How does Famous Dave's prepare their brisket?

It is my understanding,and we have a Dave's manager here on the forum,that they buy them precooked from a central commissary and finish them in Cookshacks at each site.

Sadler's is one Tx firm that supplies to many chains,box stores,and restaurants.

They can add smoke,at a temp around 200�,and bring to a serving temp below 160� internal.

A rest/hold in a warm smokey beef broth is standard for many prepared meats in restaurants.

This works from burgers on up.

Just a guess,and maybe someone more knowledgable can add to it.

I have eaten at some Dave's and they have a nice restaurant experience.

As far as personal preference,I don't know any brisket cooks that don't far surpass them.

ok,
give this a try at home. think you will come very close.
assuming you have a cs or sm model.
cold brisket(12-14 pound packer) rubbed, put into cold smoker.
set temp to 215f,time to 15 hours,hold temp at 165f
start cooking at 12 noon and take out at 5am.
wrap in commercial film and then in heavy gauge foil and throw into freezer (yep freezer) overnite.
next day go to same 215f temp,time 3 hours and again hold at 165f until internal meat temp is 165-170f.
when ready to eat unwrap. if you want hard bark just up temp to set the bark.
it will slice like a dream. heavy smoke ring and good smoke profile(the wrapping and chilling increases smoke profile and darned if i know why.
internal temp of the brisket when you 1st take out to wrap will be in the area of 175-180f.
jack
ps. this is the way i have been doing them for the last 6 months. the sm beats the fec hands down on briskets!!!!!

very very interesting.

Your FD must be different than the one just down the street from my office in Salt Lake. The brisket tastes terrible--dry, bitter, no smoke, no discernable BBQ flavor.

We used to order out at FD's regularly for meetings, but then I cooked a bunch of BBQ a while back and brought it in just to show the guys what BBQ is. We haven't ordered FD's since.

But hey, their corn muffins are pretty good.

The "drunken apples' are pretty good too.

A good pairing with pulled pork.

Thanks everyone for the replies.

Interesting technique, Jack. You only take them up to a max of 180* internal, right? How tender is the brisket when all is said and done. Do you have to slice more thinly to make up for it if it's not quite as tender at 180* internal, or does the reheating process tend to make it more tender?

studly,
the reheating in the film and foil combo does make it more tender but you still have the ability to slice quite thinly. i do not have a slicer and prefer to use my fredrick dick round nose carving knife.
the 1st time i did the above method our best brisket customer Jean said don't change a thing. she is in her 70's and loves brisket so i use her for my quality gaugesince she is not afraid to give her honest opinion and more importantly is extremely specific on the definition of exactly what she doesn't care for and/or likes. she hates two things #1 is fat and by using this method the fat seems to melt away especially on the reheat. and #2 she is very specific about tenderness and moistness and the reheat method is what she likes the best. nicest part is she goes out of her way to tell people standing in line to order the brisket and we don't even pay her!!!
as an aside if we do have any unsliced leftover i just film and foil it and throw it into the rig freezer. have even reheated the reheat that way with the same results.
jack
ps. this method also allows me to buy brisket when it is on sale and cook and freeze it for later use to maximize my profit but at no penalty to my overall quality.

Wow, thanks for sharing your technique, Jack!

quote:

Originally posted by prisonchef:
ok,give this a try at home. think you will come very close. assuming you have a cs or sm model.

cold brisket(12-14 pound packer) rubbed, put into cold smoker.

set temp to 215f,time to 15 hours,hold temp at 165f

start cooking at 12 noon and take out at 5am. wrap in commercial film and then in heavy gauge foil and throw into freezer (yep freezer) overnite.

next day go to same 215f temp,time 3 hours and again hold at 165f until internal meat temp is 165-170f.when ready to eat unwrap. if you want hard bark just up temp to set the bark.it will slice like a dream. heavy smoke ring and good smoke profile(the wrapping and chilling increases smoke profile and darned if i know why.internal temp of the brisket when you 1st take out to wrap will be in the area of 175-180f.jack

ps. this is the way i have been doing them for the last 6 months. the sm beats the fec hands down on briskets!!!!!

Will this work with a FEC 300 also?

quote:

Originally posted by Wetspot:
Will this work with a FEC 300 also?

Sure, but why go to this trouble. I personally think it's overworking the whole process. If you're wanting to cook, reheat, you can, but there's nothing magic about 215.

The issue for me is cooking to a set time. But other than that if you want to cook/freeze/reheat you can. The method is used by a lot of restaurants.

I love going to BBQ joints and being from TX BBQ means brisket and i have yet to eat one better than what comes out of my FEC thanks to Tom and Smokin. We used to go to a local place and raved about it to all the new guys coming to the base, not anymore i invite them over for some real Q

Like Paul Harvey used to say"and that's the rest of the story"

jack/prisonchef used to work the farmers' markets,etc.

His specialty was finely shredded brisket,on a large biscuit,with gravy on the side.

He had specific techniques that fit his very specific needs,but did not apply to our bbq community in its broader approach.

Hope this helps a little.