Interesting Brisket this weekend

I was smoking ribs on Saturday when I recieved a call from my mother-in-law. She was wondering if I would like to smoke a brisket for all of us for Sunday. Of course I said sure. She had picked one up at our local grocery store and to my suprise, the brisket was only 5.73 pounds. It was a packer cut, but tiny compared to any other briskets I've smoked, and worse yet, there was little to no fat on it. I mean, they took it all off. Even the fat between the flat and point was gone. I tried not to look too surprised and told her I'd have it done by 5:00 tomorrow night.

Originally when she called I was figuring I would have to start smoking this brisket around midnight to get it done (this was before I saw the size), but now, it looks like ~ a 6 hour smoke.

I'm going to tell you what I did and I would like suggestions as to what I could have done differently.

I did my usual rub, put it on my UDS at about 9:30 am and 235°. Since it was fatless, I decided to bring the internal temp up to 150°, then wrap in in foil with just a little bit of apple juice or orange juice. Once the internal temp hit 195°, I took it off the smoker (4:00 pm) and wrapped the foiled brisket in a towel and then in a cooler to rest.

All in all it turned out better than I thought it would, but It was a touch on the dry side, but tasty. The point was actully really good.

What would you guys have done differently on such a small brisket?

Thanks everybody. I will definately try the injection and the beef broth next time. I'm sure that would help. :thumb:

---k--- said:

I did one that small once. They are a challenge, but can still come out okay. I usually cook up in the 250* to 270* range. I don't believe in injects adding anything but flavor unless you inject with phosphates (water or juices are just going to drain or cook out). But, probably the biggest thing is I wouldn't pull at a specific temp (if that is what you did). I would pull the brisket when it tells me that it is done by probing smoothly. I generally would rather have overcooked falling apart brisket than undercooked tough brisket.

Keep trying and never turn down a gift of a free brisket. Always something to learn from it.

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Good point!