Bribery is a Dish Best Served Smoked ...

UWFSAE

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So, I pulled in a ton of favors for an intercollegiate debate tournament my team is hosting this weekend and to entice a few colleagues to come all the way down to the Houston area I had to promise smoked brisket.  Feeding friends is like feeding stray animals ... they keep coming back for more.  Sadly, good briskets have been in very short supply around these parts so I went with the best of what I could find.

So ... a pretty simple start to the process:  pumped, slathered, rubbed, held, smoked, devoured.

I used a simple injection consisting of 1/2 cup of beef stock (Kitchen Basics brand), 1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce, 1/4 cup Dale's Seasoning, 1/4 cup unsalted butter, 2 tbsp Crystal Hot Sauce.

After injection the 6.71 lb. trimmed choice brisket was slathered with molasses and then coated with a new brisket rub I've been playing with:

1/4 cup coarse ground black pepper
2 tbsp garlic powder
2 tbsp onion powder
2 tbsp turbinado sugar
1 tbsp kosher salt
1 tbsp ground white pepper
1 tsp ancho chili powder
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp cumin

The injected/slathered/rubbed brisket was wrapped in plastic and will go in the smoker tomorrow morning around 6:00 a.m. and smoke most of the day at 225 with two ounces of hickory and three ounces of cherry.  I'll add a hanging water pan with a Shiner Bock and that's it ... no Texas Crutch, no spritzing, no poking or prodding or fiddling.  With a bit of luck and a short stall it'll be ready to remove between 4:00-5:00 p.m. at a final temp of 175.  After cooling a bit, it'll refrigerate overnight and suffer through an early morning reheat  to 175-180 in the oven with a bit of the reserved injection liquid and be taken up to campus for a little 9:00 a.m. BBQ before the tourney kicks into high gear.  It's not optimal, but I remain an optimist.

Wish me luck ...
 

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...ok... I'm watching this one.  I don't want my kid telling me that the next one that I smoke looks like a rock too... :D
 
you smoke it .... they will come.

good luck this weekend... I am looking forward to pictures of the Brisket and the trophy!
 
Hey Joe:

Are the effects of bribery up for debate this weekend?  I can't wait for the results.  The best part of this is that nobody loses as long as they get a piece of that brisket!
 
I take care of my judges and fellow coaches, that's all I'm saying ...

The first shot is after I removed from the fridge this morning at 6:30am and added a bit more rub.  The second is the culmination of an 11 hour smoke.  Remarkably juicy and a few of the morsels that "fell off" have killer flavor.  I'm calling this new rub my favorite until further notice.
 

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So ... yeah.  I had intended to carve this brisket tomorrow for judges and coaches at the tournament I'm hosting. Let's just say the best laid plans of mice and men oft go astray.

Removed at 178, coasted up to 185 during the hold.  It's ... sublime.





 
Now that is how it's done. That is a great looking brisket and very nice results.  I especially like the dark bark with the juicy meat on the inside.
 
I tried molasses on a lark and I haven't gone back since.  The natural sugars in it really promote caramelization and an incredible (and tasty) bark.  No overt sweetness, only the barest essence of the flavor and it seems to promote wonderful smoke penetration.
 
Joe:

That's a good point about using molasses as a binding agent to achieve that caramelization effect.  Even if you wanted to add a touch more sweetness, you could add a touch of honey to the molasses before applying, however I will try it without the honey for my 1st attempt, then alter if needed thereafter.
 
A long damn day ... luckily, the brisket was a huge hit.  I warmed it in the oven per my original plan this morning and served it thin sliced with Grands Flaky Biscuits and Sweet Baby Ray's Brown Sugar BBQ Sauce.

It was devoured in less than 20 minutes ... it's a good thing I sampled it last night.
 
Looks incredible, Joe!  I see you're on the Crystal hot sauce in the injection!  That's become my favorite ever since I substituted it for sriracha in your pork injection recipe!  :D  The molasses really brings color in the bark to the party!  Well done, my friend!
 
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