The Official Brisket Thread

[Jeff Lebowski]

For you chain smokers out there, how many hours does a bag of pellets give you? Those bags can be pricey. I assume it costs more in the winter because it takes more to keep the temp up?

Yeah, it definitely takes more pellets in the winter and this was a long cook. I would guess it took about 1/4-1/3 of a bag.

I stock up when they come to Costco because it is only ~$13 per 20 lb bag. The problem is they only sell mesquite and hickory at Coscto.

There are a bunch of shops around the country with pellet mills and they sell pellets at bargain rates, buy you often have to buy in bulk and sometimes they don't ship. DT pointed me to one near him and it was about half the price of the Traeger pellets, but shipping costs made it about a wash. We need someone in Utah to start manufacturing pellets.

[Surfah]

Yeah, it definitely takes more pellets in the winter and this was a long cook. I would guess it took about 1/4-1/3 of a bag.

I stock up when they come to Costco because it is only ~$13 per 20 lb bag. The problem is they only sell mesquite and hickory at Coscto.

There are a bunch of shops around the country with pellet mills and they sell pellets at bargain rates, buy you often have to buy in bulk and sometimes they don't ship. DT pointed me to one near him and it was about half the price of the Traeger pellets, but shipping costs made it about a wash. We need someone in Utah to start manufacturing pellets.

Or you guys can try and organize a group buy.

[Shaka]

Holy cow! That's friggin awesome!


I'm throwing Papa Murphy's pizza on my Traeger tonight. Right now I have it in set on smoke. I'm about to go turn the thing up to 375.

[CJF]

I started with about 5.6 pound flat. After minor trimming it was probably still about 5.25 pounds. Here are the pictures of the process.


The fat cap was trimmed. The other side required minimal trimming. Mostly removing silver skin and loose ends.



On the smoker after rubbing with a wet rub then adding the dry rub.


About 2.5 hours on the smoker at 225. The thermometer read 198 degrees so I panicked and pulled it.


Foiled and placed in the oven. I added about a half cup of water before sealing the foil up. Before placing in the oven I inserted two thermometers and both registered 150. So I set the oven for 200 degrees and went back to church.



Not a great picture, but after pulling the flat out of the oven at 190 degrees, I let it rest in a cooler for 2 hours. I then put it back on the grill at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.



After letting it rest in a foil tent for about 30 minutes I sliced the beast up.



On my plate ready to eat. Juicy, tender but firm. Very flavorful. I wish I would have left it on the smoker longer, but overall pretty good.

[sparky]

Solid work guys, looks muito tasty. I've decided to seek a choice cut of brisket and do a joint turkey and brisket smoke for Xmas weekend. We did the same for a memorial day crew this year and got rave reviews. Hoping for a repeat...

[Jeff Lebowski]

Looks great, CJF. Way to pull through the thermometer problem.

I started with about 5.6 pound flat. After minor trimming it was probably still about 5.25 pounds.

How many did you feed? I am still surprised at how much shrinkage I had with that brisket. 8.8 lbs and we fed five people with modest leftovers. Glad I didn't go with one of the 3-4 lb flats they had left at my local Costco.

On the smoker after rubbing with a wet rub then adding the dry rub.

Tell me more about this wet rub.

Not a great picture, but after pulling the flat out of the oven at 190 degrees, I let it rest in a cooler for 2 hours. I then put it back on the grill at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.

No, that was a nice pic.

What was the objective with putting it back on for 20 minutes? Soggy bark?

On my plate ready to eat. Juicy, tender but firm. Very flavorful. I wish I would have left it on the smoker longer, but overall pretty good.

[Jeff Lebowski]

Solid work guys, looks muito tasty. I've decided to seek a choice cut of brisket and do a joint turkey and brisket smoke for Xmas weekend. We did the same for a memorial day crew this year and got rave reviews. Hoping for a repeat...

A good old-fashioned Griswold family Christmas! Sounds fun. Be sure to post pics and share tips. What kind of smoker do you use?

[Moliere]

Well, it was a smashing success. :clap:

[sparky]

A good old-fashioned Griswold family Christmas! Sounds fun. Be sure to post pics and share tips. What kind of smoker do you use?

It's a vertical propane type, the kind you put a pan of wood chips over the burner and a pan of liquid (water, cider, etc) above the chips. I've had pretty good luck with it. I'm a little worried about the subfreezing ambient temp factor, but in the summer heat it's a challenge to keep the temp down in the low 200's, so hopefully it'll be a non-issue.

[Jeff Lebowski]

It's a vertical propane type, the kind you put a pan of wood chips over the burner and a pan of liquid (water, cider, etc) above the chips. I've had pretty good luck with it. I'm a little worried about the subfreezing ambient temp factor, but in the summer heat it's a challenge to keep the temp down in the low 200's, so hopefully it'll be a non-issue.

I had one of those for 2-3 years and I hated it. I hope you have better luck than I did.

[sparky]

I had one of those for 2-3 years and I hated it. I hope you have better luck than I did.

Really? What did you hate about it? I have nothing to compare it to so I realize I may be in the dark ages smoker-wise.

[Jeff Lebowski]

Really? What did you hate about it? I have nothing to compare it to so I realize I may be in the dark ages smoker-wise.

I occasionally had difficulty maintaining a constant temp. I would get it set and then check it an hour later and it would be way too high or too low. But the biggest problem was that it seemed to always dry the food out. I finally gave up and sent it to Deseret Industries.

It could have been a bad design. It was a "Great Outdoors Deluxe Gas Smoker". I can't find one on google. Maybe they went out of business. Very similar to this one:

Amazon.com: Outdoor Leisure 34168G Smoke Hollow Propane-Gas Smoker: Patio, Lawn & Garden

[CJF]

Looks great, CJF. Way to pull through the thermometer problem.



How many did you feed? I am still surprised at how much shrinkage I had with that brisket. 8.8 lbs and we fed five people with modest leftovers. Glad I didn't go with one of the 3-4 lb flats they had left at my local Costco.



Tell me more about this wet rub.



No, that was a nice pic.

What was the objective with putting it back on for 20 minutes? Soggy bark?

Sorry, I didn't see this yesterday. The brisket fed 4 with enough to make a sandwich yesterday.

The wet rub is something I always do. The recipe calls for beef bullion cubes crushed and mixed with worcester sauce. I use better than bullion instead. It is already in a paste and it has much lower sodium and I think it tastes better. I put that on first, then the dry rub. When I foil I pour some water in before sealing. This creates a very rich tasting juice. When the meat is going through the FTC portion it is resting in this juice which intensifies the beef flavor through out. After slicing I pour some of the juice left in the foil over the meat.

I had never put it back on the grill before, but I wanted to try having a more defined bark. With a smaller flat it was easier to try out. I could go either way on this method for future cooks.

[sparky]

I occasionally had difficulty maintaining a constant temp. I would get it set and then check it an hour later and it would be way too high or too low. But the biggest problem was that it seemed to always dry the food out. I finally gave up and sent it to Deseret Industries.

It could have been a bad design. It was a "Great Outdoors Deluxe Gas Smoker". I can't find one on google. Maybe they went out of business. Very similar to this one:

Amazon.com: Outdoor Leisure 34168G Smoke Hollow Propane-Gas Smoker: Patio, Lawn & Garden

Mine is similar but it has 2 doors, one for the meat and the other for the wood & liquid. The 2nd door gives more temp control because you can crack it open if it starts getting too hot, like on a hot summer day. I can see how a single door would make things more difficult. Of course I'd rather have something like a Traeger.

[Moliere]

I occasionally had difficulty maintaining a constant temp. I would get it set and then check it an hour later and it would be way too high or too low. But the biggest problem was that it seemed to always dry the food out. I finally gave up and sent it to Deseret Industries.

It could have been a bad design. It was a "Great Outdoors Deluxe Gas Smoker". I can't find one on google. Maybe they went out of business. Very similar to this one:

Amazon.com: Outdoor Leisure 34168G Smoke Hollow Propane-Gas Smoker: Patio, Lawn & Garden

In Texas we call those things "ovens"