This time I got a very lean single-muscle piece of brisket. About 5 lb. I used the same rub as before. I started it on Friday morning at 8:45 am.
At 12:15 pm (after 3.5 hours) it was at 145 F.
At 6pm (9 and 1/4 hours) it was at 158 F.
9 am next day it was at 175 F.
11 am next day (after more than 26 hours) it was at 195 F.
It was tender but dry. At a BBQ store it would be classified as "extra-lean". We ate it all, it was good enough to eat.
My second attempt at BBQ brisket was a miserable failure. I bought a very small piece (1.6 lb) of lean brisket and cooked it straight on the griddle. In 4 hours it only reached about 150 F and after 8 hours it reached 175 F. At that point I gave up and took if off. I cut into it and it was dry and chewy like a shoe leather.
I have already tried to smoke pork shoulder (Boston butt) twice. Here are the data:
First time it was an elongated 3.5 lb piece with a bone. I marinated it for a day and smoked overnight. Final time was 13 hours and the temperature reached 197 degrees F. It was perfectly tender and not too dry.
Second time it was a 4.8 lb boneless piece, but I cut off 1.3 lb for other purposes, so again it was 3.5 lb of pork that was smoked, but it was more rounded and no bone. I marinated it overnight and cooked during the day. Initially temperature was 42 F, after 3.5 hours temp was 149 F, and after 9 hrs 15 min the temp was 174 F. That's when I got it out of the smoker. The fibers were totally tender, and seemed to be juicier than the first time, but it seemed to be harder to pull apart with my fingers.
Either way, I don't consider this to be presentation food. Myself I would eat it just fine, but I would not offer it to my dinner guests.
My first attempt at BBQ brisket. I wanted to find a very fatty brisket for my first attempt and I found one at The Meat House in Austin. Almost $5 a pound is a bit expensive for brisket, especially considering it's mostly fat, but what wouldn't I do for the science. Sigh.
I used the same rub as I used for my pork ribs. I let it soak into the brisket during the day in the fridge and then smoked the brisket overnight. Final time was 10 hours. It was a bit too long for such a small chunk of meat (just over 5 pounds) and the final temperature was 210 degrees F. The books recommend 195. This did not hurt the brisket, though. It was plenty juicy and tender. I did struggle with cutting off the fat. A big chunk of the brisket was also the part where meat fibers are well covered with fat. I did not eat those parts. I carved out the solid meat pieces. So, while certainly successful, this was not an inexpensive experiment. I maybe got 1.5 pounds of top quality beef out of 5.2 pound chunk of brisket that cost me $23.
To watch the temperature I got this very cool and inexpensive gadget at IKEA. For only $6.99 it doubles as a timer. I liked it so much I got a second one.
It is amazing just how easy it is to BBQ if you have an electric smoker. I got the most basic model of Brinkmann electric smoker at Home Depot for $70. It does not have a thermometer. It does not have a temperature regulator of any kind. All you can do is plug it in and wait. And it works!
This is my first attempt at making BBQ pork ribs and it came out so good, I'll never need to buy barbequed ribs again!
Chips:
Rub:
This is plenty more than enough rub for 1 slab of pork ribs. Rub it generously and leave pork in the fridge overnight. Next day put the ribs into the smoker and turn it on. Come back 5 hours later and enjoy great food!
How do I know it should be 5 hours? I bought 2 BBQ books and both of them agree that BBQ baby back ribs needs to be cooked for 5 hours. They were right.
