This past weekend I smoked my first brisket and thanks to a great recipe on this forum and my CS Smokette it was wonderful. I used the 2000-2001 Recipe Contest winner for Brisket. I modified it slightly to suit my tastes and added the element of temperature to tell when it was done.

I purchased my brisket as a packer trimmed certified "Choice" Angus brisket. It weighed around 11.50 pounds. I purchased at a local grocery store that has a reputation for good meat selection and quality. It was the largest brisket in the case, but I also looked for one with a nice consistent flat that was not too thin.

I went by the recipe for the marinade and let in set for about 12 hours. Then, I removed from the marinade and used the dry rub in the recipe. I let the brisket set out and come to room temp (1-2 hours). Then into the smoker. The pressure was on since my inlaws would be over for dinner on Saturday night.

Since it was about midnight when I put it in, I set the smoker at 180 to get some sleep and not worry about the temp until 7 or 8 in the morning. When I checked it at 8am, the temp was 132. I bumped the smoker up to 225. I was shooting for 170 which it finally hit at around 4pm. Amazing how the temp went from 132 to 153 in a very short time, but hung around 153 for 2 hours before moving on to 170. It even fluctuated up and down during this time. I thought my smoker might be malfunctioning, but I guess it was that plateau that everyone talks about. At this point I removed the brisket and seperated the flat from the point. I put the finishing sauce on the flat and foiled with HD foil and back into the smoker to reach 185. With the point, I added some additional rub and placed back in the smoker w/o foil. I added 1 oz of Pecan and increased the smoker temp to 250 because I was concerned that I was running short on time. By 6pm the flat reached 187 and I removed it, wrapped in a towel and into the cooler for 30 minutes. I removed the point around 7pm and wrapped it in foil and set aside to chop later after it cooled.

It was exciting to make that first slice into that brisket. But, it was even better to taste the flavor and tenderness. Needless to say my inlaws were totally impressed and now think I am a BBQ King. We added some of Smokin's Beans, Corn on the cob, and some tabouli salad. Wow!! I am ready for leftovers. The only problem, there was very little left. They (12 total) pretty much wiped us out.

I might add that the point portion was an excellent texture for making chopped beef sandwiches, but the extra wood that I added left it a slight bit too smokey for my tastes, but others still loved it. I guess it just depends on your tastes. Next time I might just do the same, but leave out the extra wood. I think it would still have a great taste.

Great job Steve. One problem tho -- Now the in-laws will be over more often asking for your Q. Oh well, ya can't win em all.

Appreciate the great write-up. Except that it made my mouth drooooooool.

Ah, you had some great side dishes but what about the cold beverages which helps, also.

One question,Steve.

Why did you set it out a couple of hours ,to come to room temp?

quote:

Originally posted by Tom:
One question,Steve.

Why did you set it out a couple of hours ,to come to room temp?

I just tried to follow the recipe as closely as possible. But, it was probably closer to 1 hour. This just gave a little time for the rub to adhere and penetrate the surface of the meat. It could have easily been done in the fridge I guess. The internal on the meat when I placed it in the smoker read 43 degrees, so even after setting out an hour or so, it was still below room temp.

I'm no expert,but most folks will put it in the cooker as cold as possible ,to help build smoke ring.

The couple exceptions seem to be,if you are loading a couple hundred lbs in a traditional logburner, that is quite a heat sink and difficult to get your temp up.

Also ,some of the guys that are fast cooking at 350º will let meat come up to high room temp,before putting it in the cooker.

Just a couple of thoughts.

this was a pretty nice description of your process...thanks for this.

I just spent the last 45 minutes cutting 95% of the fat off of a 11 lb. packer. I then covered him in mustard and Cookshack brisket rub. THEN, I will put em in about 11:00 tonight and carefully lay all of that fat on top. That way, my rub gets right through to the meat. Is there a disadvantage to doing it this way? Yeah, cutting that fat off is a pin in the ass. But, saves me later, the meat gets seasoned better..etc.
Thoughts on this step?

quote:

Originally posted by Tom:
I'm no expert,but most folks will put it in the cooker as cold as possible ,to help build smoke ring.

The couple exceptions seem to be,if you are loading a couple hundred lbs in a traditional logburner, that is quite a heat sink and difficult to get your temp up.

Also ,some of the guys that are fast cooking at 350º will let meat come up to high room temp,before putting it in the cooker.

Just a couple of thoughts.

I will give this a try next time. Thanks for the info.

quote:

Originally posted by stevegardner:
this was a pretty nice description of your process...thanks for this.

I just spent the last 45 minutes cutting 95% of the fat off of a 11 lb. packer. I then covered him in mustard and Cookshack brisket rub. THEN, I will put em in about 11:00 tonight and carefully lay all of that fat on top. That way, my rub gets right through to the meat. Is there a disadvantage to doing it this way? Yeah, cutting that fat off is a pin in the ass. But, saves me later, the meat gets seasoned better..etc.
Thoughts on this step?

I considered this after reading a few other posts where they described this process. I opted to just leave the fat in place this time. It did appear like a lot of work to get it removed without cutting into the meat and then holding it back in place during the cooking process. Let us know how it turned out and what your opinions were.

Great write up. These kinds of stories are really valuable to new owners!

For slicing, I like to take it a little higher, at least 195. If you want to chop it, I'd take it to 205 possibly.

When you cut the point off and foiled it, I would suggest trying to put that back into the smoker for another hour or two. The point has a LOT of fat and to create KC burnt ends, you basically cut them point at the time you cut if off when you pulled it and put them back in to render out the fat.