Brisket.....point, flat, whatever works for you

for the marinade,


1 T garlic salt, celery salt, seasoning salt, onion salt (yes its salty...think corned beef aged shorter...or if you're a health nut change that big T to a little one.)

3 T liquid smoke or rely on your hickory chunks if you're a purist, worchestersire sauce, 1/2 c peanut oil, 1 c water

marinade for at least 3 hours

when finished, pat dry,

rub 2 T fresh minced garlic, 1 t-T freshly cracked black pepper, dust with onion salt

cut 4 T butter into thin slices, put on top of brisket. Slow smoke at 200-250 1-1.25 hours per lb or until internal temp reaches 190-195

cover with tinfoil and let rest 1-4 hours



Being a tougher cut of meat brisket contains a relatively large amount of collagen, which only renders to gelatin form (hence the tenderness) after cooking for a long period at a low temperature by which time most juiciness has already squeezed out. According to a study performed by the American Test Kitchen in which professional taste testers sampled brisket, the most appealing texture and tenderness for brisket is achieved at an internal temperature of 200-210 degrees, albeit this temperature also renders the brisket "driest". In my experience the flat usually suffers where as the point has plenty of fat to keep it nice and juicy.

This is why bbq sauce is typically paired with brisket, to add " manufactured juice".

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Jarrod S.,

Sounds interesting, but I have a 'noob' question: does '1 T garlic salt, celery salt, seasoning salt', etc. mean the same thing as 1 T of each of the listed ingredients? ...just seems like a large volume of salts...

Thanks!

Yes, but it is in the marinade. So not all of it will be going on the meat.

Oh Boy! where to start? OK, here goes.

quote:

Originally posted by Jarrod S.:
make sure you have a water pan in the smoker to add moisture as brisket dries easily.

That is false. Water in a pan adds nothing into the meat.

quote:

Originally posted by Jim Long:
Sounds interesting, but I have a 'noob' question: does '1 T garlic salt, celery salt, seasoning salt', etc. mean the same thing as 1 T of each of the listed ingredients? ...just seems like a large volume of salts...

Thanks!

It sure as Hell is a lot of salt.

quote:

Originally posted by Bob L:
Yes, but it is in the marinade. So not all of it will be going on the meat.

Well a marinade is a liquid, and the liquid will be touching the meat, so I'd have to say it would def be on the meat.

Yes I agree thats alot of salt but he is correct about the salt not all being absorbed by the meat. Bryan for what you are saying to be true all the marinate would need to be absorbed by the meat to all be in the meat.... obviously there is going to be leftover discarded marinate which will contain salt.

Also I didn't know that the water pan doesn't add moisture... why is that? I would have assumed it did but I have never heard either way.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Tyler McCallum,

I'd like to encourage you to try using plain salt separate from other spices. There are several big advantages. First, you pay way more if you buy salt combined with other ingredients than if you just buy salt alone. Second, it is very hard to know just how much salt you are adding when you use celery salt, seasoning salt, etc. If you use plain salt, then you are way less likely to end up with too much or too little salt. Third, if you buy whole celery seed, granulated onion and other spices, and lightly grind them before adding to your rub or marinade, then you'll get better flavor than using onion salt and celery salt, etc.

quote:

Yes I agree thats alot of salt but he is correct about the salt not all being absorbed by the meat.

was it Kevin that coined the mari-brine? That's what I thought when I read the recipe.

Captain Kirk, er...Baron Kirk loves to use various seasoned salts in his recipes. I never have them on hand so I always have to make some kind of 50/50 mix when ever I try one of his rubs. It always seems so strange to me that someone would have garlic salt in their pantry but not salt and granulated garlic.

I'm wondering why you would put liquid smoke in the marinade. Can someone help me out here?

Do you guys think that the water pan adds humidity to the cook? I know a lot of experienced guys don't even use water; but I have always thought that it would reduce the drying effect????

quote:

Do you guys think that the water pan adds humidity to the cook? I know a lot of experienced guys don't even use water; but I have always thought that it would reduce the drying effect????

the water pan acts as a thermal sink. water can not get hotter than 212* without first turning to steam which takes a ton of heat energy. Water in the pan will absorb excess heat and make it easier to regulate your temps. Once one finds that the wsm will happily hold temp without water in the pan, most will abandon it. It makes things easier to clean up, and you aren't wasting fuel making a hotter fire than you need just to boil water.

Dry meat does not result from dry heat. It has more to do with over cooking. Moisture in the meat is closely associated with the muscle fibers (protein), and adding or subtracting moisture means directly changing protein.

Brining (adding internal salt) changes the meat proteins in a way that allows them to hold more water, conversely, cooking proteins to too high a temp changes them in way that causes them to release water (think: squeezing a sponge).

A good illustration might be boiling a brisket. The brisket is submerged in liquid, however if the water is allowed to boil and the meat is taken to 212*, the muscle proteins will have expelled all their moisture and the resulting meat will seem very dry. This can happen in a few hours. Conversely, the same brisket can be exposed to dry heat for 20+ hours and taken to internal temps below 200* and the resulting meat will seem very moist. wierd...huh?

Does water affect the moisture content of the meat? Nope, it simply does not. As stated above, it is a heatsink. Briskets, or any other meat, from a water smoker, or stick burner, will have the same moisture content upon reaching the finish line. I used both, I used sand and water, not at the same time, in the pan on the WSM. Same result in moisture.

quote:

Originally posted by Howard Barlow:
Does water affect the moisture content of the meat? Nope, it simply does not. As stated above, it is a heatsink. Briskets, or any other meat, from a water smoker, or stick burner, will have the same moisture content upon reaching the finish line. I used both, I used sand and water, not at the same time, in the pan on the WSM. Same result in moisture.

Agreed on the heatsink issue. Here's a different question though; do "adjuncts" to the water in the pan (onions, beer, spices, etc.) affect the flavor of smoked meats? I've recently come upon some recipes and cooking techniques that advocate slicing up onions and putting them in a water filled pan, as well as using beer or a beer/water mixture instead of water. I'm thinking it could, but it would likely depend upon how many onions, the type or amount of beer, etc.

quote:

Originally posted by Kit_R:
I've recently come upon some recipes and cooking techniques that advocate slicing up onions and putting them in a water filled pan, as well as using beer or a beer/water mixture instead of water.

Kit,
You will be wasting perfectly good onions and even better beer. IMO, onions in salad and drink the beer.

quote:

I'm thinking it could, but it would likely depend upon how many onions, the type or amount of beer, etc.

much easier ways to make you meat taste like onions, and much better ways to use beer.

quote:

Originally posted by Kit_R:
do "adjuncts" to the water in the pan (onions, beer, spices, etc.) affect the flavor of smoked meats? I've recently come upon some recipes and cooking techniques that advocate slicing up onions and putting them in a water filled pan, as well as using beer or a beer/water mixture instead of water. I'm thinking it could, but it would likely depend upon how many onions, the type or amount of beer, etc.

Absolutely NOT!

Yea,
save your onions and beer for a brat tub if you like. When I had the ECB the manual said to add beer or wine with some veggies to the WP. Made a heck of a mess on clean-up, and IMO added zilch to the flavor.
But WTH it's your rodeo, give it a try, and let us know what you think?

Tim

I didn't want to register my opinion before getting input from the members here, but now that I have some I'll say that I'm pretty dubious about the benefits too. It is interesting that I've seen that practice endorsed in several places, so it seems pervasive. I was hoping I'd get someone to report that they'd done it and it actually had some benefit. But so far, not the case. FWIW, I'd NEVER toss my beer in the WSM; I drink lots of Dogfish Head and it is waaay too expensive (and tasty) to toss in the pan.

quote:

I didn't want to register my opinion before getting input from the members here, but now that I have some I'll say that I'm pretty dubious about the benefits too. It is interesting that I've seen that practice endorsed in several places, so it seems pervasive. I was hoping I'd get someone to report that they'd done it and it actually had some benefit. But so far, not the case. FWIW, I'd NEVER toss my beer in the WSM; I drink lots of Dogfish Head and it is waaay too expensive (and tasty) to toss in the pan.

mmm...dogfish head. I love the one with golden raisin and beet sugar.

The best part of this board is the wealth of knowledge that's based on experience, science, and real evidence.

Bbq is so full of dogma its hard for a beginner to spot all the bs.

I've only been around this board for a year and it seems like the same misconceptions pop up every other month or so.

quote:

Originally posted by j biesinger:

quote:

I didn't want to register my opinion before getting input from the members here, but now that I have some I'll say that I'm pretty dubious about the benefits too. It is interesting that I've seen that practice endorsed in several places, so it seems pervasive. I was hoping I'd get someone to report that they'd done it and it actually had some benefit. But so far, not the case. FWIW, I'd NEVER toss my beer in the WSM; I drink lots of Dogfish Head and it is waaay too expensive (and tasty) to toss in the pan.

mmm...dogfish head. I love the one with golden raisin and beet sugar.

The best part of this board is the wealth of knowledge that's based on experience, science, and real evidence.

Bbq is so full of dogma its hard for a beginner to spot all the bs.

I've only been around this board for a year and it seems like the same misconceptions pop up every other month or so.

That would be Raisin d'Etre. Get it? "Raisin" for living? It's tasty for sure, but there are other equally tasty options. I like Black and Blue with steak and Worldwide Stout with everything else.

I'm prepping Achiote A-Bombs tonight (pork tenderloin, achiote paste, OJ, serrano chiles and garlic), along with the customary brisket, beef and pork ribs for Saturday and Sunday.