Why does everyone seem afraid of Brisket?

[BeerBaster]

This probably shows my inexperience... Ok it DEFINITELY shows my inexperience but...

It seems as though when writing about cooking a brisket, most posters add some comment(s) about being afraid, worried, nervous, etc. of the outcome. Definitely more reverent of that particular piece of meat than any other. Doesn't it fit that 'Q formula? (smoke + long time + low temp + good rub + good sauce = good food)

What makes this cut so feared?

[Jeff T]

Cause your cooking one of the tuffest pieces of meat on the market.

[BBQBLiTZ]

I ain't scared of anything

[Mikesooner]

Hey Jeff, turn on your spell check!!

[Virindi]

[Texacue]

I don't know what the big deal is. There's no better cut of meat for beer drinking than a brisket because the brisket decides when it's done not the cook!

I can estimate the finished brisket cooking time within an hour which is pretty good. I miscalculated the finish time of my brisket last Sunday by an hour and my brother ate a hamburger instead because he didn't want to wait another hour to eat. I took the extra hour to enjoy a few more adult beverages and didn't see what the big fuss was. I'm from the Justin Wilson school of cooking and explain that it's done WHEN IT'S DONE! Not an hour before just because someone's ready before the meat is.
_________________
There's no such thing as bad barbecue - some of it's just better than others.

[Jeff T]

Hay mike gimmie a brake i`m juz a country boy.
Ya`ll know what, i can`t get good seafood here in corn country eather.

[Mikesooner]

Jeff, don't give me that!! I know you finished in the top of your class at NU!! By the way Jeff..that means Nebraska University!! From what I've seen of the corn at the grocery store, oughta(notice how I worked OU in that word) have you ship me a few bushels out here!! What crap!! When I was a kid in Oklahoma, our neighbor had a big field of corn that looked good, and tasted good!! Tell ya what, I'll give ya a deal..every week, send me some A-1 rated corn, about 50 lbs, and I'll send ya some tuna in the can!! I know, I know..you're gettin' the better deal!!

[Mikesooner]

Beer baster..turned on spell check just in time!! Brisket is, like others have said, one of the toughest to get right. Brisket was the first real Q I ever ate. My Buddy in Norman, Ok. did one overnight in a Brinkmann water smoker. he got up several times that night to check on it and tend the fire. Instead of bacon and the usual suspects...we munched Brisket for breakfast. By the way..you can stay up all night watchin' the temp etc...but if ya don't cut it right..well, let's just say it ain't a pretty sight!! I'm not bragging..but when I got my first smoker, I thought, which should I do..butt, ribs, chicken, brisket?? I said ta hell with it!! I love the taste of good brisky!! So using what I knew, and with what I learned on the different forums, I turned out a whole packer to about a B grade. Not bad for the first Q session. Just listen, learn, and ask questions..no guts, no glory!! Lots of good people to help ya out!!

[P@t]

I have "cooked" six of the monsters, not one has been right............

I WILL CONQUER THE BEAST !

Each & every one of mine has come to "temp' way too fast, so I move it & pull it, boot leather. NO MORE! I will cook the next one for the term, if it is cardboard, so be it.

On the other hand I just got a Brinkman electricK, so maybe I can get some sleep also!

P@t

[DawgPhan]

I think that one of the things about brisket is that you are not looking for the same kind of tenderness as you are with pulled pork...With brisket you dont quite want it to fall apart...you want to be able to cut it into nice thin slices without it falling apart...cook it too tender and it falls apart when you slice it, cook it too little and you will never be able to eat it...then there is the grain thing and the fact that whole briskets are really just 2 totally difference peices of meat...cooking both properly while still connected is something that takes some time to get right...


oh and the short answer is that brisket sucks and pork is better...

[Mikesooner]

There ya go Beer..Pot's tried 6 of the critters, and he's not happy yet!! Butt is pretty hard to mess up. Chicken's not bad, as long as the skin's alright, I don't have much rib experience, but hear that can go either way in a NY minute!! Just try as much as ya can, and learn from others..Mike

[Mikesooner]

Dawg..don't say that!! Brisket and pork both are great...just a different learning curve!!

[Mikesooner]

Hey Dawg...don't know about your sauces, but that'd be great on a coffee cup or a beer coozie!!

[Mike Lawry]

Ive smoked about a dozen briskets so far in my short smoking hobby. The only bad one I had was when I bought one of the neat looking trimmed ones, all spiced up.

(came out super dry).

Im just a weekend smoker barbequer,

1. Just buy a 10-12 lb packer

2. Go basic on the rub.

3. Light smoke

4. Works for me and my friends.

5. I have no Idea about competition brisket.

[P@t]

Learning curve, good explanation !

Butts just seem to work their way to good eats, brisket, for me, seems to wriggle away from the good part of eats. I am lookin forward to having a smaller smoker, The "Big Ugly" I use now wil hold 6 butts + 4 racks of BB's.

99.0% of the time, I need 3 racks + potatoes.... I have secured a source for smaller smoker materials... When I get the "lil' ugly" built, I am sure I will have mega success for the smaller Q's.

I am in the process of moving to a mucho smaller place, so when all the dust settles, maybe I can get "the Lil' Ugly" built, till then I am gonna' try the Brinkman electricK for the "smaller" get togethers

P@t

[Mikesooner]

See guys..it's all relevant!! Variables abound, including the weather!! You've got to take it cook by cook, note differences, and also constants, including wood, meat, and quality of, your smoker, and improvements possible..I could go on, but hey I'm just a rookie. But I listen and learn from everyone and everything. Kind of like life in general...learn from the past, or be doomed to repeat mistakes..That'll be $999.99 from everyone..oh, and have a great time!!

[Jeff T]

Mike...
To get really good sweet corn you gotta go alot farther
north than Oklahoma. The good stuff never hits the markets. Now i don`t hafta tell ya bout the good Nebraska watermelon and cantaloupe do i ?
For you information i looked in the dictionary under sweet corn, watermelon and cantaloupe,
and i`ll be dambed if it didn`t say see Nebraska.

[BBQMAN]

Brisket is a tough (pun) cut of meat to master! However, nothing to be skeered of, that's fur shur!

I dry rub, wrap in plastic wrap, and let sit in the fridge overnight. I cook mine with bacon across the top (save for baked beans later on) which helps with the dry problem. I also foil (oh my, I said the "F" word again! ) for a few hours toward the end of the cook.

Sidenote: A lot of "purists" dont like to use foil, and that's ok. A lot of winning competition teams do, and there is of course a reason for that!

Those that do not use foil on brisket, IMHO, either like dry shoe leather, have good teeth, or have not tried it!
_________________
BBQMAN
"I Turned A Hobby Into A Business".
Providing "IMHO" Since 2005.

[Mikesooner]

Jeff..I can honestly say I've never been to Nebraska, so I can't rate the corn..do you have all kinds, like the sweet white? As far as I know..haven't tried the different melons either..dagnabit, Now I'm getting hungry!! ..by the way, does yer Nebraska dictionary tell ya what dambed means? Is that something beavers do?