Timing is everything...

Hey there
This past Monday a parishioner called me and asked if I would like a beef brisket to smoke on my new Traeger..of course I said yes :biggrin: and went out to his ranch to pick it up…. when I got there he had a full brisket waiting for me…about 14 pounds worth….the flat is about 2” thick and the point closer to 4” …he said I should get it cooked sooner than later…Now I’ve done some ribs and a couple pork butts …but this I my first experience with a brisket… :icon_frow
So the first thing I did was check out the road map and recipes section for hints and Ideas on how to smoke this huge chunk of beef… Well I found the post by barbefunkoramaque ( good timing for me) and once I found and paid an interpreter (Milehigh in Butte) to help me understand
what the funk was all about.:shock:

I was able to come to the conclusion that I was way out of my league/comfort zone with this brisket …but nothing ventured nothing gained. Beside the brisket was free….My plan was to start this morning at 6am but as it turned out I got called out on a emergency and did not get started till almost noon…The first thing I did was find a classic R&B station on the internet and crank up the volume and got down to prepping the brisket…After I trimmed the hard fat off I started with a light dusting of Kosher salt followed by a light dustings with Garlic salt ( no Garlic granules to be found in our little country store) and celery salt and then some fresh cracked black pepper…I let this sit for about 15 min and then rubbed it all in very vigorously.
While I was doing all that I had the Traeger heatin’ up…of course a winter storm was passing through and it was snowing to the tune of 2.5” per hour….timing is everything.

Getting the beef ready…

sitting in a bed of snow….ready to go in the smoker….fat cap? Down…

I will endeavor to keep posting as this training session progress, I suspect there is a lot to learned yet…
Grace and peace

Ben

hey there


My most humble apologies for the small font...:redface:

I expected this to be a long night,
I am kinda worried about the flat gettting over done, cause it is so much thinner than the point...
almost 4 hours into the cook and internal temp is reading 135*

Grace and peace

Ben

Just an Suggestion.

You are correct!

I hate to admit this here but... if it gets too late to finish tonight,
I have been known to place them into a pan along with a can of beer, foil, and let go overnight in a 175* oven.
The following day I remove it from the pan and put it back on the smoker just for the wow factor.
They don't take anymore smoke anyway after six or eight hours.
Never have had one turn out mushy, I hate mushy.

Weiser

Steve_M9 said:

As pitmaster states in the video he tagged along with his post... if the flat gets too close to being done, you can put the whole thing in a pan with some liquid and put back on the smoker uncovered to finish....I hope I interpreted his funk correctly while passing this on!

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Meat Burner said:

I may be a little confused here so bare with me. You mentioned the flat is about 2 inches thick and the point is about 4 inches thick. Acutally the point really isn't that thick. It is seperated by a fat layer where the point extends under the flat. Cook to the temp you want in the thickest part of the flat and it will all be fine. If you want to make burnt end from the point, do a search on how to do that. The whole brisket will be done and ready to eat when the flat is done. Hope that makes sense. Someone else maybe can chime in here with a better explaination. The timing of cooking and plenty of cooler time is kinda awkward here because of the time of day (or night) so...unforturately...the ol alarm clock may be real helpful here. You definately have a couple of good options, as Weiser said. What are your plans for serving time?

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Hey there

Thank you ....that makes sense to me...I have my internal probe set for 195* in the middle of the flat with the probe stuck in the side.... 6.5 hours internal temp is 151* have been cooking with a temp of 225*
have yet to peak at it, though temptation is running high :mrgreen:

Grace and peace

Ben

8th hour update

Hey there

What can I say....I gave into temptation and peaked at the 8 hour mark....I'm just one of those weak individuals...:redface:

Internal temp is 165*
smoker holding good at 225
I'm using a mix of Apple and Hickory...

My faithful assistant; Mz. Ashley (see avatar) has gone to bed.

Grace and peace

Ben

15th hour update...

Hey there

topped off the hopper at 11pm.... internal temp was 175*
went to bed...got up at 3am ( no alarm clock needed:wink internal temp 188*

back to bed till 5:30 am...internal temp 190* pulled, foiled and into the cooler... time for shower and morning chores....

ready to foil (sorry for the poor quality of the photo :redface






Grace and peace

Ben

Wish I could be in Montana in a few minutes! Looks great!

Hey there
I had men’s bible study this morning from 6:30 to 8:30 ….when I got home I check the brisket and it had cooled to 145* in 3 hours…I was still concerned that I was a little over cooked but only the knife would tell….:biggrin:

Time to slice….first slice …looking good …looking moist…I'm gonna hafe to find a non-meat eating person to slice this stuff...man is it good ...I can hear my Lipator cryin'

Group photo…

Mz Ashley finally woke up and was now constantly under foot …go figure :twisted:

The flat may be jusssst a little over done …I think next time I’ll locate the probe a little further from the point…couple a notes; as I sliced closer to the point it, eventuall slide off the flat…that was kinda cool and gave me a better understanding of how the brisket is “constructed”… the flavor is wonderful though next time I may back off on the salt a little…the hickory and apple gave it a great flavor but the meat flavor really pops…
from placing the Brisket on the smoker grate to the end was 19 hours…cook temp 225*
I am over joyed with the results though next time I suspect I will try somethin’ different just to see…(that’s kinda normal ..I hope) . I want to thank everyone for their help especially Milehigh who endured numerous phone calls and helped interpret the funk, and the "funkmaster" for his post..now its time to clean up and finish this Sundays sermon…hmmm “Good things come to those who are patient”, that could preach....all in all it was just another day in Paradise…
The end..



Grace and burnt ends for lunch today
Ben