Surgery for the 4th

So as it turns out the pain in my back that I have been experiencing for that past several months was my gallbladder ... good news is the pain is now gone, bad news is that they took the gallbladder out on the 3rd of July. Bad because I had already committed to doing some briskets for my buddy's family reunion ... somewhere between 25 and 30 people.

I cowboy'd up and enlisted the aid of mentioned buddy. I supervised and he did the manual labor. There were moments where I had to step in and make some fixes to the trim or the making of the sauces/rubs. But over all, he did pretty good.

This was the fun ... I have yellow socks that match the pillow so my wife said I just need some blue overalls and I can be a Minion for Halloween.

Got home that evening and my buddy came over and did the prep work - opened the cryo, rinsed the meat, did some trimming, and then a simple injection ... (1/4 Worcestershire and 3/4 beef broth). Rested them in the fridge, covered, over night. 3:45am I got my 14 year old nephew, who is staying with me, to pause his Xbox game (he staid up all night) to pull the brisket out of the fridge and set on the counter for me. I am not allowed to lift more than 10 to 15 lbs.

Got them uncovered, drained, then wiped down with L&P Worcestershire (gluten free) and rub.

At this point, I paused to take some of my wonderful pain meds... then returned to reality.

By this time, the pit was sitting around 225 (I used my Traeger along with a Pellet Tube Smoker for added smoke), again got my nephew to help load the meat. I also use a small water pan that had to be filled up several times throughout the cook.

At 2 hours in I mop the briskets with my injection mix, plus 2 tbsp of my rub.

Closed it back up and then at 4 and 1/2 hours, pulled the meat for wrapping.

 I love that I am now getting a consistent color every time ... whether it be on the Traeger or my stick burner... these are the two briskets getting my mob and butter treatment for wrapping.  I don't wrap much any more but since I was not as active at watching the meat due to the surgery, I decided to wrap this cook.

Turned the temp up on the pit to around 275... took another 3+ hours to bring the briskets to an internal temp of 198.

When they probed 198, I brought them in, unwrapped them, drained the yummy juice off and saved it for use later. I let the briskets rest unwrapped for about 15 minutes, then I wrapped them in two layers of heavy foil and then put them in an Ice Chest wrapped in towels, where they would rest for 2 to 3 hours.

I am again loving the color ...

As they sliced and chopped the brisket at my buddies house, I unfortunately do not have any more photos. HOWEVER, my wife surprised me and while I was resting she made Filipino BBQ Pork on a Stick, and made fresh juice (strawberries, apples, and carrots). Gotta love my wife!!!

 As always, thanks for reading my posts ... I enjoy sharing, as I am sure y'all can tell.