Danny G
BBQ List
to Garry H 


Brisket Thumb Test:

Garry,
We are closed today, but Tim came over to the house, and I asked him
about his method.  Here's how he does it.   

When he thinks the brisket is done, (we cook ours with the fat side up, 
flat to the front), he puts his thumb about 1-1/2 to 2" over the fat side 
of the flat, near the center, and his middle finger on the bottom (lean) 
side of the flat, directly under his thumb, and presses in.  

If his fingers start to penetrate the meat, especially on the lean side of
the flat, 
he knows it's done.  

He said that if it wasn't done enough, the meat would feel kinda like a
piece of rubber, and not "give way".   

All I can tell you is that the brisket is still very sliceable for plate
presentation.  
Will have to try this myself tomorrow when we are cooking.
   Danny
www.dannysbbq.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Date: Fri, 22 Jan 1999 
From: dgaulden@caverns.net (Gaulden, Danny)
Subject: Re: Practice Time

At 07:03 PM 1/22/99 -0600, you wrote:
>OK Q fans,
>
>The last KCBS contest I entered (my 2nd) I asked one of the veterans there
>how someone could pull in at midnight the night before judging, sleep in
>'til 6:00 a.m. and get a brisket ready to go by 1:30 p.m. (and win!). I was
>told that they only cook the flats and not the whole brisket.
>
>Soooo, bein' as how the temp is expected to top at around 40 tomorrow, I
>have a nice flat in the frig' resting in a basic Paul Kirk rub. Gonna pop
it
>in tomorrow and see what happens. Any folks with experience in cooking just
>the flat let me hear from you.
>
>From the Stix,
>Tom Street

Bro. Tom,
   This fasinates me.  Think someone is pull'in one over on you.  Maybe I'm
wrong, but this theory just doesn't make sense to me.  If you have an even
heat in your pit, the flat will take just as long to cook as the point, if
not longer, 
and they are only connected in length, not height or thickness.

Therefore, separating the point from the flat should have nothing to do with
the cooking time of the flat, due to its mass compared to the point, 
if these two pieces are off the same brisket.  If they are not comparing
apple
to apple, then everything changes.  For instance, the flat of an 8 lb.
brisket with a thick fat cap will cook a lot faster that the flat of an 
11 lb. brisket with a thin fat cap.  The fat cap and marbling of the flat
also has a lot to do with what internal temperature one should take the
brisket off the pit.  

A brisket with a nice fat cap will reach a higher internal temperature at 
doneness than a trimmed, lean cut. 
   Danny
         
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`
25 Aug 1999 
From: dgaulden@caverns.net (Gaulden, Danny)
Subject: Why Brisket Can Kick Your Butt

Gang,
   Sold more bbq than we had planned on yesterday, so got down to the ol'
D.Q. at 2 am this morning to fire up the pit.  No, that wasn't bad.  That
was good.  Gave me a chance to get my deposit made, make my rub, sauce,
potato salad, etc. before we opened for business.  Therefore, I had time to
"play with the Q"  today.  Here's the real deal.

Have been concerned about all of you that try to take off a brisket,
etc. by temperature alone.  It might work, and then again, it might not.

Here's why.  

First of all, you have to imigine a brisket on my pit.  I cook them with
the fat side up, and with the flat towards the front.  Most, but not all
briskets have a nice thick side on one side of  the flat with a 1/4" fat
cap, 
then taper down to a  thinner side with very little fat cap.
Sometimes, the butcher almost scoops out all the fat on the tapered side,
and this is bad.   IBP, even though I like their briskets, are bad about
doing this.   On occasion I have gotten briskets that were nice and thick
all the way across the flat, and had a good fat cap the entire duration,
but that is not the norm.  

I did an extensive "temperature check" in different parts of the first 4
briskets I pulled off the pit today, and here's how the cards fell...
The thick part of the flat (all of the 4 had a nice fat cap in that area,
and
that is normal for most packer briskets)  when stuck about 2-3" deep 
(I went in horizontally into the front of the brisket flat) with an accurate
thermometer, read about 190-193.  
Moved the thermometer over 2 to 2-1/2" horizontally into the flat, and took
another reading (getting into the area with little fat cap, if any) and the
thermometer
reading was 183-184.  
Moving on, took a reading in the point, and it read about 200, if the fat
cap 
was heavy in that area, and the point was well marbled.  These kind of 
variations can really confuse a novice bbq cook.  However, these readings 
are nothing new to me, but didn't know if I'd written a post in past years
about 
this particular area in cooking, or not.  If I have, then maybe some of you 
needed a refresher course.  

If one is using temperature readings to take off a brisket, or any
other cut of meat, it is critical.  Not a hit and miss thing, but critical.
Especially if you are in competition cooking, or wanting to be a hero at
your family get together.  I think a lot of folks think that 5 or so isn't
important, 
for maybe they are thinking about how temperature affects THEM.... 
one really can't tell a lot of difference between a humid 90 day vs. a 
humid 95 day...it's just hot.   Well, let me tell you something, 
your meat CAN tell the difference.  It can make you, or break you.  
5 degrees can make the difference between a nice tender brisket, 
and a tough one.  On the reversal...5 degrees over cooked, and you
have a dry, crumbly piece of meat.    

A good expample would be if one checked the temperature of a brisket in
the fatty point area, and it was on 190.  Maybe he or she may think, 
"oh, that's tender, it's on 190, therefore, it must be about done".  
Afraid not Charlie.  The flat may only be reading about 180 at that
point in time, and tough.  Or, on the reversal, one checks the lean part of
the flat and it reads 190, the brisket may be over cooked. 

I know this is confusing to a lot of you, but trust me on this.  Always
check for temperature in a brisket in the thick, fat capped, flat area, not
the point.  

The point will always get done before the flat, if your pit is cooking
EVEN!!!!  

Don't worry about the point getting done too soon.  It won't dry out.  
The fat cap and marbling in the point will keep it nice and tender and juicy
till the flat is done.  I personally guarantee it.   

The only way to avoid all of this worry on temperatures is to learn the
fork tender method on YOUR pit.  All pits are different and have different
feels when the meat is done.  This simple takes a lot of cooking and
practice.  

Hope this post helps some of you on to the road of better Q'ing.
       Danny
www.dannysbbq.com



