Brisket dialed in, FINALLY!

My ideal brisket is pencil thick slices that can hang over the edge of the knife without breaking, and pass the pull and hang test as you stated. That being said, if you’re slightly over cooking them you’re in better shape than you’d be slightly under.
 
Great read and my biggest thing is the grade of brisket. I will not do select grade. Yours looks really good.
 
Update...

Did another brisket this weekend using the same method, with everything exactly the same as described in my original post. Cooked it all day Sunday, determined doneness solely by feel and didn't let a probe get anywhere near it, then rested it down for two hours before sealing and dropping in to a sous vide bath at 141 over night.

Just sliced in to it, and again, the tenderness was dead to nuts PERFECT.

Unfortunately for me I only got to taste test 1 slice of the flat and 1 small slice of the point, but I was 100% satisfied with the seasoning and overall flavor, moisture level, and tenderness of both. I couldn't have been happier with it really. That said, I'm pretty sure I have this thing dialed in now and won't be doing briskets any other way going forward. The only change will be that I do plan on buying a holding cabinet I will use that for the over night rest once I get it.

The reason I only got to taste test a couple slices is because most of this brisket was to fulfill some orders from some co-workers. Long story short a while back my freezer was overflowing and my better half instructed me to give some of my vac sealed brisket and pulled pork to some friends and co-workers to make room. Theory being they would be stoked to have it... and it would make room in the freezer so win win. Well... that kind of turned into something unexpectedly. All the friends and co-workers I gave it too raved about how good it was, and several told me that I should sell this stuff because they would definitely buy it. So it has become my brand new side hustle. It's very small batch and I'm not offering it publicly, just to friends, family, and co-workers... but the response so far has been great.

 
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smokeisgood said:
Quit doing the bend test. Seriously. Unless you are in some sort of competition, who cares? If your flavor and appearance are where you want them and it tastes good, do you really care if it bends across a fork. This is competition nonsense like one clean bite ribs.
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Good to keep in mind. At our house if the brisket doesn't pass the bend test we throw it in the trash. Even the dog refuses to eat it.
 
There is a special amount of satisfaction in knowing you reached a goal that no one else in the world would know. Only you know when it was "perfect". Congratulations. I know it will be tough paying off that 2nd mortgage on the house that you used to pay for all those briskets, but damn was it worth it! :grin:
 
You and I have a similar play lists. I've learned a lot from Chud, Jirby and Jeremy Yoder vids.

One thing I'm curious about is your hold method. I've got a sous vide but never held that way as I'm concerned getting it into the bag, or taking it out will effect the bark or maybe even pull some off. What is your experience with that facet?

I've been using a big ole turkey roaster. As you discovered as well, it's important to bleed off the carry over cooking temps before putting it in the warmer. I usually bring it down to 155 before throwing in the roaster. I suspect you'll need to play with roaster temps a bit if you go to one eventually. It's not rock solid like sous vide. About 155 probe temp inside the roaster keeps the meat around 140. I am curious to your sous vide technique with bagging and removal. It's definitely a better holding technique to maintain steady temps and no moisture is lost.
I typically butcher paper wrap my briskets. I open to cool then close back up before putting in roaster. I could leave in the butcher paper and throw into sous vid bag without much risk of bark damage.

What is your method for bagging?
 
robertm said:
You and I have a similar play lists. I've learned a lot from Chud, Jirby and Jeremy Yoder vids.

One thing I'm curious about is your hold method. I've got a sous vide but never held that way as I'm concerned getting it into the bag, or taking it out will effect the bark or maybe even pull some off. What is your experience with that facet?

I've been using a big ole turkey roaster. As you discovered as well, it's important to bleed off the carry over cooking temps before putting it in the warmer. I usually bring it down to 155 before throwing in the roaster. I suspect you'll need to play with roaster temps a bit if you go to one eventually. It's not rock solid like sous vide. About 155 probe temp inside the roaster keeps the meat around 140. I am curious to your sous vide technique with bagging and removal. It's definitely a better holding technique to maintain steady temps and no moisture is lost.
I typically butcher paper wrap my briskets. I open to cool then close back up before putting in roaster. I could leave in the butcher paper and throw into sous vid bag without much risk of bark damage.

What is your method for bagging?
Click to expand...

For me bagging has never been a problem, and when I open the bag I make two cuts, one just below the seal, and then another going the long way right down the center so I can easily just lift the brisket right out.

As to the bark, I also have had no issues there. One thing I will say though is it comes out almost identical to a paper wrapped brisket that was soaked with tallow. It has that very wet appearance, but it does NOT rub off. I have been using the Chud foil boat method rather than a paper wrap. I think this works especially well if you are going to use a sous vide rest because when the brisket goes in to the bag, it has a nice crusty bark, but when vac sealed, it pulls a little of the naturally rendered tallow out of the brisket and the bark is softened from sitting in that the whole rest. But again, if the bark is properly set it does not rub off.

Look at the last picture I posted and you will see what I mean that it looks like it had tallow poured on it, but it did not, that is just the effect of the sous vide rest. I actually really like the end result of the bark and I have been thinking about how I can keep the same end result when I get my holding cabinet. In that case, once rested down to 150ish, I will probably take the brisket out of the foil boat, wrap in paper and pour some tallow on it. That is what Jirby showed in one of his videos and seems like a winning idea. Honestly, it would be a good way to use up some of my tallow too... because I've been ending up with about 1 full jar for every brisket I cook. It's starting to stack up LOL
 
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And to those that keep hounding me on the bend test... I think your missing the point, it was never just about the bend test. My briskets were coming out over cooked and were not slicing correctly. Once you would start getting near or in to the point they would start to shred. I don't like that.

With the way I am doing them now, that doesn't happen. I still need to do more testing as I'm only two cooks in, but both have been successful and the end result was exactly what I have been striving for.
 
Bob C Cue said:
Good to keep in mind. At our house if the brisket doesn't pass the bend test we throw it in the trash. Even the dog refuses to eat it.
Click to expand...


Now that is one sophisticated, and well fed, dog! I thought mine was high maintenance for refusing to drink water more than 3 hours from the tap. However, he is quite happy to drink water 6-7 hours from the tap. it's true, absence makes the tongue grow fonder.
 
Nice play by play , looks great , what kind of bag dod you use thats large enough to put the brisket in
 
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