Searing your brisket

R

rockinruthman

< 25 Posts
Is it helpful or too much of a hassle? I was just drooling over a Lyfe Tyme pit and saw that they recommend searing on their website.
 
Paging Smoky Brisket (or) BriskeTexan... paging a Mr. Smoky Brisket (or) a Mr. BriskeTexan...

texasflag.gif
hookem.gif
texasflag.gif
hookem.gif
texasflag.gif
 
I've done it both ways. Didn't make a difference from what I could tell. I just did four last Friday without it and it didn't matter.
 
I tried their site and it is down. How, exactly, do they recommend you sear it? On first thought sounds like more trouble than it would be worth...
whiteflag.gif
 
Salt lick does this in order to ensure their rub sticks to the brisket and doesn't come off during smoking.

If you look up searing, they'll say the purpose is either to lock in juices or give it color and flavor. You don't need to do either to a have a great brisket.

Brisket has a ton of fat in it so you'll always have moistness as long as its cooked properly. You want to make sure you go low and slow and make sure your brisket properly runs through the plateau. At around 150-170 degrees, the collegen in the brisket begins to break down. This causes your brisket to become nice and tender. Sometimes your brisket will stay in this plateau area for a couple of hours (i.e. it can stay at about the same temp for that time) and this is called the plateau. You don't want to increase heat, thinking that it isn't cooking properly. As long as you go low and slow, the brisket properly runs through the plateau at a normal pace, then you'll have a nice moist brisket...and the cooler trick at the end helps out tremendously.
 
One of my pits is a Lyfe Tyme and it is a well constructed pit. That advice, however, is not well constructed IMO.

People that cook briskets in the oven often sear the meat before baking, I suppose, in order to mimic the bark of a slow smoked brisket. It is perhaps closer to the real thing than would, let's say, painting grills marks on a microwaved burger to make it appear that it cooked outside of a microwave, but it is just not the same.

Searing meat adds flavor and color through the Maillard reaction, which is very similar to carmelization. Although many believe that searing magically creates a non-permeable surface through which the meats internal juices cannot escape, that is just not so. Even if that were true, given the high amount of connective tissue and the intramuscular fat present in a brisket, there is no worry about all the juices leaking out during the early and middle stages of low temp smoking. In the last 2/3--3/4 of the cooking process when the internal temp of the meat begins its more rapid ascent towards the desired target (190-195 for me), many including myself, wrap the brisket in foil because it is during this stage when the intramuscular fat and connective tissue have broken down/melts and leaks out of the brisket.

The high temp searing can also burn many of the ingredients of a dry rub or wet rub if you are not careful, creating a nasty acidic flavor. BTW, one of my neighbors did this once and his brisket tasted like charred *** although it was the perfect compliment to the ribs that he slathered a sugary sauce on before burning on the grill. To each his own I suppose.
 
If anything, it could be counter-productive, becase it begins the cooking process of the outside of the meat before allowing any smoke to penetrate.

At best, it's a hassle that won't make much difference, and at worst, it could actually be harmful to the smoking process.

Skip it.
 
Good point Luke, and I like where Steel Shank is headed.

Perhaps it should be:

trim fat + brine + sear + sauce + remaining fat side down + electric smoker = perfect brisket
 
Cooper's in Llano apparently sears their briskets before cooking them. Salt Lick does as well, as previously mentioned. Salt Lick also pulls their brisket at ~160 and puts it in the refrigerator overnight or whatever then puts them back on the pit to finish them just before serving.

Something just occurred to me -- perhaps the reason you use so much sauce at the salt lick is they ruin their briskets. Perhaps I will try some sans sauce next time I'm there.
 
Trim all fat, sear, and throw it in the oven with some liquid smoke. Make sure you serve up plenty of good BBQ sauce with it (like A-1 thick and hearty), and some good sides like steamed broccoli, leeks, and maybe some aspic.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Weekly Prediction Contest

* Predict HORNS-AGGIES *
Sat, Nov 30 • 6:30 PM on ABC

Recent Threads

Prediction Results Threads

2024 Schedules

Back
Top