I have made several Briskets since I first wrote about it in my 2014 Brisket on the Big Green Egg post.  I have come a long way since then.  I just re-read the post and cringed, thinking of the mistakes I made then versus now.  One thing is still true and is of the utmost importance- constant temperature control.  I used to go with 250, that has changed.  225 is the average I shoot for now.  210-235 is the limit for me.  It seems to take about 12 hours for a medium sized slab of brisket.  I cook till 195 internal temperature and do nothing fancy with foils, baths or flipping.  I simply rub the meat with yellow mustard and cover in dry rub.  Fat side down seems to work best as it protects the meat.  That’s all there is to it.  The dry rubs I have tried and mixed at home are all very good, so I bought a whole bunch of new ones to try out, today we are going with the Butt Rub.

One thing that still freaks me out is “The Stall’.  I usually get the charcoal started early in the morning, say 6:30 am and have the meat on the rack by 7.  The internal temps rise rapidly to about 155 or so, which always makes me wonder if dinner is going to be ready by 11 am!  Well, the meat stalls at that temperature for a few hours.  The basic physics of this phenomenon is Evaporative Cooling, otherwise known as Sweating.  Once it stalls, the meat stays at that  temperature for what seems an eternity, perhaps  4 hours or longer.  Past the stall, it continues to cook and the internals get to between 195-203 before I pull the meat, tent it in foil for at least 10 minutes and then slice it across the grain in thin strips.

The dreaded STALL

Lately I have not even been using BBQ sauce, the meat is so tender, smoky and flavorful that it is best served up in a simple manner.  Tonight we are going with a salad, some Seasoned Field Peas with Snaps and perhaps a cold beer or two….

Spring cleaning the garage

The Dry Rub shipment just arrived!