Tuesday, March 16, 2010

My first Brisket

I have been cooking a lot of red meat lately, due to the new diet Byrd and I are on.  But there is one that I haven't cooked.  The brisket.  I have been scared of this meat for awhile.  I have heard it is difficult, temperamental, and easy to dry out, but I am a sucker for a good deal.  I was at the grocery store and  they had a special on briskets, so of course I bought one.  I chose a little one(2.49 lbs.) not wanting my first brisket to be too expensive, in case I ruin it. But once again I am up for the challenge, and have a great wife that is up for trying my experiments.  With not much of a plan in mind I used the only rub I keep around, Rut's Rub.  I have used this rub on ribs, butts, chicken, sausage and just about every other meat I can think of, but not red meat.  It was on hand and I like the way it tastes, so I went for it.  I have done a little research on briskets, so I at least knew the temperatures to look for.  I also decided to go with apple chips for smoke, because I had them on hand, why else.
I got my temperature right on the smoker and put it on.  I knew I had several hours until it would be done so I used a little of the cabbage I bought for a St. Patty's day treat to make my mom's slaw.  This is a really easy recipe that I love.  Shredded cabbage, thin sliced white onion, oil, white vinegar, sugar(well Splenda, still no sugar in the house, thanks diet) and celery seeds.  It needs at least 4 hours to marinate, better overnight, good thing I had plenty of time.  
In order to have a little more on the plate I thawed out some corn(no its not on the diet, but a FEW carbs won't hurt), added a little butter, salt and some of the afore mentioned rub to have a balanced meal. 
I pulled the brisket when the temp reached 160 degrees, I wrapped the brisket in foil with a little beer and apple cider vinegar in the bottom for steam.  Then put it back on the grill until it reached 190.  It took about 5 hours and 45 minutes.  I pulled it from the heat and let it rest while I cooked the corn. 
It smelled great.  I was really excited about my first brisket.  After it rested, for as long as I could let it, I pulled the corn off the grill.  Really should have given the corn more time, but hind site is 20/20.   So after it rested I sliced it, not sure if I did this the right way, but it looked and smelled great.
With everything ready to eat.
I added the juice from the bottom of the foil package back to the top of the sliced pieces.  It was better than I thought it would be.  I truly am happy with the outcome of my first brisket.  The slaw was good as usual. Now the corn, it felt hot and smelled good, but I guess it wasn't completely thawed when I put it on the grill.  Nice and hot on the outside and still frozen by the cob.  I am glad this was the worst part of my first brisket cook.

2 comments:

  1. whoop whoop whoop... It looks perfect. Wonderful technique, you did terrific. The corn... well, it is a shame that that will be the item you dwell on. The brisket is perfect and for a first time, you will not do better on your 20th (maybe a different rub, I rarely use the same rub twice... someday i will find the perfect one)

    Love the juice

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  2. Yeah, brisket is my weakest category too but yours looks like it turned out good. As long as it isn't dry I'm happy.

    If the corn is the worst thing about the meal, that means your brisket turned out great;)

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