I made a mistake and bought a small brisket, three and a half pounds. Will this come out okay in the 55 and what type of wood does everybody prefer. Thanks Mike.

Mike, its going to be hard to smoke if its been trimmed down a lot, unless it still has a nice size fat cap on it. I would recomend covering it in some thick, fatty bacon to compensate for the loss of fat. If this is a grocery store type brisket I have been in your shoes and it will smoke but it will probably be a little rougher than you will like. Also I use the smokette for your reference.

As far as wood goes I would use Pecan, Hickory, or Oak, but thats just my preference. I also like to mix in some apple or grape with the hickory. Mesquite is a real popular wood for red meat but I don't really like mesquite. Tell us how it turns out.

You might throw a little mop on it every hour,and you can always foil it at about 160�-165� and bring it up to temp.

Good luck.

Both good comments.

Problem with those little ones is the outer edges will dry out very fast. Once the meat hits the temp like Tom said, I'd wrap it, so that you get a result you want.

Flats are just plain hard to do. I've been successful with them, but you have to watch them throughout the smoke.

Smokin'

I'll stick my neck out and show how much I know about smoking, what's a mop?

Some folks like to baste occasionally ,when they cook.

The old open pits in the ground used to use long handled,1 lb. cotton string mops to mop a bunch on at a time.

You can now buy tiny versions of that at many bbq stores.

It is meant to wet down the meat,with what you want.

You don't want to brush the bark off that flat,so just sorta aim some at it.

What would you recommend?

Mike: As for mops, look em up. Cool stuff.

A lot of people use a mild thing. Just apple juice with goodies. Elsewhere, you might find vinegar-based mop. Some of these dudes use beer! Beer! With stuff in it.

Then, there is a school of thought that says do not mop.

What do you make of that? Get the Jamison and Jamison book. Good start.

And, as the others have said, those dinky briskets just don't do right. Try a 10 pound packers cut, with gobs of fat. That puppy will do right. (Really. It has to do with self-basting, and the like.)

Yea fat is the thing in BQing no fat no good unless you cook it little on the rare side which I wouldn't do with a brisket. My first was one of those halfs and was so dry the dog wouldn't eat it. Went to WalMart and got a whole flat smoke it for a long time and there wasn't any left for the dog.

Mops, Bastes, Sprays, ... all different methods of adding moisture while it cooks.

For those small ones, without the LARGE amount of fat from a Packer Trim, they WILL dry out. So people have developed techniques to keep that from happening.

My recommendation. Smoke it until it hits about 160. Take it out, wrap it in foil and add the mop inside the foil. Stick a remote probe into it and pull it out when it hits 195 internal temp. Let it sit for about 30 min. Take out and slice.

One example, in the recipe archive:

Mop example

Smokin'

I agree with Smokin' about addin' a LITTLE mop in your foil.Ya don't want a pot roast,maybe 1/2 cup of something like beef stock,coffee,applejuice and a couple pats of butter.

Well boys, I bought a 10 pounder and threw it on the smoker a 7:00 pm sat. nite. Took it off at 10:30 sunday morning, turned out great. Only question. I used a total of 7-8 oz. of wood and half way though I put more in. It smoked almost to the very end. How do you guys do it. Mike.

Sounds like ya got it figgered out.Just depends on how much smoke ya like.

Them briskets can take up a bunch,if ya don't watch 'em.

You need to make shure the wood thats in there is done.I have notice the smoke will play games on you smoke comes and goes with the cycle of the heating element so I have found that the wood last longer than you think and it doesn't have to look like its on fire to be smoking.I load the smoke box a little heavier at the start with heavier meats pork or beef and it seems to last.Just remmeber when you open that door the air can cause the wood to catch fire it has happen to me and the smoke has a differant taste.
I seem to not be able to spell this morning.

7 - 8 ozs is too much for a 10 lb brisket in a Smokette. And then you added more? It this 7 or 8 pieces? It's hard to know unless you weigh it, which most don't.

You said it turned out great, so that's the best judge regardless of what we think or do.

I would think it would come out bitter from that much smoke. I've seen that comment often and it's usually with that much wood.

I'd do it with half that. But that's my opinion. If after 4 hours it's stopped smoking and you want to add fresh smoke, that can work. But like Tom says, brisket absorbs it pretty well.

Smokin'