The Brisket Experiment: What Happens When You Dry Age & Smoke? [WTF Ep 372] 

I'm really enjoying these experiments. It's great for the curious at heart.

I came here wondering about the pellicle after the youtube short and I'm not disappointed. Actual science, you guys are awesome!

I can smell that from here. Good work.

You guys are back !

You guys should try getting a brisket primal, and separating the brisket yourself, leaving it on the bone. That prevents most of the unwanted loss from drying out, while still allowing the meat to improve in flavor and texture. I have a butcher locally who has fabricated multiple briskets that way for me, and I've dry-aged them for as much as 72 days in an Umai bag. That's the only way that works for me. A brisket is such a thin cut that you lose a ton of good material to trim if it's directly exposed. On my most recent one, I even sealed the exposed end with a layer of Wagyu tallow, then beeswax, before putting it in the bag, and that preserved even more meat, with no off flavors or other unwanted effects. Also, once it's dry aged and properly trimmed up, you can enhance the flavor with the "faux dry-age marinade" that Sansaire used to have on their website. I don't think their site is still up, but it's basically just a mix of fish sauce, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, blue cheese, mushrooms (I use porcini), garlic, and a bit of seaweed. I always add a bit of toasted sesame oil in as well. Once I remove the brisket from the bone after the dry age, I pierce the underside of the flat with a Jaccard tenderizer, then rub a thin coat of the dry-age paste on it, then tumble it in a vacuum tumbler for about 30 minutes. I repeat that 3-4 times until it has absorbed all the marinade, then I seal it in a chamber sealer and let it sit in the fridge for a few more days. After that, I just dry rub it and smoke it as normal. For bonus points, you can inject it with a mix of Wagyu tallow and concentrated beef broth, but unless you're going for over-the-top competition flavor, that's a bit overkill. And for even more bonus points, you could skip the smoker altogether and just baste it and sous vide it the ChefSteps way. I've never actually done that, but I might do my next brisket that way, just to test it out, unless you guys beat me to it. Either way, that would probably be just about the ultimate brisket imaginable.

I sure wish I could taste it from here! As usual, making us yearn for that deee-licious food. 😍

always great videos, thx

How about cold smoking while dry aging for an early portion of the dry aging process?

I didn't know that the pellicle was edible! How does it stay safe to eat in the fridge that long? Does the moisture loss just dessicate all the pathogens eventually? Is there some time range where it's still unsafe?

It's the electric smoker. They can't produce the smoke that a wood, pellet or charcoal smoker can.