Tom Hixson Aussie brisket vs USDA

[Pompey Dinlo]

By way of an update, the brisket came out ace and my pork collars were my best effort to date. Really pleased.

I served the flat (which all got eaten) and have wrapped the cooked point and placed in my freezer for another day

Import briskets are fab

How were the collars in comparison to the Boston Butt from TH (if you've tried it of course!)

[essexsmoker]

By way of an update, the brisket came out ace and my pork collars were my best effort to date. Really pleased.

I served the flat (which all got eaten) and have wrapped the cooked point and placed in my freezer for another day

Import briskets are fab

Was that the USDA one? Glad it came out well!
How did you cook it? Did you foil?

[sleepybones]

Pompey: I haven't ever done a proper Boston cut I'm afraid. My previous cooks, up until doing the collars, have all been regular 'picnic' shoulders from the local supermarket. All I can say is the collars came out way better than anything I've done previously. They were around 2kg each and I bought 2 for £19 at Smithfields. I've read some stuff on US forums where people explain that the Collar isn't allowed in competitions but this fact was lost on the guests I had over on Sat, who smashed the lot lol. Bonus: I finally got to use my new bear claws

essexsmoker: Yes, was the USDA Choice Packer that TH do, weighed in at around 17lb but I trimmed most of the hard fat out and took about 1.5 inches off the length, from the flat end, to ensure it would fit in my WSM, so I reckon it was closer to 14lb when it went on. Was planning on foiling once it hit 160f, to push through the stall a bit quicker, but it got there relatively quickly and so I made a snap decision to just let it go (did the same with the collars too). Started cooking at 5pm on Friday and the flat was at 200f at about 7am Saturday. Was a little quicker that I was expecting. My Maverick probe for the cooker temp was clipped to the underside of the top grate with the brisket above it, which may have meant I was actually running hotter than it was reading (which would explain the early finish, didn't affect the tenderness none). Probe was at circa 240f for most of the cook. Triple-foiled and stuck it in my oven on the lowest setting until serving the flat at around 2:30pm. Stuck the point in the freezer (going to attempt burnt ends with it when I next have time).

[essexsmoker]

Sounds promising.

Did you inject?

Wow, thats a looong hold! Probably helped.

[sleepybones]

No didn't inject, I might try injecting a bit further down the line when I've had a few more goes.

Yeah was a long hold, I left a probe in and occasionally clicked the oven onto low for a bit to keep it out of the danger zone.

[Pompey Dinlo]

Pompey: Bonus: I finally got to use my new bear claws

Love the bear claws. I always say that if I ever have a burglar in the house I'm donning my bear claws, what a vicious piece of kit they are.

[sleepybones]

Yeah, it was pretty cool pretending to be the Wolverine

[essexsmoker]

Lol. Watch out burglars!

[Pompey Dinlo]

I did the USDA last weekend. There was a lot of fat, spent almost an hour trimming it down but it turned out well, slightly more juicier than the Aussie but with the amount of fat that doesn't surprise me. Taste wise, there wasn't much between them particularly when factoring in the rub, smoke and sauce so for the price and less wastage I would say that the Aussie brisket has the edge. I gave my brother some of the left overs and he made his first brisket chilli with it. Needless to say he doesn't want to go back to normal mince now.

[essexsmoker]

Maybe the USDA is just more consistent?

But as you say, for the extra, is it worth it?