Planning 1st brisket on the WSM

I think you're on the right track. I wouldn't separate the point until you know it won't fit. It might be a tight fit at first but as the meat cooks down you will end up with space. I can run my 18.5" WSM for 12+ hours at 250 degrees on one batch of coals. Fill the entire basket up with unlit coals then start about half a chimney and add them to the unlit coals in the basket once they are white hot.

1. Get a brisket from Restaurant Depot or Wally World or any place where you can find it cheap. Don't spend the premium money on a Snake River Farm on your first brisket. I actually don't recommend spending money on your SRF brisket until you can confidently put out a great brisket each and every cook.

2. Don't separate point and flat. Keep it whole and intact. If you are cooking on a 18.5in WSM, look into getting a brisket that is between 12-14lbs. And you can squeeze the brisket onto the top grate. It will shrink as it cooks also.

Here is a nice easy path for you to follow that will yield you your best possible result your first time out.

A. Do not put water in your water bowl. Just foil over the top of it for easy clean up.

B. Pack your charcoal ring really well with unlit coals and put 5 man sized fist of wood in there. Do not soak the wood.

C. Light off about 1/2 weber charcoal chimney worth of coals till they are ashed over and dump onto the unlit coals. Assemble the WSM.

D. Get your WSM cruising at about 300-325 degrees.

E. Put your rubbed up brisket, fat cap down on the WSM and maintain temperatures of 300-325 degrees.

F. At 4-4.5 hours check the color of the bark. If you are happy with the color of the bark, wrap it in either foil or butchers paper. If you think it is still to light or the bark isnt set, let it go completely nekkid.

G. At the 5 hour mark, probe the thickest part of the flat. If it goes in like it is going into a stick of butter that was left out on the counter all night, you are done. If not, wait 30-45minutes and probe again. repeat until you get the probe tender feeling in the thickest part of the flat. (Internal temperature of the brisket will be higher than 200 degrees) And will typically be done in less than 6.5 hours.

H. If you wrapped the meat, open up the foil/paper and let the heat vent out for 20minutes. If you have not wrapped the meat, let it sit for 20 minutes to vent off heat. After venting off the heat, wrap in foil or butcher paper and let it rest for 2 hours.

I. Slice against the grain and enjoy the brisket.

Sounds like you are on the right track. There are a multitude of ways to get there, but the key in all of them is to cook it until its done, which means when a skewer or thermometer probe slides in the thickest part of the flat with little resistance.

For your first one, I would try going unwrapped the whole time. Then, on subsequent cooks, you can experiment with wrapping in butcher paper or foil.

I use salt and pepper on my briskets. The key is to not go too light or too heavy. I had some over-seasoned brisket a few weeks ago, and it was painfully salty to the point of being inedible. Slat and pepper rubs should look like a light snow on the brisket. You should still be able to see a lot of red underneath the rub. Also, even though it is called a rub, there is no need to rub it in. Just sprinkle it on, and leave it be, or gently pat it down if you absolutely have to touch your meat. Here is what my briskets look like after being rubbed.


Good luck!

aawa hit it pretty spot on for you! Good luck and post your results!

Nothing like cooking a brisket at home! Make sure end enjoy the process.

Fit: either squeeze to fit, as mentioned, or drape it over a large-ish can that has been laid on its side. You can remove the can later once the meat has shrunk.

Rub: S&P is a GREAT way to go. 1:1 is by weight, so you'll have much more pepper v. salt by volume.

Wrap: I agree that you can just not wrap, so you can establish a baseline. Then tweak it later one variable at a time.

Don't separate point from flat.

Meat: don't spend too much! A Select can still turn into a FINE meal. If you can get a good score on a Choice, then by all means....

All sounds like very solid information in here to me... I would get a 12ish lb brisket and try to find a nice flexible choice. I wouldn't bother spending big $ on a SRF for a first brisket cook. As mentioned by Brew don't go too heavy on the rub. You want to be able to see the meat through your layer of rub.

I've cooked as big as a 20# on my 18.5. I just put both ends between the grate handles and pull up on the middle to make it fit. It will shrink during cooking.

14 pounder on my brother 18.5" It was all in lenght-wise but it fit.

If you do have to add charcoal, it is a pain to try and pour it in through the door opening. Get a shovel to refill it.

I've done a 14 and 16 pounder on my 18.5 WSM. All you need is a stainless steel bowl and go fat side down. I can go 16 hours easy with a full ring of coal and water. As for the rest, sounds like your getting good advice.



Can't see the same bowl but it's there.

Toast bet me to it with the bowl mod.

When picking your brisket look for a thick flat and find one that's floppy. The floppier the better. I think those two things are more important than anything, even grade.

I know you already got some advice, just gonna throw my 2 cents in. Do what you want with it.

• Don't separate the flat and point. You can use a bowl like Toast suggested or what I've done is just fold the flat in under itself.
• Simple salt & pepper is best but don't overdo it. I'd suggest you go to Youtube and watch the Aaron Franklin brisket episode to watch how much he puts on it.
• aawa said it well about wrapping - if it starts getting too dark then wrap it. Be aware that foil basically causes it to steam and you'll loose some of that magic bark. That's why a lot of people use butcher paper instead - it lets the meat breathe better and preserves the bark.
• Shouldn't need to refill charcoal whether you're doing hot & fast or low & slow. Just use minion and you should be okay. When I have needed to refill I just lift up the lid and middle section all at once and set it on the ground. Move the fire to one side and put new charcoal in the other.
• I wouldn't use a high dollar brisket until you've got your technique down. I would do at least 1 practice run before you make a brisket you plan on feeding to anyone other than your immediate family.
• I agree with the no water in the bowl suggestion if you're going hot & fast. When you foil the bowl give it a little extra leeway on top so the foil itself forms a bowl. If you leave it flat the drippings will roll off into the fire and give you bad smoke.

jimithing78 said:

I know you already got some advice, just gonna throw my 2 cents in. Do what you want with it.

• Don't separate the flat and point. You can use a bowl like Toast suggested or what I've done is just fold the flat in under itself.
• Simple salt & pepper is best but don't overdo it. I'd suggest you go to Youtube and watch the Aaron Franklin brisket episode to watch how much he puts on it.
• aawa said it well about wrapping - if it starts getting too dark then wrap it. Be aware that foil basically causes it to steam and you'll loose some of that magic bark. That's why a lot of people use butcher paper instead - it lets the meat breathe better and preserves the bark.
• Shouldn't need to refill charcoal whether you're doing hot & fast or low & slow. Just use minion and you should be okay. When I have needed to refill I just lift up the lid and middle section all at once and set it on the ground. Move the fire to one side and put new charcoal in the other.
• I wouldn't use a high dollar brisket until you've got your technique down. I would do at least 1 practice run before you make a brisket you plan on feeding to anyone other than your immediate family.
• I agree with the no water in the bowl suggestion if you're going hot & fast. When you foil the bowl give it a little extra leeway on top so the foil itself forms a bowl. If you leave it flat the drippings will roll off into the fire and give you bad smoke.

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This^. Don't try to shove charcoal through the door, it doesn't work, much easier to lift the whole thing off the bottom, pour charcoal in and move on with life, can be done under 90sec if you have everything right there.

The biggest mistake on your first brisket...is to pull it off before it is done...I did it twice. You think if you over cook it it will be dry...the opposite. Pull when probes like butter....well close. If you start probing at 190...and keep checking every 30 min...you will feel it release. Wrap and keep in cooler at least an hour. BINGO!!!