Ah brisket, what can I say about you that hasn’t been said? What hidden secrets might I uncover and share with the world that haven’t yet been discovered? Frank(lin)ly, a wonderful tome of knowledge on brisket (and BBQ in general for that matter) already exists and is pure gold. I agree that if you read a “how to” on brisket 100 times and cook it 5 times your results will be exponentially less predictable than if you cook 100 times and read the same “how to” 5 times. What you’ll find below is not a “how to”: they are the lessons I’ve learned to make brisket-centric gatherings enjoyable for all participants: you, your significant other who has to deal with you hopping in and out of bed early in the morning, and your guests.
The challenge for many of us, of course, is finding brisket-worthy occasions. Weighing between 10 – 16lbs. It comfortably feeds a large crowd and always seems like such a waste to prepare for a small group. My friends in France felt handcuffed similarly—champagne is special so we only drink it on special occasions.
My philosophy? Saturday seems pretty special to me, and a day is only as special as we make it.
I don’t cook a brisket every weekend, but I probably average a get-together with friends every other month where the brisket is the star. Depending on the time of year it might be as often as once a month so that puts me on pace to practice my brisket 6-12 times per year. This number is much less than a professional BBQ chef cooking up dozens to hundreds of briskets a day, six to seven days a week, but I think it’s frequent enough to develop a rhythm. This rhythm is key for a high quality brisket experience for guests of your BBQ shindig.
- Consistency in ingredients facilitates a repeatable process
Keeping the seasoning simple really lets the brisket shine and also—it’s easier for you. This is not always a popular opinion in the world of BBQ where a rub or sauce is regarded as intellectual property, but I find it refreshing that there has been a resurgence and wave of support for S&P (kosher salt and coarse ground black pepper).
I’ve purchased briskets from warehouse stores, state-wide grocery chains, and national organic grocery chains. The past few cooks I’ve kept going back to Whole Foods. I call the butcher in advance and request an untrimmed whole brisket and they’ve always got it waiting for me. It’s more expensive, but the cuts and weights have been very uniform which something I value. Also, did you guys know they have a bar in the store? With local craft beers? That you can drink there?
- Start the process earlier than the cook time math indicates
Refrigerator space allowing, I trim the brisket (following the Franklin method) the night before the cook so I can still stay on track even if I end up in the weeds getting the fire ready. I round up the cook time to give myself a buffer and also plan an aperitif to lower the stress associated with hungry folks arriving and sitting around.
If you decide to serve an aperitif I advise to keep it to small bites—an assortment of charcuterie and crudités is perfect to hold everyone over for the star of the show. I’m not a huge fan of bacon-wrapped, sausage-stuffed, or fried starters. Instead, my go-to starter is a hot-smoked salmon rillettes because it lends a subtle BBQ flavor and pairs nicely with an ice-cold pint, dry white wine or rosé without being dreadfully heavy. Honor the brisket.
In general my plan is for the rest time for the meat and the arrival window for friends to run in parallel. If I run a little bit over on cook time I can impose a shorter rest and pour another round of drinks and if you finish the cook early you can pull-in the length of time dedicated for the pre-meal activities and start slicing brisket sooner.
- Trust your cooker you must
At the CBHF kitchen my smoker of choice is currently a Weber Smokey Mountain Cooker 22.5”. I have a lot of friends who swear by their Big Green Eggs, but every time I think about making the jump, I fall in love with the WSM all over again. I made some modifications last year that I’ll detail in another post that have significantly improved cooker performance.
Early on in my brisket education, I was obsessive about temperature control. I would literally stand and watch the thermometer tick up towards my target temp and often would choke the bottom vents of the WSM way too soon because I was convinced I would not be able to control the thermal momentum if it started burning too hot.
I am much more relaxed about temperature management now than before not because I believe it is less important, but because if you are constantly finding yourself at war with your fire something else in your preparation probably went wrong.
I use a bottom chamber full of unlit coals topped with a 10-20 lit coals and between 4-5 pieces of oak chunks with the brisket fat side down. Honestly, something does irk me about unlit coals, but the results are great and it requires very little, if any, intervention during the cook.
- The stall is real and punishing if mismanaged
There is always a point where I question if I have left the stall or not. In my experience, I probably haven’t. Frequently I will convince myself the stall is over, pull out the brisket probe, wrap the brisket (butcher paper), re-insert the probe and my temperature is lower than before. At this point, I will march into the kitchen tell my wife that the brisket will be a disaster and that we should cancel the party. She rolls her eyes and walks out of the room leaving me to sulk in my newfound misery alone. Brisket drama was not explicitly mentioned in our vows. If you’ve budgeted buffer time as advised in 2) you will be fine. If you did not budget buffer time, you might still be fine or you might be a nervous wreck as guests arrive and you’re still sitting at 185. Brisket takes as long as it takes, you can try and salvage it by wrapping in foil or increasing the temperature, but most importantly be honest with yourself, take note of what happened and learn something.
Then do it better next time.
As I cook more briskets in the future, I will continue to add the lessons I learn.
Santé.
John