I've cooked a few briskets and they came out good, but I'm sure not to their
full potential. I have a few questions about a brisket I am cooking today, and
one that I plan on cooking next week.

Today's brisket is a small flat, around 4 lbs. I rubbed last night and started
smoking today in a Great Outdoors gas smoker at 250F. After reading up a bit I
realized that I already screwed up by trimming some of the fat off the top - oh
well. For small cuts like this, is it better to keep the cooking temps on the
low, or high side, compared with the thicker packers cut?

Next week we are going camping with a large group and we have to supply a meal
one day for about 30 people consisting of mostly adults, some teens and a few
small kids. How many lbs of brisket (uncooked) do you recommend for this size
group? I will try to locate a packers cut for this. Any recommendations of where
in the SF Bay Area (East Bay) to find this cut?

Also, since this will be prepared a few days in advance, what is the best way to
store the meat after cooking? Iced down or frozen? And finally, what is the
best way to reheat and serve? Thanks folks!

bregent wrote:
> For small cuts like
> this, is it better to keep the cooking temps on the low, or high
> side, compared with the thicker packers cut?

Big or small, keep in the 250°F range. Then monitor after a few hows
to see if its done and ready to come off the cooker. A fork test
works good.

> Next week we are going camping with a large group and we have to
> supply a meal one day for about 30 people consisting of mostly
> adults, some teens and a few small kids. How many lbs of brisket
> (uncooked) do you recommend for this size group?

Briskets generally reduce down about 35% of their uncooked weight.
Servin sizes are 1 lb for men, 1/2 lb for wimmin and kids. Do the
math, addin up the weight ya need to feed em then multiply it times
1.35. This'll give ya enough to feed the crew but probably no
left-overs. Make sure you have plenty of tater salad, baked beans and
bread to fill in the gaps. A great peach cobbler'll top off ya meal
nicely.
>
> Also, since this will be prepared a few days in advance, what is the
> best way to store the meat after cooking? Iced down or frozen? And
> finally, what is the best way to reheat and serve? Thanks folks!

Once you've cooked it, go ahead and cut it up. Then put in 1 gallon
plastic baggies and stick it in the freezer if it's gonna be several
days. In the fridge will be okay if it's only a couple of days. To
reheat, take along a camp stove and a pot big enough to hold the
baggies. Fill the pot with water to about halfway, bring it to a slow
simmer (not boilin) and drop in the baggies. Give em 30-45 minutes to
heat up hot enough to serve.
--
-frohe
Life is too short to be in a hurry

In article >, frohe says...
>
>bregent wrote:
>> For small cuts like
>> this, is it better to keep the cooking temps on the low, or high
>> side, compared with the thicker packers cut?
>
>Big or small, keep in the 250°F range. Then monitor after a few hows
>to see if its done and ready to come off the cooker. A fork test
>works good.

Thanks frohe. It turned out pretty good and our guests and we finished it off
pretty quick. But, I thought some parts were not as tender as they could be, and
the whole thing was a little dry. Is this just inevitable with a smaller cut?
Would a mop help keep it moister? When it finally passed the fork test, the
internal temp was around 200! Should I have lowered the cooker temp once the
internal reached 160F? Thanks again.

bregent wrote:
> Thanks frohe. It turned out pretty good and our guests and we
> finished it off pretty quick. But, I thought some parts were not as
> tender as they could be, and the whole thing was a little dry.

Well, tender has a lot to do with each individual piece of meat and
how ya cooked it. Have you tested your cooker to find out where its
hot spots are? You may have had part of your brisket in one of these
and it cooked a bit more than the rest of the meat. Did ya turn the
meat so that each side gets equal time being closest to the fire? Did
ya cook offset and have the fat cap on the top? Or, did ya cook
direct and have the fat cap to the bottom? These are a few indicators
y wanna consider in yur quest for perfection.

> Is this just inevitable with a smaller cut?

Nah... Once you find out and do the things I mentioned above, your
briskets should improve. Also know it takes a long time of cookin
briskets to get down a good technique that gives ya the type results
you want.

> Would a mop help keep it moister?

On the outside but not on the inside. When you pulled it off the
cooker, did you let it rest for a hour to re-absorb some if its
juices?

> When it finally passed the fork test, the internal temp was
> around 200!

200? Where'd ya do the fork test? Hopefully in the flat. At 190°F,
it should have passed the fork test just fine.

> Should I have lowered the cooker temp once the internal reached
> 160F?

I don't. When I see the internal temp has reached 160°F, I bump my
cooker temp up to as high as 325°F to finish out the cook.
--
-frohe
Life is too short to be in a hurry

In article >, frohe says...
>
>bregent wrote:
>> Thanks frohe. It turned out pretty good and our guests and we
>> finished it off pretty quick. But, I thought some parts were not as
>> tender as they could be, and the whole thing was a little dry.
>
>Well, tender has a lot to do with each individual piece of meat and
>how ya cooked it. Have you tested your cooker to find out where its
>hot spots are? You may have had part of your brisket in one of these
>and it cooked a bit more than the rest of the meat. Did ya turn the
>meat so that each side gets equal time being closest to the fire? Did
>ya cook offset and have the fat cap on the top? Or, did ya cook
>direct and have the fat cap to the bottom? These are a few indicators
>y wanna consider in yur quest for perfection.

It was cooker in a vertical smoker, similar to this one:
http://tinyurl.com/bwlcx

I did not rotate the meat, but will next time. It was cooked with the fat on
top, but as I stated in the original post, I FU'd when I trimmed a good part of
the fat away prior to cooking.

>> Is this just inevitable with a smaller cut?
>
>Nah... Once you find out and do the things I mentioned above, your
>briskets should improve. Also know it takes a long time of cookin
>briskets to get down a good technique that gives ya the type results
>you want.

Part of the problem may be my perception of tender. I haven't had a good pro
brisket to compare to in a long time. I was thinking it should pull apart like
pulled pork. Is that too tender for a brisket? Maybe I need the fork test
splained to me!

>> Would a mop help keep it moister?
>
>On the outside but not on the inside. When you pulled it off the
>cooker, did you let it rest for a hour to re-absorb some if its
>juices?

I pulled if off the cooker, wrapped in foil and blanket and place in a cooler
for an 1.5 hours.

>> When it finally passed the fork test, the internal temp was
>> around 200!
>
>200? Where'd ya do the fork test? Hopefully in the flat. At 190°F,
>it should have passed the fork test just fine.

Well, it was 170F at one check point, and the next time I went back it had shot
to 200F. I probably needed to check more frequently ? Also, what part of the
meat is the 'flat'?

>> Should I have lowered the cooker temp once the internal reached
>> 160F?
>
>I don't. When I see the internal temp has reached 160°F, I bump my
>cooker temp up to as high as 325°F to finish out the cook.

OK, thanks. I'm learnin!

"bregent" > wrote in message
> It was cooker in a vertical smoker, similar to this one:
> http://tinyurl.com/bwlcx
>
> I did not rotate the meat, but will next time.

No need in that type of smoker. In an offset it may be a good idea, but in
a verticle it makes no difference.



It was cooked with the fat on
> top, but as I stated in the original post, I FU'd when I trimmed a good
> part of
> the fat away prior to cooking.
>

I trim off a bunch but leave about 1/4".


>
> Part of the problem may be my perception of tender. I haven't had a good
> pro
> brisket to compare to in a long time. I was thinking it should pull apart
> like
> pulled pork. Is that too tender for a brisket? Maybe I need the fork test
> splained to me!

The fork should twist easily. While very tender, you don't want it falling
apart like pulled pork.

>
> Well, it was 170F at one check point, and the next time I went back it had
> shot
> to 200F. I probably needed to check more frequently ? Also, what part of
> the
> meat is the 'flat'?

That would be the flat part, of course. A lot of supermarkets sell just the
flat. The packer cuts have the point on one end and it is a separate muscle
with the grain running about 80 degrees from the flat. That end is, well,
not flat but rather thikc compared tot he rest of the brisket.
--
Ed
http://pages.cthome.net/edhome/
..

Great. Thanks Ed.

In article >, Edwin Pawlowski
says...
>
>
>"bregent" > wrote in message
>> It was cooker in a vertical smoker, similar to this one:
>> http://tinyurl.com/bwlcx
>>
>> I did not rotate the meat, but will next time.
>
>No need in that type of smoker. In an offset it may be a good idea, but in
>a verticle it makes no difference.
>
>
>
> It was cooked with the fat on
>> top, but as I stated in the original post, I FU'd when I trimmed a good
>> part of
>> the fat away prior to cooking.
>>
>
>I trim off a bunch but leave about 1/4".
>
>
>>
>> Part of the problem may be my perception of tender. I haven't had a good
>> pro
>> brisket to compare to in a long time. I was thinking it should pull apart
>> like
>> pulled pork. Is that too tender for a brisket? Maybe I need the fork test
>> splained to me!
>
>The fork should twist easily. While very tender, you don't want it falling
>apart like pulled pork.
>
>>
>> Well, it was 170F at one check point, and the next time I went back it had
>> shot
>> to 200F. I probably needed to check more frequently ? Also, what part of
>> the
>> meat is the 'flat'?
>
>That would be the flat part, of course. A lot of supermarkets sell just the
>flat. The packer cuts have the point on one end and it is a separate muscle
>with the grain running about 80 degrees from the flat. That end is, well,
>not flat but rather thikc compared tot he rest of the brisket.

bregent wrote:
> Part of the problem may be my perception of tender. I haven't had a
> good pro brisket to compare to in a long time. I was thinking it
> should pull apart like pulled pork. Is that too tender for a
> brisket?

Yes & No. Parts of the Point can be pull apart tender but not the
flat for sure.

> Maybe I need the fork test splained to me!

If you're cookin a packer's cut brisket (flat & point) you want to do
the fork test in the flat since it cooks up faster than the point.
Stick a fork in the middle part of the flat and give it a turn. A
done flat will twist fairly easy.

> Well, it was 170F at one check point, and the next time I went back
> it had shot to 200F. I probably needed to check more frequently ?
> Also, what part of the meat is the 'flat'?

Put an eyeball on this pic http://tinyurl.com/cov45 . The flat is the
portion of the briskt on the right. Flat bein a good way to talk
about this piece of fairly uniform, flat meat. The other end is
called the Point (or Deckel) as is evidenced by the point you can see
there. Flats is flat; points is big.
--
-frohe
Life is too short to be in a hurry