Brisket in the UK

Although the English refer to both grilling and BBQ as "barbecue", on this trip I was determined to BBQ in the US sense of the word: low and slow.  Bob has really worked his Weber Performer over the last five years.  However, of everything he has prepared, he has never tackled a brisket.

Looking back at what Weber is doing in the UK and hell, even a growing number of international visitors to APP, it really appears BBQ is gaining traction worldwide.  However, over at Josh's Meatwave, a really interesting comment thread on European BBQ made me realize one obstacle when looking to the US for advice: meat cuts.  

When Bob and I decided to cook brisket, we sort of ran into the same problem.  All of the brisket we found was rolled.

After an afternoon walk, we swung by a local butcher with a great array of local meat.  Thankfully, brisket in the UK is brisket, so it was easy to find.  We also had the ability to choose how much we wanted.  The butcher put the roll on his cutting board, gauged the width of my outstretched hands and sliced.

With a little help from Wendy, we released the brisket from its bindings.

With the twine removed, a tug was needed to finish the release.

And voila, flat brisket.

Immediately, the biggest apparent difference was the lack of a substantial fat cap.  Although some cap was present, it was nothing compared to what I am used to seeing.  It was more of a "fat sheet" than a big comfortable "fat duvet".  

I had already decided to brine and I'm glad I did based on what I found.  Since I was only cooking a 2-3 pound brisket, I reduced my brine to 2 quarts of water, 1/3 cup salt and 1/2 cup sugar.  For all of my usual brisket procedures, check here.

The brisket sat submerged in the fridge overnight and I went to sleep.

Brisket Day

The next morning, I pulled the brisket from the fridge, about an hour before grill time, and then helped Bob ready the Performer.  I was concerned about keeping the grill temperature low enough, as Bob's briquets seem to put off an extraordinarily large amount of heat.  

With the grill finally riding 250 and the brisket rubbed, it went to the grate.

I spent the first couple hours jockeying vents trying to keep the temp in the 250-300 range.  When I finally felt things had stabilized, Bob and I did what else, but go for a little bike ride.

We cycled to Yarbridge and a pint at one of it's finest pubs and, as a friend on Twitter told me, their only pub.

When we returned, about 5 hours into the cook, we topped up the grill with freshly lit coals.  About 3 hours later the brisket hit 188 F.  I pulled the brisket off the grill and allowed it to rest.  Why 188?  Everyone was hungry and wanted dinner and didn't want to wait 2 degrees.  Total cook time, 8 hours.

About this time I also popped open a Well's Eagle IPA.  

While there was certainly a good hop bite, I was hoping for something just a little more.  Nonetheless, still a good beer.

The brisket sliced up nicely and went great with Wendy's traditional smathering of vegetables: mashed suede (rutabaga), roast squash, carrots and broccoli.  

For the sauce, I worked up a sweet english mustard sauce.  It turned out pretty good, but I'm still working on some fine tuning.

I had a lot of concerns going in, but it all worked great.  In hindsight, I'm really glad I brined.  The brisket wasn't as tender as I'm used to, but still hit all of my buttons.  Overall, mission UK brisket was a success.  How do I know?  Wendy had seconds.  That never happens.

After going through the paces with Bob, he is all set to give it a try on his own.  He loves long cooks and now has one more meal in his arsenal.  I can't wait to hear how it goes.