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Attempting first brisket.

  • Thread starter Thread starter trouserchili
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T

trouserchili

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I've picked up a nice large hunk of brisket at Sam's and am planning on smoking it this weekend.

So far the plan is to rub it with the following 24 hour prior to the cook:
3/4 cup paprika
1/4 cup ground black pepper
1/4 cup chili powder
1/4 cup salt
1/4 cup sugar
2 Tsp garlic powder
2 Tsp onion powder
1 Tsp ground cayenne

Then smoke with charcoal, lump and hickory at 225 uncovered in a pan 1.5 hours per pound.

Any tips or suggestions? Should I wrap it in foil at any point? Should I oil the brisket prior like I do with butts? Any other reciepes I should try instead or a forum favorite? Any help is appreciated.
 
TC, Might help to know if you have a flat, a trimmed whole brisket or a packer cut.
TK's Dr. Pepper marinade in files is very good.
No need for a pan.
If you cook a bit lower than 225, say 215 or so, someones recent posting of 1hr per pound unwrapped then 1 hr per pound in foil will be very close. Internal temperature will be your best indicator of doneness. 190-200*, opinions vary on this but I like 200 myself.
 
oil or mustard will help a dry rub stick better. Foil if you want to, I've foiled at anywhere from 150-175 internal temp. I pull mine out at around 190 and place it in a cooler for a couple of hours just like many others here do. That last step seems to make a big difference for me.

I usually cook my meat on the rack rather than in a pan. I want the meat to be able to take on that smoke flavor as much as possible.

Experiment and find out what works for you and tastes good to you. If this was a science, rather than an art, there would be no variety. Have fun with it and let us know how things go!
 
I just called the wife at home and the packaging says I have a boneless flat. It has a large patch of fat on one side, and is quite long.

With one hour per pound unwrapped and 1 hour per pound in foil, that will equal 20 hours for a 10 pound brisket?
 
With one hour per pound unwrapped and 1 hour per pound in foil, that will equal 20 hours for a 10 pound brisket?
Won't take quite that long especially for a flat. But plan on a long cook. Once wrapped finishing in the oven is a good low effort option (sorry if I offend any purists). To not end up with a dry finished product low and slow is essential for brisket, and worth every minute.
 
So perhaps I run all day in the smoker uncovered at ~200 and then at night bring it in, wrap it in foil and finish in the oven overnight at ~180. I'm not a purist when it comes to sleep. Sleep is too much of a premium in my house right now as I have a 4 month old that just contracted hand, foot and mouth disease thanks in large part to my irresponsible sister in law.
 
You can cook at to low a pit temp and it will dry out the flat.
I would cut the Paprika to 1/4 cup, and go with turbinado sugar instead of white. Add 2 Tbsp of celery salt (personelly like celery on beef). Cook at 225º and if your going to wrap do it at 170º , then as Jorge stated once it reaches 190º wrap tight and place in a dry cooler for at leats 2 hours but I normally give it 4 hours.
Jim
 
Hmmm, brisket is starting to sound a good deal tougher to BBQ than pulled pork. Dry cooler? Is that just any old cooler sans ice and water? And I guess I should be monitoring the internal temp of the meat and make decisions of what to do when based on that internal temp?
 
trouserchili said:
Hmmm, brisket is starting to sound a good deal tougher to BBQ than pulled pork. Dry cooler? Is that just any old cooler sans ice and water? And I guess I should be monitoring the internal temp of the meat and make decisions of what to do when based on that internal temp?

I think you got it.
 
Dry cooler is just an empty cooler and use it to hold hot food for 4 to 6 hours if the meat is wrapped in plastic and foil. Yes I would monitor internals, brisket is the hardest meat to hit. Being that is your first one you want to monitor and learn as much as you can.
Jim
 
You'll do fine Trouser. Next time get a whole packer cut between 9-11#'s. Biggest one I ever did and saw was 18.75# with not much fat either - farking steriod turd I think.
 
Thanks guys, I ended up going with the following.
A little olive oil rubbed on before applying a dry rub of:
1/4 cup paprika
1/4 cup ground black pepper
1/4 cup chili powder
1/4 cup salt
1/4 cup sugar
2 Tsp garlic powder
2 Tsp onion powder
2 Tsp celery salt
1 Tsp ground cayenne

I started at 10:00pm and smoked it with hickory at a real even 215 (I've finally got ahold of temperature control, hooray!) for 5-6 hours directly on the grate. At 2:00pm I woke up and checked and everything was still running great and still at 215! Toward the end of my planned 7 hour smoke I started to run out of charcoal and the temps dropped to around 150 for I'm guessing an hour. So after 7 hours I pulled it (meat temp was 140) wrapped it in tinfoil and stuffed it in my oven at 200 for another 7 hours. At noon I pulled it from the oven and put it in a dry cooler. The relatives came over and we ate an early dinner at 4:30 pm. The brisket was a big hit. It cut real smooth and very little of the meat pulled. I was surprised at the ammount of fat still left on top, but I never flipped the meat so I guess that's why I had so much fat. We made sandwiches and I ate mine with a sweet and smokey BBQ sauce. The brisket had a huge smoke ring and my company was a mixed bag as too whether or not the meat was better with some BBQ sauce. I thought so, but surprisingly my wife did not. I like my meat to stand on it's own and it did, so I consider it quite the success. Thanks guys.
 
I've had great success with the 1 hr./lb. smoke, 1 hr./lb. wrap, 2-4 hours in the dry cooler method. I've been reluctant to pierce with an instant read thrermometer because I don't want any juices to escape. Try rubbing the brisket with worcester sauce prior to applying the rub. When you add the rub it will turn into a nice paste covering allowing for a good bark to develop. Enjoy.
 
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