GroundChunk
Knows what a fatty is.
- Joined
- Jul 4, 2016
- Location
- Tampa, FL
Hi everyone,
I cooked six extremely small pieces of brisket flat at 400 degrees on a grill (lowest temps I could get while all three burners were on low). Why? I wanted to know what integrity remained of the meat on high heat after three different cooking methods were utilized, perhaps giving hope to anyone stuck with small flats. Other than that, I don't know.
I bought a small flat, and sliced it into six 3.4-3.7 oz "strips". I seasoned them with salt and pepper in case they turned out edible.
(1) was placed on the grill direct heat. Fat cap down, three strips of bacon on top.
(2) was placed fat cap up with a water pan underneath the cooking grate.
(3) was placed in a small bake pan with apple juice one inch deep (semi braise)
All three were placed at the front of the grill at 400-420 degrees.
Findings:
(1)
Bacon topped fat cap down direct grill. 1:15 time to cook.
Surprisingly edible. Pulled at 217 internal temp.
Stiff rubbery pull (jerky ish). Cooked til probe went in with moderate resistance. Hadn't rendered much connective tissue. Some moisture came out of probe hole. Was able to bite thru whole piece with similar effort to a piece of sirloin cooked well plus. Fat cap had charred. Little to no moisture. No grease. Little flavor. Bacon was good.
(2)
Water pan under grate. Fat cap up. 207 degrees
1:40 time
Medium moistness. Beef flavor was there. Good grease wetness from fat cap after resting. Bite similar to sirloin grilled medium well with a rubbery stringiness. Collagen within flesh hadn't rendered, but more so than straight grill bite.
(3)
Apple juice braise. 208 degrees
1:30 time to cook.
Meat had water moisture in it. Good grease wetness from fat cap. Took on the sweetness of the apple juice very well. Bite was like "roast beef" according to my wife. I'm not sure what kind of roast beef that might be. Fat cap had carmelized nicely and rendered somewhat. Collagen in flesh rendered more than others (perceived to have), and the moistness and grease made it most edible of the three. Very hard to pull the strip apart. Bite was stringy and rubbery.
The exteriors of all three samples were tough to penetrate. The direct grill (1) was easiest because it was the driest and "peeled". The apple juice (3) seemed to be the hardest to open and had to be cut. This exercise revealed the already apparent reliance of time and temperature in rendering connective tissue within muscle. I pushed all three samples well past the sweet spot (200-203) and found a severe lack of rendered tissue. The apple juice semi braise was most moist and rendered the most tissue.
Conclusion:
All three samples were cooked in different environments thus creating different temperatures and cooking times, but all three were resting on a grill grate within a foot of flame. I'd say don't cook small pieces of lean brisket over direct heat. Provide a loving, moist, and low temperature environment for the meat to render tissues adequately over a required minimum amount of time.
Thanks for reading and sorry for wasting your time.
I cooked six extremely small pieces of brisket flat at 400 degrees on a grill (lowest temps I could get while all three burners were on low). Why? I wanted to know what integrity remained of the meat on high heat after three different cooking methods were utilized, perhaps giving hope to anyone stuck with small flats. Other than that, I don't know.
I bought a small flat, and sliced it into six 3.4-3.7 oz "strips". I seasoned them with salt and pepper in case they turned out edible.
(1) was placed on the grill direct heat. Fat cap down, three strips of bacon on top.
(2) was placed fat cap up with a water pan underneath the cooking grate.
(3) was placed in a small bake pan with apple juice one inch deep (semi braise)
All three were placed at the front of the grill at 400-420 degrees.
Findings:
(1)
Bacon topped fat cap down direct grill. 1:15 time to cook.
Surprisingly edible. Pulled at 217 internal temp.
Stiff rubbery pull (jerky ish). Cooked til probe went in with moderate resistance. Hadn't rendered much connective tissue. Some moisture came out of probe hole. Was able to bite thru whole piece with similar effort to a piece of sirloin cooked well plus. Fat cap had charred. Little to no moisture. No grease. Little flavor. Bacon was good.
(2)
Water pan under grate. Fat cap up. 207 degrees
1:40 time
Medium moistness. Beef flavor was there. Good grease wetness from fat cap after resting. Bite similar to sirloin grilled medium well with a rubbery stringiness. Collagen within flesh hadn't rendered, but more so than straight grill bite.
(3)
Apple juice braise. 208 degrees
1:30 time to cook.
Meat had water moisture in it. Good grease wetness from fat cap. Took on the sweetness of the apple juice very well. Bite was like "roast beef" according to my wife. I'm not sure what kind of roast beef that might be. Fat cap had carmelized nicely and rendered somewhat. Collagen in flesh rendered more than others (perceived to have), and the moistness and grease made it most edible of the three. Very hard to pull the strip apart. Bite was stringy and rubbery.
The exteriors of all three samples were tough to penetrate. The direct grill (1) was easiest because it was the driest and "peeled". The apple juice (3) seemed to be the hardest to open and had to be cut. This exercise revealed the already apparent reliance of time and temperature in rendering connective tissue within muscle. I pushed all three samples well past the sweet spot (200-203) and found a severe lack of rendered tissue. The apple juice semi braise was most moist and rendered the most tissue.
Conclusion:
All three samples were cooked in different environments thus creating different temperatures and cooking times, but all three were resting on a grill grate within a foot of flame. I'd say don't cook small pieces of lean brisket over direct heat. Provide a loving, moist, and low temperature environment for the meat to render tissues adequately over a required minimum amount of time.
Thanks for reading and sorry for wasting your time.
