Ever since 2011 I have always done a brisket for the the FCS Championship game when NDSU has made it so out of 9 years I have made one 8 times and on Saturday that has meant 8 Titles, can't knock tradition. I have made a few different changes from time to time such as a marinade using Guiness Extra Stout to just straight up Texas Style Salt and Pepper. This one was pretty similar with a little extra kick to it. Stated with a 12.5# Select Brisket and did some minor trimming off the top and into the deckle a little bit, forgot to get pictures of the trimming but I usually save the fat for grinding into my deer burger. This time I decided to actually inject it with a mix of Butcher BBQ Prime Brisket, and Open Pit Pork Injection (has a good black pepper background) and then 1 cup water and 1 cup of my beef stock that has come from previous cooks and flavored with other veggies from braising. Thursday night I trimmed, injected and seasoned the brisket and covered to let sit in the fridge till Friday night. The seasoning was my typical dusting of Kosher Salt, heavy on the fresh cracked pepper (mix bag of black, white, red, green peppercorns), a light dusting of cumin, onion powder, garlic powder and this time a little Frag Out Flavor Fitty (Mango Habanero).
Friday night in good old North Dakota when i fired up the barrel it was zero degrees and expected overnight low to be -19F. I ran all hardwood for smoke using my burn barrel to produce the hot coals as the wood chunks burn down so that I know I have good clean coals. The wood was a mix of North Dakota White Oak that I cut and split myself and the some B&B Competition logs in Cherry, Pecan and Mesquite. I have never used Mesquite before so I was a little interested and a little nervous at the same time. Got the wood going in the barrel at around 6pm Friday Night and got the first coals and brisket on at about 7pm with a big bright moon coming up then covered up the smoker with a welding blanket as well as another old heavy blanket i had laying around. Goal was to run smoker at about 225-235 for as long as I could which it did stay pretty decent for the most part with a few adjustments. Pulled the brisket at about 1am and into the North Dakota Crutch, a pan with a little bit of Summit Coffee Milk Stout for liquid and into the oven at 215F for the night the smell at 9am when I pulled it was great and let it rest for about 1.5hr covered in the pan. Slicing it was just about perfect for tenderness and pull and the flavor was outstanding with the bite of the mesquite and the mellow of the cherry, pepper really let you know it was there and the mango habanero stayed there to help warm a person up with the frigid temps outside. Also made as a supporting cast some green chili cream corn that consisted of a couple steamer bags of corn, 8oz block of cream cheese, about 1/2cup of heavy cream and then 1 green bell, 1 red bell, 2 Anaheim, 2 pablano and 3 jalapeno that I charred in the fire box then skinned and seeded them the night before. All the food was fantastic and it was a great game to watch with all the friends that came over and all the other great food that they brought. Stuffed bellies for all. Now for the pictures.
Friday night in good old North Dakota when i fired up the barrel it was zero degrees and expected overnight low to be -19F. I ran all hardwood for smoke using my burn barrel to produce the hot coals as the wood chunks burn down so that I know I have good clean coals. The wood was a mix of North Dakota White Oak that I cut and split myself and the some B&B Competition logs in Cherry, Pecan and Mesquite. I have never used Mesquite before so I was a little interested and a little nervous at the same time. Got the wood going in the barrel at around 6pm Friday Night and got the first coals and brisket on at about 7pm with a big bright moon coming up then covered up the smoker with a welding blanket as well as another old heavy blanket i had laying around. Goal was to run smoker at about 225-235 for as long as I could which it did stay pretty decent for the most part with a few adjustments. Pulled the brisket at about 1am and into the North Dakota Crutch, a pan with a little bit of Summit Coffee Milk Stout for liquid and into the oven at 215F for the night the smell at 9am when I pulled it was great and let it rest for about 1.5hr covered in the pan. Slicing it was just about perfect for tenderness and pull and the flavor was outstanding with the bite of the mesquite and the mellow of the cherry, pepper really let you know it was there and the mango habanero stayed there to help warm a person up with the frigid temps outside. Also made as a supporting cast some green chili cream corn that consisted of a couple steamer bags of corn, 8oz block of cream cheese, about 1/2cup of heavy cream and then 1 green bell, 1 red bell, 2 Anaheim, 2 pablano and 3 jalapeno that I charred in the fire box then skinned and seeded them the night before. All the food was fantastic and it was a great game to watch with all the friends that came over and all the other great food that they brought. Stuffed bellies for all. Now for the pictures.
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