Beef Brisket…???? I do not get it
What is the story with Beef Brisket? Every BBQ place has it on their menu. All the Pit Masters have to make it in competitions and still HAS ANYONE EVER HAD GOOD BEEF BRISKET? Every time I try it I think to my self “I dont get it”. I think it is some what of a good idea to have it in BBQ competitions because if you can make a dog turd taste good you deserve the blue ribbon right? I made it over the fourth of July and I spent every 30 minutes basting it on a low and slow method on a Traeger smoker….for 12 hours. That is correct, you heard me…..12 hours. That is after I had to trim it, dry rub it, put it in the fridge for 12 hours before that. It was like I was married to it for an entire day.
Look at that piece of meat, doesn’t it look just perty? That is what they would say in Texas because it was the TEXANS that invented this piece of crap…I mean meat. The beef brisket was considered the worse piece of meat on the entire cow, because it is essentially a muscle. This cut of meat went to the people in jail, and the cowboys punching cows out in the desert for weeks on in. They were not served it until they ran out of rations because they used the brisket for tack and jerky because it was so bad.
I followed the National BBQ champions recipe. Notice the Traeger at 220 degrees? Notice the hot dog? I’m not sure how that got in the picture, but this takes so long I apparently need to eat something during the 12 hours of smoking and basting. At this point, I am thinking this is gonna be awesome. In my mind, I am making the best brisket in the world and it is worth the pain and suffering and patience.
Looks good right? It smells good too. At this point, I start to realize that I am supposed to bring this meat up to 200 degrees internal temperature. Just so you know, that is super well done. I am thinking to myself “Could that be right? Is that right?” Double checked and I was correct. This makes the brisket break apart nicely with lots of flavor and moisture. Okay, I buy it I am in. This is gonna be great.
Look how happy I am right there! Notice my temp probe is at 157 degrees. I already brought it out of smoker at 200 degrees, but my pitmaster instructions say to let it sit for an hour in alum foil. This keeps all the juices in the meat.
I get to the party and I have the package with me. Neatly wrapped in my aluminum foil, and everyone knows that I have been working on this for basically 24 hours. I bring it out, and I begin to cut it against the grain as instructed. At this point, I am not really liking what I am seeing. It looks like all the rest of the brisket I have seen before, well done. I plate it, and at this point I am starting to go down hill with excitement very fast. Notice I didn’t take any photos? That is because I am not happy. The only thing that taste good about this brisket is the outside if you licked it. A chef once told me that the brisket was the shittiest tasting meat on a cow, and he was right. Call me a Northwest Outdoorsman, but I like taste of meat, and I like it at medium rare. There is a reason that bbq places lather it in BBQ sauce after they cut it. My experience taught me one important lesson. The people of Texas, you can have all the brisket because folks, that is one shitty cut of meat.
The Hunting Chef
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I wish I could tell you what you did wrong. I wish i could share a good brisket with you. How much did it weigh? Was it a flat or a whole packer? 12 hours sure doesn’t seem like it cooked long enough. I never baste mine, hell….I don’t look at mine for at least the first 6 hours. It is a tough hunk of meat to cook, and every one cooks different. I guess only us TEXANS can cook one properly. 😉
That got me laughing this morning. I should have left in the smoker for 20 hours, drove over it in my truck, shot it with my shotgun with rock salt, soaked it in buttermilk for a week…..
What is really funny is that I was watching Triple D on the Food Network and Guy was eating brisket, and I turned to my wife and said “You think I should try Brisket one more time?” She looked at me and said “NO”.
Hahaha. I am loving your site. Not just the cooks, but the stories that go along with them. I’m working my way backward from the start, just got done reading about your cluster f@#k hunting buffalo. Sounds like a cool hunt.
I am on yours as well. The buffalo hunt was more of a meat hunt. I couldnt bring myself to pay 600 bucks for a 15lb bone in Bison Ribeye. So I went and harvested one for 1200 smackers. I had 800 lbs of cut and wrapped bison to eat for that year!
I would have to go buy a new freezer for that much meat!
I think my Father-in-law is going to finally let us harvest some deer this season as they are finally starting to come back and get some size. Looking forward to that.
I have to start posting some Venison recipes. I am way behind. I have to do some turkey ones too.