Eric’s Brisket Method

[texastweeter]

love that you kept it simple, and left out things that are primarily subjective, and cause new paymasters to worry and fiddle with stuff before getting a good base recipe. The worst thing you can do is obsess over the details when you first start, and change multiple things between cooks.

[Mr. Bones]

True Dat, Brother, well spoken...

[Rob Johnston]

Wow, this is excellent. Thank you for taking the time to write this.

[CaptainMike]

I sure miss Eric ecowper

[jfmorris]

Second this. He always had good information and advice. Hope he makes it back one day.

[bean9677]

Is a stall this long normal for a 16# brisket, see temps on attached picture. Should I wrap it if I want to eat it in 5 hours? Any advice would be appreciated, this is my first brisket cook.

[HawkerXP]

How is your bark looking? Bump your temp up to 250 / 275. Bark nice and set? Wrap.

[bean9677]

How does that look? Should I wrap it? Should I bump up the temp? Or should I leave it how it is?

[klflowers]

CaptainMike come on. I can see you as DJCapnM lol

[CaptainMike]

klflowers I can throw down a beat and bust a rhyme, but it's usually to the tune of an old country song and I'm rapping it to my cat while I'm making him something to eat. He seems to enjoy it and meows the back beat...

[Mr. Bones]

CaptainMike, now THAT I would pay to hear, an even provide ya some guitar, an backup Smokey cat tracks, gratis!

[bean9677]

Thank you all for the advice, I wrapped it and turned up the the temp, It turned out excellent. Just curious, what would happen if I cooked it at 225 the whole time without wrapping it until it was done. I know it would take longer, but would it turn out dry?

[CaptainMike]

Dryness depends on several factors like meat grade and quality, thickness, density, hot spots on grill, left brisket vs. right brisket (JK with that one), etc. However, in my humble experiences the edges of the flat tend to dry out a bit when I would go longer and lower. The most important thing I've learned is how to select a decent hunk of meat. I look for well-marbled, limited extra fat, thick flat, and nice and wobbly.

[CaptainMike]

BTW, where's da pics?

[HawkerXP]

Yo bean9677 we like to help but we love to see the finished product. Show us the meat! hehehe Congrats! CaptainMike

[bean9677]

Sorry, I did not get any pictures of the finished brisket, next time I will. Everyone who ate it, said it was great.

[HawkerXP]

Congrats!!

[ecowper]

Henrik all the things I have learned over the years about cooking brisket. Hope it helps with "wobbly like Jello"

[Henrik]

Just re-read the whole thread. Thanks!

[HappyGilmore242]

Thanks so much for this. I’m brand new at this and will follow this to the tee!!

[ecowper]

You are very welcome! And feel free to ping me on this thread or a private message if you have questions or need more input.

[tbob4]

I see one thing he left out - secret ingredient - look at his photo. Notice the cigar? Every time he opens the door to the smoker some of that smoke gets in. Why would he leave that out?

[Bob_P]

Fantastic! I was always a bit tentative about doing a brisket. After finding this, I'm heading to the butcher's on Monday!!

Here less than a day and striking gold already!!
🍖♨️👍

I'll let you know how it comes out.

[Bogy]

I was also intimidated by what I heard about how easy it was to screw up a brisket. Scared me off for a long time. Finally, between Eric's guidance here, and @Meathead's advice on the other side, I tried on, and wasn't as hard as I thought. In fact, one of my early brisket cooks was 3 15 lb briskets for a church dinner. No complaints, no turning back. Glad you found the site, hope you make it permanent.

[bardsleyque]

I can't Remember my first brisket, but I'm pretty sure it was overdone .At that time all my info was about time per pound. Worst way to cook meat ever! When I got here (A.R.) where temp and probe are king things got much better!

[ecowper]

Love to hear how that brisket comes out Bob_P …. bardsleyque that was my own experience. Except that there was no Pit to help me with my briskets

[Alan Brice]

I may have over looked one vital inst. If it is there I apologize. Go to the opposite end of the flat away fr the point n make your initial cut across the grain, before you cook. Just a small piece that will be the chefs cut. That will help guide your cuts when you go to slice your finished product. Point is usually 90 degrees from this angle.

[fzxdoc]

I mark the grain with a 4" long skinny metal skewer from a turkey trussing kit. I used to use a toothpick but the bark would sometimes grab on to it so tight I couldn't pull it free. So I switched to using the teeny metal skewer.

Kathryn

[HawkerXP]

I do the cut as described if the end is really thin, otherwise I'll score the meat in the direction the grain runs about 3 or 4 inches long. Not too deep, just a light drag of the knife. This opens up as the meat cooks and gives me a carving guide.