Brisket: The Low and Slow Method

Our last post focused on the Hot and Fast method of smoking a brisket.  This method seems to be all the rage these days on the BBQ circuit.  But, now I go back to a method where I made my best brisket, from a tenderness standpoint: going Low and Slow.

Twelve years ago for a house warming party (I've lived here this long?  Where does time go?) I smoked a nice brisket on my Weber kettle.  It took all day long, but it was tender.  So, lets see how low and slow works on a proper smoker.

First, I made a batch of my injection:

2 cans of beef stock
1 bottle of Stubbs beef marinade, strained to remove the large spices that will clog your injector
3 tbsp of butter
1 tbsp of Mesquite Liquid Smoke
1 tbsp Sriracha sauce

Bring the above to a boil, then chill to 40 F so that you can inject the brisket safely.

This time I had some advance notice as this brisket was for a Super Bowl party.  So, I had a full seven  pound flat and a seven pound point.  I injected both, rubbed liberally with Oakridge Black Ops Brisket rub, and let sit in the refrigerator overnight.

Point:

Flat:

Ready for the smoker after a night in the refrigerator:

I brought the smoker to 225 F, placed some pecan wood in the ash pan, and placed the brisket on the top rack.  Time to wait.  Here are my cooking notes:

Placed brisket on top rack in the middle at 6:45 am.

12:10 pm, flat at 159 F internal.

2:24 pm, flat at 171 F internal.

2:45 pm, flat at 175 F, time to put in pan with reserved injection and cover with foil.

Brisket before the pan.

5:30 pm, point and flat at 195 F.  Probe slides in like butter.  Time to pull and rest.

I wrapped both pans with towels and let sit in a cooler for two hours to rest.  Then, I made burnt ends with the point and sliced the flat.  Here are the results.

Point before cubing.

Flat before slicing.

Burnt Ends.

Sliced flat.

This brisket now ranks as the best brisket that I have ever made.  It was also the first brisket I have made that was ready at 195 F.  This brisket was tender and full of flavor.  It would have not scored less than an eight in any category on the KCBS judging scale.  

What do I think of the two methods?  Well, every brisket is different.  I could have been lucky that the Low and Slow produced a brisket that was perfect from a tenderness standpoint at 195 F.  I usually end up probing until the meat reaches between 200 and 205 F.  So, I will try this method one more time before May.  But, I am leaning towards low and slow.  It may mean less sleep for me at a competition.  But, it may pay off the next day with a walk to the stage.

Overall, I was glad I tried both methods.  If I need to produce a brisket on short notice, the Hot and Fast method will produce acceptable product in a short amount of time.  If I am looking for the gold standard, Low and Slow is the way to go.  

Thanks for stopping by,

Bill

Brisket: The Hot and Fast Method

Usually when we smoke our briskets, I cook at 250 F until the brisket reaches 175 F internal temperature.  Then, I place in a pan with my reserved injection, cover with foil, then cook until 195 F, or until my temperature probe slides into the meat like butter.  But, in the never ending quest for six perfect slices of brisket for our turn in box, we have been trying different methods.

There are two different methods: Hot and Fast and Low and Slow.  Today, we will focus on the Hot and Fast method.  Unfortunately, I decided to experiment on short notice as I needed to take a dish in to work for our holiday pot luck.  So, the only brisket I could pick up at the grocery store was a 2.6 lb flat.  Here are my cooking notes:

Inject and rub with Oakridge Black Ops brisket rub.  Let sit for two hours.  Here was my injection recipe:

2 cans of beef stock
1 bottle of Stubbs beef marinade, strained to remove the large spices that will clog your injector
3 tbsp of butter
1 tbsp of Mesquite Liquid Smoke
1 tbsp Sriracha sauce

Bring the above to a boil, then chill to 40 F so that you can inject the brisket safely.

Brisket after sitting for two hours.

Brought smoker to 350 F and place three pecan splits in the ash pan.  Placed brisket on top rack at 1:55 pm.

At 3:45 pm, internal temperature was 175 F.  Placed in pan with leftover injection and foiled.

Brisket before placing in foil pan.

At 4:15 pm, the internal temperature was 195 F.  Probed the meat every 15 minutes until the probe was sliding into the meat with little or no resistance.  Brisket was ultimately pulled at 4:45 pm.  Wrapped pan in towels and placed in a cooler to rest for one hour.

After resting, pulled brisket from pan and sliced.

I placed my slices in the au jus to take to work for reheating.

The reviews for this brisket are good.  Nice bark and good flavor.  It was surprisingly tender.  This methods has possibilities.  Next up, the Low and Slow method.

Thanks for stopping by,

Bill

Wings: PB&J Style

Whenever I go to New Jersey for work, I always go to the Black River Barn in Randolph for dinner.  They use real smokers, have wood fired pizza ovens, and a great beer selection.  Their Pulled Pork Nachos are to die for.  But, this time around, a new wing flavor caught my eye.  I give you the PB&J chicken wing.

The wing was cooked perfectly.  Crispy and crunchy as always.  But, the sauce was lacking a bit. Overall, not bad.  While it had the PB, the J was lacking.  The peanut flavor was nice and savory.  But, there wasn't enough jelly to determine the flavor used.  The sauce needed just a bit more sweet to balance out the savory.  I do believe this concept has possibilities.  I think I am going to give this a try at home.  What flavor jelly would you use?  I am thinking a nice hot pepper jam, but would be open to suggestions.  Does anyone have a suggestion or two?

Thanks for stopping by,

Bill

Restaurant Review: Franktuary - Pittsburgh, PA (Lawrenceville Location)

Over the last couple of years, the restaurant scene in Pittsburgh has evolved into something I never expected to see.  There are many options, ranging from high end bistros to your garden variety food truck.  This is most evident in the Lawrenceville section of Pittsburgh where there has been a revitalization project that has transformed the community.  The main drag, Butler St. is paved with cafes and numerous dining options.  Hope and I have decided to sample some of these new eateries this past weekend.  Our plan for the weekend was a trip to Franktury for a late lunch, then an evening of binge watching season two of House of Cards to cap off the day.

Franktuary has three locations listed: Downtown, Lawrenceville, and a mobile location that operates during the warm weather months.  The menu has a nice selection of beers and mixed drinks to start and a variety of gourmet hot dogs to sample.

The inside is nice.  Not too loud and family oriented, at least during the 4:00 pm hour.  The bar and restaurant have a nice combination of brick and wood.  The wait staff was friendly and knowledgeable.  Off to a good start for sure.

As you scan the menu, you have a choice of New York beef hot dogs and New Zealand grass fed beef, as well as fish and veggie options.  You get to choose your bun: potato, whole wheat, millet, and romaine lettuce for the Paleo crowd.  You can choose from different condiments and toppings, as well as different house combinations.  To top it off, they offer soups and chili, appetizers, and fries.  In addition to your plain ketchup dunking french fry, they offer various varieties of Poutine.  Poutine is a French Canadian offering of fries covered with cheese curd and gravy.  More on Poutine here.

After scanning the menu, we placed our order with our friendly and very helpful waiter.  Hope, being the traditionalist choose a New York dog with ketchup, mustard, onion, and house sauerkraut and a New Zealand grass fed dog with ketchup, mustard, and onion, both on potato buns.  I chose a New York dog with chili, cheese, and onion and a New Zealand grass fed dog Buffalo style, both on a potato roll.  We shared an order of Poutine with cheese curd and brown gravy topping.

When we asked our waiter about the grass fed dog, he said it was different than the normal beef dog.  The taste was different, but good.  He was right.  Hope didn't care for the taste and texture.  I was ok with both.  A good description would be that it tasted almost like knockwurst.  One warning, while the skin was crisp and it was not dry, the grass fed dog was not juicy like you get when biting into a New York kosher beef dog.  The kosher New York dog was spot on and I agree.  The potato buns were steamed to perfection.

As for Hope's comments, the standard ketchup and mustard was of good quality.  But, the house sauerkraut was lacking.  I tried a taste.  It has the kraut, but not the sour pickle aspect you look for in sauerkraut.  It was almost like sautéed cabbage with a hint of pickle taste.  Not bad, but better suited for corned beef.

As for my hot dogs, the chili was good, but a bit under seasoned.  Otherwise, it was a good dog.  The Buffalo style dog was also pretty good.  I was afraid it would come out stuffed with celery sticks.  I was relieved when it came out topped with diced celery.  The Buffalo sauce was mild and not overly spicy.  The bleu cheese dressing was a bit thin, but the taste was there.  My suggestion to improve this hot dog would be either to dunk the dog in the Buffalo sauce and top with a thicker version of bleu cheese dressing, or to mix the sauces together while using a thicker bleu cheese dressing.

The Poutine was heaven.  Crisp fries, cheese curds, and rich brown gravy with hints of sage and rosemary.  A great choice for our first Poutine experience.

Overall, Franktuary was a nice start to our new Pittsburgh culinary adventures.  Friendly waitstaff, cold beer, and good hot dogs can be found here.  Would I drive 40 miles again just to go to Franktuary?  No.  If I was in the neighborhood and wanted a hot dog would I go?  Yes.  Overall grade: B.

Thanks for stopping by,

Bill