Basic Brisket Tutorial (pron heavy)

Thank you for the wonderful info! This help me make sense out of my first ever packer brisket... and it turned out wonderfully.

Over 2 years ago this was posted & it is still the best info available on the World Wide Web!

Kudos & Thank You So Very Much !!!
I'm going to try to get one this weekend.

Thanks again!

Is it against the rules to make a PDF of this thread?

who was that masked man pig thingee?

Thanks for the tutorial and it coming back up. My local costco only sells Flats..how would I change anything just doing a flat?

THanks,

David

bigabyte said:

It's the same.:thumb: ...I don't cook flats, if I could just cook the points, I would.

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Roger that. The point is the point!

Thanks Chris! Doing my first full packer for Easter dinner and you've taken away some of my apprehension. Now I'm not sure I can wait for another month and may need to do a "practice run" this weekend . . .

Just for MY use!

bigabyte said:

You have my permission as creator of the thread (you should give proper credit too), but you will also need permission from Phil since he owns the forum.

Honestly though, I don't know if you have to ask permission since that is kind of like printing the thread...you can print to a PDF file with a printer driver that does so...

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What is the avg price per lb people are paying?
My local maket is charging $5 per lb.

friends of mine just picked up a packer from Kroger for $2.18/lb. not the best cutting job in the world, but it should turn out well, was fresh at least.

as far as the fat side up/down, I've got a couple shoulders on the UDS now and will be doing the brisket after. I've got a 20" pizza pan I'm using as a heat defuser so I can go fat side up and let the fat render. We'll see how it turns out.

I am glad to see this back to the top. I really appreciated this tutorial. I used this for my flat last week and it turned out a very good brisket. Mine may have been a little overdone, but that would be my mistake. Great post!

I am really looking forward to doing the packer. Does the point have to go back on the smoker that day or could it be frozen as is and they finished at a later date?

Thanks!


Thanks for taking time to do this Chris!

Packer going on the UDS tonight . . . can't wait!

I'm without a probe thermo until my new Maverick arrives next week, so I guess its "dial it in and pray" while I try to grab some sleep!

bb0bbby said:

What is the avg price per lb people are paying?
My local maket is charging $5 per lb.

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Seems high. I think my costco is around $2.49/pound for a full packer. I think even the regular grocery stores around here are cheaper than $5/pound. A good time to look for them on sale is around the major summer holidays (4th of July, Labor Day, Memorial Day). The vacuum packed ones keep in the freezer quite well.

jimithing78 said:

I think my costco is around $2.49/pound for a full packer.

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Got mine this morning at Smart & Final (Southern Cal) for about the same.

jimithing78 said:

Seems high. I think my costco is around $2.49/pound for a full packer. I think even the regular grocery stores around here are cheaper than $5/pound. A good time to look for them on sale is around the major summer holidays (4th of July, Labor Day, Memorial Day). The vacuum packed ones keep in the freezer quite well.

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$2.19 at the local Kroger here in Stone Mountain.

BTW-got my Brisket finished up this morning, and had a heck of a judge staff waiting on my. My best friend is Asian and he had an open house today. 70 Asians all in the kitchen and the only empty plate was the Brisket plate. My new favorite thing to cook, and by far my new favorite BBQ to eat.

I screwed up more than a few briskets before this thread, no longer!

Threw my 10 lb. full packer on the UDS at 2 am yesterday. Got temp dialed in and then re-checked at 4 a.m., then again at 6. Realized at 6 that I'd put it fat side up. When I flipped it, I saw that it was pretty dark on the bottom. Wondering if I had some temp spikes while I was sleeping.

At 10 hours the probe slid into the point like butter, but the flat still had some resistance (not much, but not as "buttery" as the point). So I let it go another 1/2 hour, then started getting worried about how charred it was looking. Pulled it out, foiled it with some apple juice and threw it into a 250 degree oven indoors. Pulled it from the oven after another 1/2 hour or so (now I was just getting nervous) and decided that I had to use my digital thermo - flat read 210. I think I overcooked it.


Refoiled it and let it rest for a couple of hours. Friends came over for dinner. The point meat was amazing - incredibly tender and delicious. Flat was sort of tough to slice (at least the carmelized non-fat-cap side. It tasted great too but was clearly overcooked.

I'm thinking that my results next time will be nearly perfect if:

1) I keep the brisket fat cap down the whole time, and
2) I have better temperature management on my UDS.

Going to try briquettes next time on the UDS, and I'll have my new Maverick wireless thermo, which should let me sleep without worrying about smoker temp spikes.

I smoked a brisket yesterday, my point was done before the flat also.