By
James
Updated on
A Brisket consists of a cut of meat from the breast or the lower chest of veal or beef. A beef brisket consists of the nine primal cuts of beef; however, the cut definition will differ globally. The muscles of a brisket include the deep and superficial pectorals. Since cattle don’t possess collar bones, there is a 60% body weight support from these moving or standing cattle muscles. It requires a significant amount of the connective tissue for correct cooking to tenderize it.
The brisket’s thickest area goes by the term “point,” whereas the uniform or thinner area is termed “the flat.” Here, the point contains a lot of fat and is usually called a “fatty brisket” in the BBQ joints. But the flat has lesser fats and is often known in restaurants as “lean.” You can locate uncooked briskets at different butcher counters and grocery stores in varying sizes and shapes.
What Is a Traeger Grill
A Traeger Grill consists of a wood pellet grill. Here, you draw the pellets from a side-mounted hopper inside a central burning chamber by using an auger. A hot metal rod helps ignite it, and you need to plug it into a power source because these mechanisms tend to operate on electricity. Traeger grills provide precise control of the digital temperature integrated along with the meat thermometers. To operate the grill, you need to start filling in the hopper with pellets and then turn it on. Also, you have to dial the temperature of your choice to smoke your meat.
Ways to Cook a 3 Lb Brisket on a Traeger Grill
Whole briskets tend to weigh around 8-12 pounds. It’s a lot of meat for a single person or two people at most. If you’re planning to cook one for a party, then the bigger sizes are a must. You can buy it by taking ½ pound for every person like the typical serving. But we’ll be focusing on 3 lb of brisket in this post today. I purchase half briskets, which consists of the “flat” and “point” halves. Here, point half consists of two layers, but the flat only has a single muscle layer.
Should You Trim the Fat
Many brisket lovers throw in their argument of not trimming the fat. They’re all about it being a natural protector of the meat. The trimmers often argue about it, making messy aftermath and that the melting of collagen helps create a majority of the moisture. But you certainly don’t want to consume a hefty chunk of fat, all because you have bark on it. I would advise you to at least trim the fat up to a thickness of ¼ inch, especially when you’re cooking a 3 lb brisket.
Should You Brine
Many barbecue fanatics love bringing, and some even swear by it. But for me, I have never been a fan of getting my beef. I’m speaking this from my own experience with bringing other portions of beef. It takes away a little bit of the meat’s flavor, so I would advise you to stay away from it and avoid following the general crowd.
What About the Temperature
I usually stick with 250⁰, and it’s the highest I recommend going. Going above that will cause your brisket to be dry. There are recipes on the internet that’ll suggest you cook at 300⁰, along with comments on how wonderful it is. Of course, it’s wonderful! Well, because it’s brisket, but you need to have more moisture.
So, cooking your brisket at a lower temperature produces more moisture, which is the key to a delicious well-cooked brisket. Many people cook at 225⁰ as well, which is a good thing. You’ll need a reliable grilling thermometer, along with a surface thermometer. You can use the ThermoPro TP22 Digital Wireless Meat Thermometer for your brisket.
For cooking your 3 lb brisket on your Traeger grill, you can follow these key pointers:
- Mix your ingredients and start rubbing the outside of your brisket in an even manner. Place your rubbed brisket on the cutting board and allow it to rest for a good 30 minutes.
- Start pouring your wood chips in any one of the foil pans. Now add sufficient water for covering the chips. Cover it with foil and make slits in the foil to allow the smoke to escape.
- Light up your grill and start scraping the grates clean.
- Turn your burners “off” on one half of your grill. Keep your burners on low heat on the other side.
- Directly place your brisket on the lit side of your grill. Make sure that the fatty side is up and grill for over five minutes. Now turn your brisket over again and start grilling for five more minutes.
- Proceed to place your brisket inside the last clean foil pan (the fat side should be up). Start moving it to the unlit side of your grill. Place your covered foil pan containing the wood chips on your grill’s lit side and close it.
- Allow your brisket to cook for three hours at an approximate. Make sure that your grilling temperatures stay at 300⁰, which is achievable by adjusting your grill vents.
- After grilling for 30 minutes, turn your brisket over so that the fatty side is down next to your foil. Now baste the non-fat side of your brisket by using your favorite BBQ sauce.
- Proceed to remove the brisket from your grill and start basting again. Now allow it to rest on your cutting board for about 10 minutes before you proceed to slice and serve.
Cooking a brisket is always fun and challenging; however, it does take a little bit of time and patience. You just have to try it out for yourself because the first time I tried, the results were surprisingly pleasant. You can always try out new recipes and follow the same steps present above. But if you’re interested in dealing with even more significant portions in the future, then you do have to grill for a longer period, along with some other changes. You could also try giving the Traeger TFB57GLEO Pro Series 575 a shot for cooking your brisket.
About The Author
Reviewed by
James
James is a writer who is a self-confessed kitchenware and coffee nerd and a strong advocate of Sundays, good butter, and warm sourdough.
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