The Official Brisket Thread

[CJF]

It's smoking time. Having a little party tomorrow. The menu is brisket, pulled pork, 3 racks of baby backs, ABT's, and crack and cheese. I'll make some slaw tonight for the pork. I made spicy orange BBQ sauce today and will made a regular and a mustard sauce tomorrow. Can't wait for tomorrow and I can't wait for the leftovers Sunday afternoon.

[mtnbiker]

That's quite a menu for one party. I think you'll need a taste tester or two. I volunteer!

[Jeff Lebowski]

I tried a variation this weekend to the method shown in my opening post. Rather than getting up at 4 am and putting the brisket on at 225 degrees, I put it on at midnight at the smoke setting (180 degrees). The next morning it was at 140 degrees at 8 am so I cranked it up to 225 degrees. At 10 am it hit 170 so I foiled it and put it in the oven at 225. It hit 200 at 12:00 so I dropped the oven temp to 180 and held it until dinner at 4:30 pm. Couldn't really tell much difference in the final result. Extremely tender.

I also used a new mix after reading a recipe online: 2/3 oak and 1/3 hickory. It had a great flavor. I think I am going to do that from now own. Got a nice deep smoke ring too:

[mtnbiker]

Nice! How big was the brisket? I haven't seen anything over 7.5 lbs lately; nothing at all with a point to speak of.

[Jeff Lebowski]

Nice! How big was the brisket? I haven't seen anything over 7.5 lbs lately; nothing at all with a point to speak of.

9 lbs. I bought it 2-3 weeks ago and froze it.

[kccougar]

I think I'm ready to give this a go. I'm most looking forward to making my own burnt ends - when do I cut the point? I'm looking at JL's guidelines and I wonder if I separate the point just before the FTC stage or back when I foil it to put it in the oven? What kind of sauces do you guys like on your brisket?

[Drunk Tank]

Smoked a 14lb packer for Sunday dinner. I got a late start so I decided to try the hot and fast method. I rubbed the brisket with Plowboys Bovine Bold rub.

For the hot and fast method, I smoked the brisket for the first 2 hours on the "smoke setting". After 2 hours I upped the temp to 300. When the brisket reached 165° internal temp, I wrapped it in butcher paper and continued cooking until the temp probe slid in like butter. The internal temp was right around 195-197°. After I pulled it from the smoker I FTC'd it for an hour or so until it was time to eat. I didnt make burnt ends due to time.

The brisket came out delish and very moist. sorry i didnt get any pics of the cook, but here is a blurry iPhone pick of the plate.

[Surfah]

Smoked a 14lb packer for Sunday dinner. I got a late start so I decided to try the hot and fast method. I rubbed the brisket with Plowboys Bovine Bold rub.

For the hot and fast method, I smoked the brisket for the first 2 hours on the "smoke setting". After 2 hours I upped the temp to 300. When the brisket reached 165° internal temp, I wrapped it in butcher paper and continued cooking until the temp probe slid in like butter. The internal temp was right around 195-197°. After I pulled it from the smoker I FTC'd it for an hour or so until it was time to eat. I didnt make burnt ends due to time.

The brisket came out delish and very moist. sorry i didnt get any pics of the cook, but here is a blurry iPhone pick of the plate.

What was the total cook time? How long to get to 165 and then after wrapping it, how long until reaching 197?

BTW, I like the ratio on your plate. 4 pieces of meat. 3 asaparagus stalks and a bit of mashed reds.

[Drunk Tank]

Meat on at 830ish.
Upped temp at 1030ish.
Wrapped sometime between 1230 and 130. Didnt look at the exact time.
Pulled from smoker between 415-430.

About 8 hour cook time not including FTC.

[Jeff Lebowski]

That looks great, DT. I think I might try that method just to shake things up. Brisket is my favorite thing to cook now.

Tell me more about how you wrapped in butcher paper.

[Drunk Tank]

Basically same as a foiling, but you use butcher paper instead. Allows the meat to breath, but still provides moisture. Doesnt make your bark as soft either. I have an 18" wide roll that i got at Samsclub. I double wrap in butcher paper and alternate the seam.

[Jeff Lebowski]

Basically same as a foiling, but you use butcher paper instead. Allows the meat to breath, but still provides moisture. Doesnt make your bark as soft either. I have an 18" wide roll that i got at Samsclub. I double wrap in butcher paper and alternate the seam.

OK. I assume you don't add any water/juice/broth.

Also, cooking at 300 for that length of time must use a ton of pellets, eh? Could you move it to an oven after wrapping?

[Drunk Tank]

I didnt add any jucie or broth, but you could if you wanted too. The butcher paper holds liquid surpisingly well. As far as pellet consumption goes, The FEC that I have only uses about 1 lb of pellets per hour @ 300. I have only used about 1/2 a hopper worth of pellets smoking ribs and now brisket. I dont see any reason why you couldnt finish it in the oven once you wrap it.

[Jeff Lebowski]

I didnt add any jucie or broth, but you could if you wanted too. The butcher paper holds liquid surpisingly well. As far as pellet consumption goes, The FEC that I have only uses about 1 lb of pellets per hour @ 300. I have only used about 1/2 a hopper worth of pellets smoking ribs and now brisket. I dont see any reason why you couldnt finish it in the oven once you wrap it.

Of course, I can always use those uber-cheap pellets that Coach is shipping for us.

[Drunk Tank]

BTW, I like the ratio on your plate. 4 pieces of meat. 3 asaparagus stalks and a bit of mashed reds.

I think I like the ratio of my lunch better!