First Brisket Smoke

[chezza_gav]

Hi Everyone, thought I would drop a quick note about my first Smoke of Brisket on my WKP.

So, a 2.2kg brisket was bought on Friday, ready for dry brining over night for a Saturday smoke. Woke up to Snow and very cold temperatures in the UK - who said it was Spring ? but that didnt stop me.

Got the Weber up to 225f, took a little while to get it stable but put the beef on (with the beef rub recipe from here) about 10:30am with some apple wood in the coals. Temp rose steadily in the meat and then into about 5 hours seemed to hit the stall, meat around 150f ish, so did the crutch.

At 19:30 the meat got to 203f so took it off and wrapped in tea towels for another hour (dont have a coolbox/cambro - on the shopping list).

So.... to the meat. I'm really pleased with the outcome, it seemed juicy, carved well and tasted AMAZING ! the flat, was dryer than the point (you will see from the pics - assuming ive got the right definitions) and really could do with the broth injections, but dont have a tool yet (again on the shopping list) to do this.

Now to the bad bit... me and my brother ate half of the meat, then put the rest in a tub to cool down ready to store for the following day. My dog comes in looking really guilty and licking his lips..... yep - he ate the lot !!!!!!!!!!!

[fzxdoc]

What a great story! That must be the happiest dog on the planet, chezza_gav . Those brisket photos are perfect--they should go on the cover of a BBQ magazine.

Congrats on a perfect first brisket cook.

Kathryn

[RonB]

Congrats on a successful cook. I have two recommendations that might help.
First, brisket starts to dry out as it is sliced, so don't slice extra. If you want another serving, slice it when you are ready to eat it.
Second, put a pan under the meat to catch the drippings and also save the dripping from the wrap. Add a bit to the meat as you serve it.

Another thought - if you don't have a cambro, you can place the wrapped meat in your oven. I don't know what the minimum temp is for your over, but in the US, it's normally around 170* F. If your min temp is between 150* and 200* F, you can "cambro" in your oven. 200* might be pushing it though. As long as you can keep the meat above 145*, you will be safe.

[fzxdoc]

Sometimes I cambro in my big oven if I have a large load. I've found if I crack the door open about half an inch (I stick the handle of a spatula in the opening), the oven stays pretty close to 160°F solid when I have the oven at the lowest setting, even when the oven's burners cycle on/off.

Kathryn

[chezza_gav]

Cheers for the tips. I did have a drip pan, so yeah could have used that. Noted re the carving, and actually kick myself a little as had read that, I just got carried away with the sight of a good carve

My oven goes down to 150F I think, so will bear that in mind next time.

[holehogg]

Excellent. Chest out stomach in for a great cook.Can only imagine how good it tasted.

[DWCowles]

Looks great!

[jfmorris]

chezza_gav - Great looking first cook!

That dog story is similar to something that happened to me. Long Saturday, decided to grill some steaks for dinner. Had 5 ribeyes plated with baked potato and salad, all in a row on the kitchen counter. Wife and kids were coming in and washing up. Doorbell rang, and I had to answer it. Maybe 3 to 4 minutes later I came back in the kitchen, and there were five plates of baked potatoes and salad, and a greasy spot on the kitchen floor. And a guilty looking Dalmatian looking up at me... she had picked the meat off each of those plates without disturbing anything else, and swallowed it that fast! We had carry out pizza for dinner, and the dog got sick and threw up an hour later. The lesson I learned was to not leave meat of any sort sitting out with a dog that can reach the table or counter in the room! I don't think the dog learned anything useful from the experience...

[chezza_gav]

That last comment, the dog learnt nothing really made me laugh. I feel your pain !

[EdF]

My son had a hamburger go that route by leaving it too accessible on the counter. Then there was the cat who took an expedition through 3 homemade pizzas that were on a table.

[Troutman]

Bloody go show old boy !!! That's a great job on your first briskie !!! It hard to cook a whole packer, the flat always seems to dry out, its somewhat inevitable. Lately I've been cutting back the flat to get a more uniform cut overall and make pastrami out of the cut piece. I get dinner and sandwiches two different ways !!

[chezza_gav]

This is the dog in question the day before after a treat !

[Mr. Bones]

Yup, still lookin decidedly guilty, LOL!
Sweet doggy, mate!
Congrats on yer great briskie, an many more, to come!

[fzxdoc]

Awww, what a cute dog. He doesn't look guilty in the least as he's planning his Big Brisket Attack on the following day.

Kathryn

[jfmorris]

I have to side with the guilty verdict as well! I've lived with many a dog, and this one looks guilty of something...

[MeatMonster]

Well done, great smoke ring! On your lack of cambro, dont' need anything expensive, I use a polystyrene box, with a ton of packing paper to surround the wrapped joints! Search on Amazon you get lots of inexpensive options.

[Mudkat]

Great first brisket cook for you and ole guilty eyes!