I awoke at five in the morning on Friday to take a slab of meat the size of a newborn out of the refrigerator. I went back to bed for one hour. There was a time when an hour like that would be lost to the stresses of the upcoming day. This time I fell back asleep and had frantic dreams about some of my favorite men who have been known to smoke a brisket or two. In my dream I was having a family BBQ and alongside our smoker, my uncle Harry had parked his big smoker. And, then my dad pulled up looking five minutes fresh from deer camp, ready to start cooking. In the dream, Pitts had already built the fire for me. I awoke again at six to find Pitts snoozing happily right beside me, and the fire was mine to start. I far prefer having dreams about getting started on a brisket to that dream where I forgot to answer discovery in a timely fashion, or the one where I show up to court and can’t speak.
For me, six is a strange time to be starting a fire. I am not on a cattle drive. I am not camping. And, I don’t own a BBQ joint. Those seem like reasonable excuses to start a fire at the crack of dawn. No, I’m nobody, and I’m in the middle of Dallas, and I’ve simply found myself temporarily obsessed by the art of smoke.
And, I’m not great at it. I’m not awful at it. But, who are we kidding here? This morning I started Smoked Brisket II. Last week, I stunned myself with a perfectly edible, if not award winning, Smoked Brisket I. Like any pursuit that one tries to learn by repetition I am already learning a lot…I’m already forming a lot of questions and thoughts on the program.
[Is this much smoke escaping from my cooker a problem with the cooker, a problem with a novice adjusting temperatures to quickly, neither, or both? This is on my list of things to figure out. But it makes for a pretty picture, regardless.]
1. Do BBQ experts obsess about species of beef cattle the way dairy farmers do? They must. Jersey’s produce higher butterfat. Huge Holsteins produce more milk overall. Am I supposed to be able to go up to a butcher and say, “I want Angus, and I want it trimmed just so, and it should have been from a happy, grass fed cow named something like Sam.”? This is not a conversation I’m hearing at the butcher counter and both of the two briskets I have procured so far have come out of plastic vacuum-sealed bags, pretty much lowering the “stump the butcher” questions. It leaves me wondering where the really great pit masters get their meat. Or, in the process of smoking meat for 12 hours and up, do you cook your way past the nuances of the starting product? I have no bloody idea. But, I think not. I think it matters. I think I need to learn the differences between prime, choice and select. I think I need to really understand what those words mean even thought they all sound quite positive. I do not think it is a matter of good, better, and best. I think it is a matter of no, maybe, and definitely. And I think 12 hours of my time is worth a few extra dollars. Back in the days when I had the privilege to watch cattle moseying about on grass outside of Wichita Falls, I recall my dad using the names Charolais, Angus, Brangus, and Hereford. Now I’m wishing I had paid just a bit more attention.
2. If I’m not careful I could lose a limb, or at least a digit or two. I really need to learn how to work an axe. My husband has these wonderful axes. And he looks like he was born whacking off little chips of wood for kindling or taking a swing and splitting a log. I pick the thing up and glance it off the side of the log instead of getting any purchase on the little bit I want to shave off and it suddenly occurs to me that this is not Looney Tunes and a moron with an axe is a moron with a major injury. I will need to ask for a lesson on proper use of the Gränsfors Bruks axes.
3. As is the case with “mom brisket” made in the oven, smoking meats is all about time, and it isn’t done until it is done. When cooking these big hunks of meat in the oven I’ve become ever aware of the concept of “geletanization” or that magical time when the meat has cooked long enough (and to such a temperature) that the collagen in the meat begins to turn into gelatin. This is where brisket goes from shoe leather to tender. I suppose that this is where I need to end up on the smoker too, but on Brisket I, impatience at 10-1/2 hours caused me to take the beef out just a spot prematurely. I bet I was a mere 30 minute to an hour away from a markedly better result. Though, I must say…it was pretty darned good for a rookie. So, with so much advice swirling around about temperatures and times and methods, what is a person to do? I aim to find out. So far, my rule is that there are no rules and I get to do this however I damn well please. What do you think about them apples? There are a lot of folks who think there is only one way to do this, and the funny part is that it is always THEIR way.
4. After consuming a lot of information I am taking a reductionist approach. Simple. Simple. Simple. I started off with grand notions about rubs and mops and spray bottles and what have you. I reduced it to the following until I get my sea legs: 1) take the meat out of the fridge an hour early to start coming to room temperature; 2) Rub: 3 tablespoons kosher salt, 2 tablespoons black pepper and 1 tablespoon chili powder; 3) try to hold the heat at around 250 degrees; 4) don’t open the lid until 12 hours have passed; and 5) cook until fork tender.
5. I am increasingly open to the idea of wrapping the brisket in foil or butcher paper after a certain amount of time in the smoker. What I love about cooking is that if you read the right things or hang around the right people, someone will eventually get into the nerdy science bit of the enterprise. Last night, post brisket removal, I read an article about the “stall” when smoking. It goes like this…after 6 hours or so of cooking and temperatures steadily increasing the temperature just stalls. Horror. Truly. Time does not stand still but the brisket just sits there not seeming to cook. This, the author attributed to evaporative cooling, or the fact that at such low temperatures and with the intentional draft to pull smoke, the smoke actually starts to cause the air to cool by interacting with the moisture coming off the meat…or something to that effect. Makes my head hurt just thinking about it. But, one of the thoughts on dealing with it was the foil route. Since I’m no BBQ judge and don’t really get bent out of shape about the texture of the “bark” on the finished meat, I’m thinking that I need to continue to play with the idea. That is on tap for Brisket III.
6. Whatever I do, I need to find a cut of brisket, a grade of brisket, and a method of smoking it that can reliably be completed in 12 hours. Getting up any earlier than six in the summer is for the birds. And sailing past dinner time because a brisket needs more time is likewise, for the birds. Brisket II needed 14 to 15 hours to smoke, so we ate leftovers for dinner and I kept smoking the brisket into the night, then rested it, wrapped it, cooled it, and warmed it up for lunch the next day. But I know I’m missing out not trying this meat, after a proper rest, on the day of smoking. Too many variables intervene that could affect the quality of the meat, namely the re-warming. By the way, that whole “for the birds” bit doesn’t apply if people are lining up hours early to give you money for your brisket. This is not a problem I am dealing with at the moment.
7. I need to keep trying it and I need to keep reading about it and I need to keep learning.
Things I did not expect:
- This isn’t difficult so much as it is interesting.
- Smoking meats does not take nearly as much wood as you think it will.
- You will not want to get up this early…but you will be happy you did.
- Wood is expensive (though not so much considering it used to be a tree).
- Men like doing this because it is fun.
- When you start the day at six, smelling like well, the inside of a cooker, you will not even consider touching the laundry or anything else that needs cleaning. And, you might actually sit outside and read a bit. I mean, you’ve got 12 hours of fire tending to enjoy here…don’t spend it all making potato salad.
I am going to the Foodways Texas Barbecue Camp next week in College Station. I’ve probably already mentioned this. But, I’m excited about it. This won out…just barely…over Beef 101, an honest to goodness three day immersion course on the beef industry put on by Texas A&M. I will do Beef 101 soon. It is going to happen. But I suppose that at the end of next weekend I will have a much better handle on ALL of these issues and hopefully a lot of good b.s. to share with you, as I am confident that in a large group of BBQ aficionados there must, there just must, be good b.s. being thrown around. If not, I’ll be sorely disappointed. I’m anxious to learn, and I’m anxious to bring it all home and keep playing with my old smoker.
[The books suggested below will tell you that you can learn a lot about a person by what is on their plate of BBQ. No sauce. Red sauce. Hot sauce. White potato salad. Yella' potato salad. No sides. Bread. Pork. Beef. Sweet Tea. Big Red. Sun tea. Corn? Is that my Papaw's Iowa roots showing through? BBQ is highly regional, traditional, and family based. How does your family do BBQ?]
Ideas for Father’s Day:
Legends of Texas Barbecue: (by Robb Walsh) I’ve mentioned these books before, but now that I have read Robb’s book and and almost finished Republic of Barbecue I unequivocally recommend them for anyone who likes barbecue, Texas barbecue, or Texas. LoTB is full of recipes and methods and thoughts from luminaries in the field.
Republic of Barbecue: (by Elizabeth Engelhardt and other great people) Similarly, this book is full of voices. It is about food, yes, but more than that it is about people and places, history, culture and society. It is not academic, per se, but it is more interesting than most books about food. It is full of great photos and essays and conversations. Get it for yourself, but definitely get one for dad at the same time.
Gränsfors Bruks Axes: These are real, high quality, somewhat pricey, but utterly worth it for the quality, axes. They come in many sizes and for different purposes. But here is a link to the hatchet that I made friends with this weekend. You can get them from Amazon or a number of other, more interesting, retailers like A.G. Russell Knives. Russell is a great place to shop for dads anyway.
My smoker is a gift I gave to my husband a long time ago. Obviously, a good smoker would be a nice gift too. If you get Robb’s book it talks all about the types of smokers and gives a lot of food for thought, so to speak.
Kelly, a good place to ask people about smoking meat is unlikely, but close to you. It’s at the tea and lunch room called Maudee’s on the south side of Lovers betwen Armstrong and Douglas. The couple that run Maudee’s, whose names I have forgotten, compete all over the state in barbecue cooking. They’re incredibly nice and might be a resource.
I love your posts and stories! Be careful with that fancy hatchet!
Looks delicious, Kelly! Sounds like you are talking about the “Texas crutch” in number 5. It’s a technique when you wrap a brisket when it hits that 150° stall mark. Horror is right. I tried it for the first time this weekend and it resulted in the most moist and tender brisket ever! I was shocked. Unfortunaltey, you do loose that crisp crust and have to sear the brisket on a grill. That’s what I’m going to work on this summer, trying to get the best of both worlds.
I’m going to start calling you lumberjack Kelly if you keep swinging that axe around! Have fun at TX Foodways BBQ camp. I’m jealous. Couldn’t make it this year as that is when we are closing on the house in Dallas. Have Fun!!
Thanks, Kelly, from the whole Republic of Barbecue team! Much appreciated. PLUS, I can’t wait to see you at summer camp. It’s just a few more days away…
Hi Elizabeth! I’m so glad you are going to be at camp. I cannot wait. I had to get some brisket practice in ahead of time so I wouldn’t be too much of a greenhorn down there. I am looking forward to it immensely.
Meredith, I hear that some very credible folks use the “crutch” and I’m going to try it because I think it is my very best shot at getting that sucker on the table at dinner-time. When you are all settled in Dallas, give me a call. Must get together!!
Anne…I had no idea about Maudee’s. That is so interesting. You would never guess it from the outside. I love that. And, yes, very very careful with the hatchet. I’d like to keep my toes.
http://langbbqsmokers.com/lang36/index.html
Kelly
This is the link to the smoker I got Brian for Christmas. Quite a splerg, but totally worth it.
Amy
PS. The bark is worth it.
Totally worth it….but I’m much more insistent about it when someone else is losing sleep over it. So, I’m going to try to maximize all the values. I think Meredith is on the right track. Thanks for the link. That is good information to have. I will say, half the fun about BBQ is hearing what people cannot live without in terms of brisket qualities. I think it is all fascinating and keeps things fun. God forbid it all turn into ONE undifferentiated style. How boring that would be!! Thanks, Amy.
When are we going to have Foodways Texas Pie Camp?
Hmmm….pie camp…that sounds delicious. I want you to keep coming up with excuses like that to get the whole FTX gang together. Can we follow that one up with the bass fishin’ and fish fry camp? And then chicken fried steak road-trip camp? Because I’ll buy my tickets to any and all of them right now.
Great read and congrats on getting hooked on smoking briskets. Friday night I borrowed my buddy’s Lang 60 smoker and smoked 117 pounds of goodies (7 briskets, 4 chickens, 7 pounds of sausage and 1 pork shoulder. I also smoked 120 ABT’s) in my driveway. The briskets and pork shoulder went on at 6:30 pm and I was finally done with everything right around noon. I believe the key to a great slow smoked Texas brisket is low temps and lots of smoke. I get some charcoal (about a 1/3 of a chimney) nice and ashes over, then I use nothing but oak splits after adding the first splits on top of the charcoal. I never have and never will wrap my briskets in foil or anything else as another component of a great Texas brisket is the bark. I would recommend not worrying about getting your brisket finished in 12 or 5 hours…you neve know how long a brisket will take to smoke as all are different and their connective tissues are all different as well. That is why I smoke mine until the hit an internal temp range of 195-200. I have found that this is the perfect range for my briskets. They are always tender, juicy and full of succelent Texas oak smoke. Even though I have cooked hundred of briskets and know when they are getting close to being done, I still use a thermometer with a temp probe and I don’t even look at them until they are about 10 degrees from being done. No mop, no spraying them with a solution, no wrapping I foil or butcher paper and no injecting…just a dry rub, salt and pepper and oak smoke. The more briskets you smoke the more you will be able to determine when they are getting close to pulling them off of the smoker. Practice will make perfect one day and the journey to getting there is going to be a ton of fun. Enjoy the journey, and if there is anything I can help with or answer any questions, please do not hesitate to let me know. Texans helping Texas create magical BBQ is what I love and live for…here’s wishing you smoked success!!!
Phillip…what a great comment, and thank you for the compliment. I have certainly witnessed many great briskets be cooked but it is a whole different ball game when you are doing it yourself for the first time. And you are right on, the journey is a ton of fun. I feel like I need to try all of these methods to really get a feel for what the differences are. What a horrible job, right? In a perfect BBQ world I know that I need to let go of the clock factor. But then there is the part of me that doesn’t want to have a standby meal ready for everybody in case the meat is taking its sweet time. If my smoker held its temperature a little longer I’d probably consider letting it go all night. But that might be my fire ineptitude rearing its head too. Fortunately, both of the briskets turned out great. I know for a fact that they can be better, though. Practice, practice, practice. 7 briskets at once! I think my smoker could hold them, but that is ambitious. That means I’d have to have a party…and that means I’d have to pick up my house. Thanks for the offer of help. I’ll take you up on that if I get in a meat crisis. “Texans helping Texans create magical BBQ.” I love that.
Great article with lots of good pointers. I would like to add mine about your need to reheat Brisket II the next day. Whenever I reheat I use the following method and you will never dry out the meat;
Heat a large skillet filled with beef broth to just boiling.
Turn off heat and let sit for a couple of minutes.
Place a few slices of brisket in the broth at a time and let sit for a minute or so. the meat will get warmed nicely and will remain fresh, juicy and tender. remove and repeat with more slices until everyone is served. Sauce or not as you prefer.
I use this method to reheat most meats, as I find it produces my preferred results, whereas an oven or microwave seems to dry out and toughen reheated meats.
Enjoy.
Claiborne
Pie, fishin’ and chick-fried steak camp. Yes. Oh, yes!
If you ever have a “meat crisis”, feel free to let me know…smoking BBQ is my passion and the first year I started smoking things, I smoked something 50 out of 52 weekends. I got addicted and the addiction is still alive and kicking…although I have slowed down the pace just a bit!
If you don’t have a vac sealer system, I would advise you in to picking one up. It is one of the best investments we have ever made regarding to food. When I do large cooks, I vac seal everything into portions that can be reheated for future meals. All you have to do it drop the package into a pan of water, turn on the heat, and when it starts to boil, your food will be done. I feel this is the best way to reheat your food, especially with BBQ as it keeps that bark on there that you worked so hard to achieve. And…as I am sure you know, food keeps much longer if you vac seal it…looking forward to your next post. Have a great day!
Kelly,
I’ve been smoking briskets for decades, every imaginable way. My husband and I host a lot of parties, too. Through years of experimentation we’ve come up with an unorthodox way of doing it that produces top-notch brisket without leaving the hosts worn out and reeking of smoke when the guests arrive. It also allows you to take brisket for off-site events.
Here it is: Just before midnight at least 3 days before your party, preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Rub your briskets (we usually need 2-3 very large briskets but I have a big oven) with kosher salt and fresh-cracked black pepper and place in roasting pan(s), fat cap up (don’t cut that fat off!). Cover tightly. Place in oven; immediately turn heat down to 225. Leave undisturbed overnight.
Next morning, turn off your oven around 7 and head outside to get the fire going in the smoker box. We prefer a mix of oak and pecan. At around 8 or whenever the fire is going well and the smoke is drawing through the smoker nicely, take the roaster pans out of the oven and carry them (carefully!) to the smoker. Lift briskets gently with broad spatula and long tongs and place on smoker racks, at least an inch apart. Discard the oily slurry left in the roasting pans.
Now, keep your smoker temp at a steady 200-225 degrees for the next 6-8 hours (if your briskets are large), 4 if small (although the shorter smoking time is going to produce only a small smoke ring). This is the tricky part: knowing when they are done–it takes some experience. Maybe a thermometer would help here; I dunno. But whatever you do, resist the temptation to keep opening the smoker lid.
When the briskets are done, very carefully lift them with spatulas onto sturdy baking trays or platters. Take them inside, set on counter, and let cool for a couple of hours. Cut off a little piece of one of the briskets and make yourself a sandwich as a reward for your hard work.
Then, when the briskets have cooled somewhat, wrap them individually very tightly in heavy-duty aluminum foil and put them in the bottom of your refrigerator for 2-3 days, but never more than 4. Believe it or not, this step does wonders for the final product: during this time the sharp smoke flavors mellow and penetrate the meat. (You can also enclose the foil-wrapped brisket in plastic bags and freeze. Do not leave in freezer more than a month, and bring to room temp before reheating.)
On party day, take your briskets out of the fridge some hours early and let them warm on the counter. Preheat your oven to 300 degrees and place the foil-wrapped briskets, one layer deep, in baking pans. If you like, uncrimp a corner of each foil wrap and dribble a few tablespoons of water in with the brisket and re-seal. Heat in oven until warmed through but not hot–time will vary depending on size, etc, but take one out after an hour and make a small slit in the middle, insert finger, and see if it’s warm enough. Ideally you want your briskets out of the oven more or less around the time your guests are arriving.
Then let them rest in their pans in a warm spot until serving time while you’re busy dishing up sides and pouring drinks. Do not carve into slices until just before serving. Slice off excess fat from top if necessary; separates the briskets correctly into the top and bottom pieces and carve across the grain. An electric knife is handy if you’re cutting for a large crowd. Cut in batches (guests will be coming back for seconds!) rather than all at once, to keep the slices fresh and moist.
Good luck! (P.S., I’m a mom and family cook in McKinney.)
What a great article! I’m an amateur “Q” artiste and always on the lookout for new ideas in making a great brisket. One of the questions I’ve had for many, many years that always seemed to elude me was, “Do I wrap the brisket in foil or not?” Believe it or not, there is a wide range of opinions on this question. But this article has pretty much convinced me, low and slow, uncovered and wait until she’s done! That’s my new brisket manifesto.
I’m entering my very first Q contest in July, so I’m adopting this technique and I’ll be putting in a lot of hours before July working on brisket perfection.
Thanks for the great article and great site!
Stephan Dueboay, Sr.
The Impulsive Texan
Egan, Texas
I’m making a brisket right now actually. But I really must say, these photographs are absolutely gorgeous. I really cannot express with many words how beautiful and perfect these photos are. Great job. I’m definitely going to be having a look around here for a while.
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