I’ve stated on this forum before about separating the point and flat. Best way to control IT on both parts without drying the flat out. I didn’t see the Meat Church video so asking how long the rest time was. Thanks!
Smoking Meat Questions and Discussion
- Thread starter Statefan515ISU
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There are a number of reasons. People that own cattle tend to be older and as they retire the land is bought for recreational purposes, e.g. deer hunting, or torn up and crop farmed if possible. down south it has paid more to lease to timber companies than to keep cattle. During Covid, the big packers were making over a thousand dollars a head and and the rest of the supply chain not making much with inefficient producers not making any. Many people weren't making enough to stay in the business so they left. In a way, it may be a way for the big packers to cause vertical integration to happen more quickly than it did in other protein animals. Walmart has its own packing plant and anyone that sells to it has to buy bulls from certain sources. It also takes a long time for a calf to be processed from when a cow is bred so expansion takes longer than in other species. Shutting down the border due to screw worms also decreased the cattle supply. That is my view of what has been happening.
As long as you keep it above 140, it's perfectly safe. When I'm doing longer rests, I leave the probe in so I can monitor the temp and be sure to serve it before it cools off too much.
I've never rested anything for that long, but that's just because I don't have a warmer, or even a Yeti cooler that is better insulated than my cheap Igloo cooler. If you've got the equipment to do it safely, it's definitely better when rested for that long. Collagen breaks down into gelatin around 160 degrees IT, and holding the meat in a warmer or well insulated cooler keeps it above that threshold for much longer during the rest than it would be if you rested on the counter, so you get more time for collagen to break down without overcooking the meat.
Beef has been at historic prices for quite awhile, long before screwworn.
US cattle herd is the smallest its been in 75 years. Domestic demand has remained high even with recent prices: people seem willing to pay up for steak and ground beef. Up until 5 years ago we sent zero beef to China: they are now a significant buyer of US beef.
Did some wings last night. got a frozen 4lb package of them at Walmart around 3 yesterday afternoon. Defrosted for about 12 minutes so they were still pretty solid yet just wanted to get the outside soft enough for SP. Smoker wasn't cooperating as it took a couple tries to get it feed pellets. Started them at 150 for 30 minutes added some rub, flipped them and added rub. Let them go at 190 for an hour then flipped them again and went to 250 temp for an hour. Then went to 350 for about 15 minutes. Crispy on the outside and IT temp of 170-180 which was perfect as they were not dried out at all. Sorry no pics as we had a heavy shower of rain come over. Great smoky flavor, my son ate like 15 of them!!
Been getting back feed smoke in the hopper and the auger is really grinding, so I guess it is time again to pull the auger out and clean it off again. Will also replace the temp sensor as it's been 3-4 years since I replaced it and since I have the hopper off, it's the best time to do it. Will replace the gasket as this the usual culprit for the air feed back into the auger tube.
All this humity seems to have cause pellets in the hopper to take on some moisture also.
Been getting back feed smoke in the hopper and the auger is really grinding, so I guess it is time again to pull the auger out and clean it off again. Will also replace the temp sensor as it's been 3-4 years since I replaced it and since I have the hopper off, it's the best time to do it. Will replace the gasket as this the usual culprit for the air feed back into the auger tube.
All this humity seems to have cause pellets in the hopper to take on some moisture also.
I felt like this before I did my first brisket myself, scared to mess it up, and after that I was sorry I waited so long. Your own brisket will likely be as good to 3X better than any brisket you've had at your favorite BBQ place, I think because you're only trying to do one. As you learn your preferences and your smoker tendencies, you'll get better. The most important thing is to never rush the cook.
The one time I felt like I missed the mark was what I alluded to earlier -- I had a packer brisket with a pretty thick fat cap and I didn't trim it nearly enough. I was thinking, I don't want to give away all these wonderful juices. Big mistake. Overall it was still okay, but my smoke ring/smoke flavor was not that great and it was an awful mess to slice. NEVER AGAIN. Trim baby, trim!
I made the same mistake with my first packer. I didn't trim nearly aggressively enough, and the fat seam in between the flat and point didn't render properly. It still tasted pretty good, and for a first attempt it was actually pretty solid. But from then on I'll always focus on trimming it until it's as close to perfect as possible, then save the trimmings for rendering into tallow or grinding for burgers.
