Almost two year's ago,Darcy was gracious <br /> enough to post how to cook a packer brisket on an offset/indirect heat cooker.<br /><br />This came from Ray Basso's bbq forum.<br /><br />This will not all apply directly to a Cookshack,but many of you have other cookers in inventory.<br /><br />This is not meant to take the place of the fine method that Smokin' has developed specific to the Cookshack,but is a good read from another good cook out in Smokin's neck of the woods.<br /><br />Posted by Darcy on January 11, 2002 at 21:07:42:<br /><br />In Reply to: Re: Cooking Briskets with Indirect heat posted by Darcy on January 11, 2002 at 19:55:16:<br /><br />First things first...how many are we cooking for ??<br /><br />You can figure anywhere from .25 - .5 lb per head depending on how many side items, also take into account the type of people you will be serving....all male, mixed crowd, kids etc.<br /> <br />Now figure 50% shrinkage from the packer trimmed briskets you will be cooking. Rule of thumb, 15-16 servings out of a 11lb brisket.<br /><br />Notice that I said " packer trimmed " briskets, don't even think about cooking any flats on your maiden voyage. The packer's have a lot more fat and are more forgiving.<br /><br />Yes, we will be cooking them with a lot of the fat still on them and you will be serving them almost fat free, trust me.<br />Don't wait until the morning of the tournament to start this dog & pony show, if it's this Saturday, call Burger King and have them cater instead. OK, now that you have figured out how many briskets we are cooking, let's buy them. I swear by "Certified Angus Beef" choice grade briskets in the aprox 11 lb range,try keeping them in the same size range so they will be coming off the cooker at the same time. 1 lb + or - isn't going to make that much differance. Others will advocate "select" grades from Sams, but I suggest holding out for choice grade. What I like about the "CAB" is that they are consistant in quality., kind of like my typing skills.<br /><br />Let's trim these pups ! There will be a couple of big wedges of fat on the sides, so go ahead and remove these. You will notice that one side has a lot more fat than the other, this is called the "fat cap". Trim this leaving aprox 1/4in fat on the brisket. The other side won't have a hell of a lot on it but you can trim it up if you want.<br /><br />Next comes the seasoning, a lot of us will apply a thin coat of mustard before applying the rub, the cheap $2 gal kind works great.<br /><br />If you don't want to fool with it, don't. After you apply a fairly liberal amount of rub, let them sit and sweat a little before wrapping them. A lot of these techniques are a lot easier when you only have 1 or 2 briskets as opposed to a dozen or more, so if I suggest a method and you can see an easier way to do it, then by all means do it, this ain't rocket science. Just let us know what happens.<br /><br />As far as rubs go, stick with a local favorite brand such as Oklahoma Joes, Head Country etc. As long as it's got garlic and pepper in it you'll be allright. If you have a while to plan this out, there are several forum members that have some outstanding rubs on the market.<br /><br />Next thing to do after seasoning the briskets ( after you have let them sweat for a few minutes )is to put them in some plastic bags and refrigerate them overnight or for a few hours at least.<br /><br />Ok you've got this big honkin smoker on wheels just waiting to be fired up, so lets crank er up !! First off, throw those pine 2x4s away. There aint nothin but hardwood going in there, or some fruit wood if you have access. You'll want to start an hour or so before you put the meat on. Get a good bed of coals and bring it up ( or down ) to desired temp. I usually like to get my pit up to around 400 degrees, wire brush my grates and then let it come down to 275. This is assuming that the pit doesn't have 10 years worth of sludge built up on it, you may want to start cleaning on it today. Don't wait until the last minute. Remember, you're trying to pass yourself off to your friends as a bbq man.<br />A lot of folks cook at 225 while others ( me included ) cook a lot hotter. If you have time to kill,cook at 225, if you're cooking the same day you're eating, crank it up. Just don't get it so hot that you're burning the fat. Your objective is a clean burning fire. This is done by not restricting the air flow. Hopefully, your pit has a draft adjustment both on the fire box and one on the flue. Take some baling wire and wire the flue adjustment open, you don't even want to fool with this one. If you have to adjust your draft at all, do it at the fire box. Once you start restricting your air flow, cresote will start forming on the meat( or at least, the unmistakable taste of cresote ). I am assuming that you have a log burning pit, so that's what I will be talking about as far as fuel is concerned.<br /><br />Hardwood, seasoned....preferably pecan. Hickory and oak are great but hickory has a tendency to be overwhelming so you might want to mix it with something else. <br />Place the briskets on "fat side up " with the "point" ( thick part )<br />pointing towards the fire. <br /><br />BTW, figure about 1 - 1 1/2 hours per pound cooking time ( 10 lb brisket = 15 hours cooking time ). FWIW, all mine are usually done in less than 8 hours. <br /><br />You can either leave the briskets fat side up for the whole cooking duration or turn them about half way through and then start basting them about every 1/2 hour or so. Remember, everytime you raise the door, heat escapes and you add 15-20 minutes more cooking time.<br /><br />Cook them to an internal temperature ( yes, go buy a meat thermometer ) of 175. Wrap them tightly in heavy duty foil and continue cooking to an internal temp of 195. After they have reach 195, remove them from the cooker and place them in an insulated cooler to keep them hot ( best not to use the wife's best Igloo ).<br />Let them sit for at least an hour to let the juices settle. When you start cutting these up, save the juices for later, again I am assuming that you are cooking, cutting and serving all on the same day. <br /><br />A little about the anatomy of a brisket. A packer trimmed brisket is basically two parts, a flat and a point. The flat is just that, the flat or bottom part. The grain all runs in the same direction with the flat. The point sets on top of the flat on one end, thus giving the "thick" end to the brisket. The flat and the point are seperated by a layer of fat. Now, lets start slicing.<br /><br />First, after removing from foil and draing the juice, place the brisket fat side up, take your knife and scrape off all the remaining fat, while doing this you will notice how the grain on the flat is running. Now take your knife and slide it between the flat and point and remove the point. Now you can scrape off any remaining fat.<br /><br />When slicing the flat, slice perpindicular to the grain. Take a slice and gently tug on it, it should have just a very slight tug before breaking in two. If it's a little tough, make thinner slices, if it's falling apart tender, tell them who gave you this advice and slice it a little thicker. You can do several things with the point, personally I love the taste of the point a lot more than the flat.But it's got a lot of fat in it, so you can throw the point back on the smoker and let the fat render out and save it for chili. Or chop it up and use it for sandwiches. Or go ahead and slice it and serve it.<br /><br />This is it pretty much in a nut shell. It's about as condensed as I can get it and still make sense. There are a lot of variables involved that I didn't even cover....marinades, bastes, foil/no foil,<br />weather, music,fuels etc. Basically, what advice I gave you is bbq 101 ( or 911 ), enough to get you through this gig. If it doesn't turn out right, there will be plenty of reasons why. But if you cook them to temp, don't overcook, they will turn out all right. <br /><br />Good Luck<br />Darcy
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