them that It's alright because there's no good seafood in Texas...so we're even !! I don't really believe either statement because people are patriotic about the food from their own regions. I just like to trade insult for insult, in a friendly way. But make no mistake about it, people from 'cue country know good barbecue.

Kirk's book has hundreds of sauce, rub and slather recipes that I find very good. I talked to him on the phone a few times and he's a trained chef who learned smoking technique from his dad and others in one of the epicenters of barbecue.

http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=paul kirk's championship bbq&tag=googhydr-20&index=aps&hvadid=5705351085&hvpos=1t1&hvexid=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=5152564031556691172&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=b&ref=pd_sl_5u0yxjy1kf_b


Oh yea, he publishes a BBQ newsletter called "The Bull Sheet"

 

It's the same with dipping fish filets in mustard before frying...after it's cooked, it doesn't taste like mustard any more.