First Brisket- Questions

[gsmith140]

Throwing on my first packer brisket this weekend (tried a flat by itself once before, but it was trimmed down too much, I think the whole brisket is the way to go). I have most of my process figured out, but I have a couple more specific questions for the more experienced brisket cooks out there...

-I know the flat is supposed to be done when the probe goes in without resistance. Is this the same with the point? Is the flat usually done before the point, and is this why people usually leave the point on for burnt ends?

-At what point do you guys usually separate the flat and the point? After you pull/before you foil, or sometime during the cook?

-Making burnt ends- do you leave the entire point on for a couple hours then cube and sauce, or cube and sauce first, then smoke?

Thanks for your opinions/tips.

 

[Groundhog66]

Looking forward to the day I do my first brisket as well, hopefully that will be soon. Needless to say, I will be paying attention to this thread :shocked:

 

[SacramentoHusker]

This thread is relevant to my interests.

 

[Smokey Al Gold]

Read the end of the basic brisket tutorial. It will definately help answer your questions. This was done by Bigabyte and is super helpful.

http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=57882

 

[McGurk]

This is in the ROADMAP part of the stickys, up on top of the Q-Talk Thread list. Lots of knowledge crammed in there, so give it a look. Post #10 in here is a layman's writeup:

http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=8502&highlight=Turning

It's pretty vague and bland, but it's a start. Look around in the ROADMAP area; there's more good info there than any amount of searching will get you. Read up on Smokey Al Gold's recommendation, too, as that will give you a lot more insight to some specifics.

 

[Groundhog66]

Fantastic tutorial :thumb: thanks for the link.

 

[che22879]

I did my first packer this Labor Day.

 

[Smokey Al Gold]

I want a brisket sandwich now.

 

[mikeTRON]

Well I have smoked one brisket so my advice might not help much but I found the point passed the probe test MUCH earlier than the flat; I would assume this is because of the fat marbling.

I have a few links you might want to check out:

There are a buch of podcasts, go down and listen to the TWO brisket podcasts, I found a lot of good information:
http://www.bbq-4-u.com/pods/

Basic Brisket Tutorial:
http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=57882

This is an very in depth walk through of competition brisket:
http://www.thepickledpig.com/forums/bbq-contests/703-award-winning-competition-brisket.html

Gary Wiviot method:
http://www.lowslowbbq.com/bb/viewtopic.php?p=2135#p2135

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/wiki/smoking-a-brisket-the-easy-way

Interesting idea here(he sears the brisket first):
http://www.theqjoint.com/forum/showthread.php?t=38

http://www.culinarydisaster.com/wordpress/07/hickory-smoked-brisket-on-a-wsm-weber-smokey-mountain/

http://www.virtualweberbullet.com/brisket2.html

http://www.virtualweberbullet.com/brisketselect.html#defined

EDITED: I tried posting this about 50 minutes ago but I think my wifi went down :doh: so I apologize if this is redundant to what has now already been said/posted

 

[gsmith140]

Thanks for the all the info everyone. Definitely good stuff, and I found pretty much all the info I was looking for. In one of the threads, it says to foil and rest the point and the flat while they're still connected, but it seems like it would save some time to make burnt ends while the flat is resting. Anyone do it like this?

 

[SacramentoHusker]

The basic brisket link and competition brisket link are, well, holy crap good.

 

[mikeTRON]

yeah wait until you listen to the HOUR long round tables
lol
I started taking notes haha