BDAABAT
is one Smokin' Farker
Howdy all!
I'd seen a post on X about brisket prep recently where the recommendation was made to use mustard to slather the meat prior to applying seasonings. There were commenters that opined about the flavor that would result from the use of mustard.
Back when I first started off on my cooking journey here, I recall being told that yes, mustard was what was used for brisket prep and that no, it would not impart flavor...it was basically seasoning adhesive.
That suggested to me that other things could be used as seasoning adhesives. Being a curious guy, I decided to give it a shot. Not a full, double blind experiment...just the pre-experiment work to see if the concept holds before going out and purchasing two briskets to smoke.
I had a chuck roast available that had been dry brining in the fridge. Time to experiment!
NOTE: I have no idea if dry brining a chuckie does anything positive. I've just sort of gotten into the habit of doing it with all reasonably large format proteins. The down side of dry brining something that you want to season with rub and then smoke is that the dry bringing process makes the surface of the protein, errr...dry. And, a very dry surface makes it harder for seasoning to adhere.
Instead of mustard, I used mayo as adhesive.
Why mayo? I've previously used mayo as an adhesive for seasoning for baked chicken. Works quite well! However, for a short cook for chicken, it DOES provide a bit of mayo flavor to the chicken.
On to the experiment!
I decided that I'd cook the chuckies the way I usually do: cover with rub, then toss on the cooker until IT reach ~ 165; then pull, place in a foil pan and add seasoned beef broth and cover. Cook until IT reaches ~ 203, then remove from heat and let rest until it's cool enough to handle. Then break it apart. Strain off the fat from the broth/juice mix, then add back the beef.
Chuckies pre-seasoning but post dry brining:
Chuckies post rub down with mayo and seasoned with rub:
Chuckies after completing their cook:
Q: Is there any discernible mayo flavor after cooking?
A: Not that I could detect.
Conclusions: mayo works as a seasoning adhesive and doesn't impart mayo flavor to the chuck roast.
What does this mean?
Probably nothing.
I thought I'd use a chuckie to test because: a. I had it available; b. I was wondering how I'd get more seasoning to stick to it. I also thought, if the results suggest that mayo flavor doesn't come through on a relatively short cook for a chuckie, it likely won't happen with a brisket that cooks for much longer. But, to make sure, will need to do additional testing.
If someone wants to fund the next stage of the experiment, please let me know.
Bruce
I'd seen a post on X about brisket prep recently where the recommendation was made to use mustard to slather the meat prior to applying seasonings. There were commenters that opined about the flavor that would result from the use of mustard.
Back when I first started off on my cooking journey here, I recall being told that yes, mustard was what was used for brisket prep and that no, it would not impart flavor...it was basically seasoning adhesive.
That suggested to me that other things could be used as seasoning adhesives. Being a curious guy, I decided to give it a shot. Not a full, double blind experiment...just the pre-experiment work to see if the concept holds before going out and purchasing two briskets to smoke.
I had a chuck roast available that had been dry brining in the fridge. Time to experiment!
NOTE: I have no idea if dry brining a chuckie does anything positive. I've just sort of gotten into the habit of doing it with all reasonably large format proteins. The down side of dry brining something that you want to season with rub and then smoke is that the dry bringing process makes the surface of the protein, errr...dry. And, a very dry surface makes it harder for seasoning to adhere.
Instead of mustard, I used mayo as adhesive.
Why mayo? I've previously used mayo as an adhesive for seasoning for baked chicken. Works quite well! However, for a short cook for chicken, it DOES provide a bit of mayo flavor to the chicken.
On to the experiment!
I decided that I'd cook the chuckies the way I usually do: cover with rub, then toss on the cooker until IT reach ~ 165; then pull, place in a foil pan and add seasoned beef broth and cover. Cook until IT reaches ~ 203, then remove from heat and let rest until it's cool enough to handle. Then break it apart. Strain off the fat from the broth/juice mix, then add back the beef.
Chuckies pre-seasoning but post dry brining:
Chuckies post rub down with mayo and seasoned with rub:
Chuckies after completing their cook:
Q: Is there any discernible mayo flavor after cooking?
A: Not that I could detect.
Conclusions: mayo works as a seasoning adhesive and doesn't impart mayo flavor to the chuck roast.
What does this mean?
Probably nothing.
I thought I'd use a chuckie to test because: a. I had it available; b. I was wondering how I'd get more seasoning to stick to it. I also thought, if the results suggest that mayo flavor doesn't come through on a relatively short cook for a chuckie, it likely won't happen with a brisket that cooks for much longer. But, to make sure, will need to do additional testing.
If someone wants to fund the next stage of the experiment, please let me know.
Bruce
