OK, the results are in. Sort of.
15 pound brisket (yowza), cut into Point and Tip.
I'm estimating 6 to 7 pounds on the thin end, the remaining 8 to 9 pounds on the thick end.
The Point
The Point was marinated for about 10 hours in a bag in the fridge, fat on, in the following:
Soy Sauce
Lime Juice
Balsamic Vinegar
Kosher Salt
Brown Sugar
Water
Canola oil / Olive oil mix
Before going on the smoker, it was cut of some thick fat and Zatt'd pretty well on both sides. You could tell the piece was marinated. Much more malleable than the Tip. I'm not sure if that was because of the fluid that was exchanged, the breakdown of connective tissue, or both.
The Tip
The Tip was widdled of its fat before spicing. Zatt'd fairly well too. In the fridge overnight in Saran Wrap. She sweat a bit cause of the Zats, but not much.
The Smoke
Smoke was hovering at about 200 for most of the day, which was absolutely perfect. I'd rather put time into it than temperature. The connective tissue "rest" was just as predicted, which told me it was doing the proper thing. Then she dipped a bit and I have to throw some lump onto the fire, which got super hot as it was on top, etc. But at that point it only had to go about 15'F. That was accomplished and 190'F was accomplished within an hour. Wrapped in foil for about 5 hours as I fell asleep.
The Results
Results also in a video that I'm going to post laster (working on it now).
Both are tasty. I Zatt'd them pretty good, as the last brisket I did was a bit of a let down. It was a bit dry, and obviously was warmer than the Point which was higher up. My thermoprobes messed up (Maverick, fix this, contact me when it's fixed) so I was only measuring the top Point, which came off at 190'F. The Tip meat is a bit tougher.
The Point...is closer to spectacular than I had expected. It's glorious stuff. As the video will show, it's a moist piece of meat without sacrificing this outer bark and flavour. However...and this is a big however in my books...it has a bit of that corned beef look to it. I spoke about this in another thread as I am not a fan of corned beef.
The Goal
What I want is true Southern. But I want moist meat as well. Meat without moisture is leather, or even wood. I am balancing butchering fat, meat thickness, salt in the dry rub, opportunity to marinade and/or injection, makeup of the marinade, duration of both marinade and/or dry rub rest, smoke temperature, smoker rack choices, smoke duration, foiling on last phase of smoker, mopping of tail end of smoking, and foiling of final product.
I am trying to see if I can get what's commercially acceptable in a restaurant I'd put my name on. Dry meat anybody can make. Tasteless meat is what I'm finding current restaurants doing in my town. I want this stuff bursting with flavour and moisture, without messing up the texture. I think it's highly achievable.
Also, is Zats considered too salty?
Video to follow.
Cheers
