After much research - primarily here, and watching youtube videos - I attempted my first brisket while my parents were in town. My dad is a native Texan who loves brisket, so I had a legit judge in the house. I'm happy to report that he was very pleased with it, and so was I. My wife said it's the best thing I've smoked yet, and my 10yo daughter said she's going to request brisket for her birthday meal this year.
A few notes on this cook:
- Since this was experimental, I asked the meat department for the smallest brisket they had.
- It started out a just over 11lb, but I trimmed about 3lb off of it. I might have gotten carried away trimming the fat cap, but we certainly didn't have excess fat on our plates, and it was nice to have the rub and smoke directly on the meat. Next time I might try to leave just a bit more fat on top.
- I trimmed the fat vein between the point and flat pretty thoroughly so that they were half separated, but definitely still connected. When the smoking was done and it was time to slice, it was really easy to separate the two pieces and the un-smoked area at that flap provided a window to find the grain direction. This made it really easy to make sure I cut across the grain.
- I started at about 9:15pm and smoked through the night. A few times the temp in the kettle got down to about 165, so that probably extended the cook a few hours. Next time I'll try to keep it closer to 225° for the most part.
- Later on I let the kettle get up around 300° to hurry it along, and maybe I wouldn't need to do that if I don't let it drift down so much next time.
- At about 15hrs I started checking the temp all over with my instant read thermometer and found that the bottom of the brisket was a bit soggy and the top was quite crusty. Maybe next time I'll flip it every once in a while when I'm going in to add more fuel. Might even it out a bit. I corrected the sogginess by placing it directly over the coals for the last 10 minutes or so.
- I wrapped it in a faux cambro for almost 2 hours while my mom and wife made sides. This did not soften the bark noticeably, but it was a bit tough along the top and front edge though.
- As usual, I kept the drippings to use in reheating leftovers, and I'm looking forward to some brisket sandwiches this evening. I need to figure out what to do with the burnt ends, too. I just trimmed them off and set them aside.
I'm open to any ideas or suggestions, but overall this turned out really really well. Great bark, great smoke ring, the flat could have been more tender, but it was still a pleasure to eat. I can't wait to try all of the "next time" ideas above!
Pictured below:
- rubbed and ready to go
- about 3.5 hours in
- about 10 hours in
- ready to wrap at 15.5 hours
- slicing the point, which was just falling apart
- smoke ring!
- the finished plate! I ate most of mine without any sauce, but dabbled some of the flat bits in some Stubbs sauce.
A few notes on this cook:
- Since this was experimental, I asked the meat department for the smallest brisket they had.
- It started out a just over 11lb, but I trimmed about 3lb off of it. I might have gotten carried away trimming the fat cap, but we certainly didn't have excess fat on our plates, and it was nice to have the rub and smoke directly on the meat. Next time I might try to leave just a bit more fat on top.
- I trimmed the fat vein between the point and flat pretty thoroughly so that they were half separated, but definitely still connected. When the smoking was done and it was time to slice, it was really easy to separate the two pieces and the un-smoked area at that flap provided a window to find the grain direction. This made it really easy to make sure I cut across the grain.
- I started at about 9:15pm and smoked through the night. A few times the temp in the kettle got down to about 165, so that probably extended the cook a few hours. Next time I'll try to keep it closer to 225° for the most part.
- Later on I let the kettle get up around 300° to hurry it along, and maybe I wouldn't need to do that if I don't let it drift down so much next time.
- At about 15hrs I started checking the temp all over with my instant read thermometer and found that the bottom of the brisket was a bit soggy and the top was quite crusty. Maybe next time I'll flip it every once in a while when I'm going in to add more fuel. Might even it out a bit. I corrected the sogginess by placing it directly over the coals for the last 10 minutes or so.
- I wrapped it in a faux cambro for almost 2 hours while my mom and wife made sides. This did not soften the bark noticeably, but it was a bit tough along the top and front edge though.
- As usual, I kept the drippings to use in reheating leftovers, and I'm looking forward to some brisket sandwiches this evening. I need to figure out what to do with the burnt ends, too. I just trimmed them off and set them aside.
I'm open to any ideas or suggestions, but overall this turned out really really well. Great bark, great smoke ring, the flat could have been more tender, but it was still a pleasure to eat. I can't wait to try all of the "next time" ideas above!
Pictured below:
- rubbed and ready to go
- about 3.5 hours in
- about 10 hours in
- ready to wrap at 15.5 hours
- slicing the point, which was just falling apart
- smoke ring!
- the finished plate! I ate most of mine without any sauce, but dabbled some of the flat bits in some Stubbs sauce.
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