Thanks Tony, understand.

One thing about coolering, and we learn this on the competition circuit. Depending on how long you leave it "sitting" in the cooler may have an additional benefit. It will cook a little more and the rest does seem to help it get a little tender.

I can put a brisket I pull out that's not 'quite' tender, and four hours later it's perfectly tender.

That can be why it's more tender than it went in.

Smokin'

Thanks for the info! Seeing all the positive reviews on this recipe I'm going to do one this weekend. I'm doing the recipe as stated with a few minor variations:
1) I left the meat in the cryo and sliced an opening at the top to rinse/wash with vinegar and water and then drained out.
2) doubled up the marinade (to provide more coverage)and poured it into the cyro and then resealed it with the foodsaver, it's sitting in fridge now, going for 24 hrs.

Smokin; at what temp would you pull it to after the Finishing Sauce Rub and put it in the cooler? assuming you do the 1hr @150 final step.

I'll let you know how it turns out Sat since I'm caught in between meatless Friday! I'm sure it should make a great Sat. lunch

I'd have to label this information Brisket 202.

For most people, just wrap and hold.

This technique is to help you if you find it's REALLY too tender. Don't cook it on time like the recipe says, cook it on temp.

Smokin's modification:

Cook it to 165, add the sauce then foil. Leave a temp probe in it. Pull it out when the temp hit 190 to 195.

The issue of pulling it this way is how long it's going to be sitting in the cooler. The longer in the cooler, pull it out at 185. Only an hour or say, pull it out at 195.

Smokin' thanks for the kind advice. I'll follow it based on temps now.

Let us know if that works or I need to make up new instructions?

quote:

Originally posted by SmokinOkie:
[qb]
Smokin's modification:

Cook it to 165, add the sauce then foil. Leave a temp probe in it. Pull it out when the temp hit 190 to 195.

[/qb]

Smokin, thanks, will try this variation. I'm following this one this weekend as well, smoking overnight Friday.

Well, mixed results. On the downside, the flat was a dry (ironically, wife prefers it this way), so sauced it up and was fine. And yield was just under 40% (5.75 lbs on 14.6) on the low side.

Positives: the point was wonderful, used the FoodSaver to put a good potion up for burnt ends next time around. Chopped the rest and sauced for sandwiches later this week. Taste, tenderness good. And, most amazingly, kids are digging the food that comes off the CS. That alone is worth it.

On Smokin's variation, I missed 165*. It cooked quicker than I anticipated, as was up to 182 (13.25 hours) before I was able to remove, sauce, foil, and return it to the CS for another 1.75 hours until it hit 195. Wrapped in a towel, into the cooler for a nice 4.75 hour rest. I was assuming the rest would help keep moist, but it must have been dried out before then. Not terrible, just not great.

Overall, first time around, satisfied, but aching to do the next one ...

Hey! If you've got the wife and kids happy I would definitely call this a "success!" Give it another shot and see if you can hit a home run!

Good job!

Good point, Wheelz, and you can bet there will be many more briskets smokin on my 055 for years to come. Have a good one ...

Results on my run of the recipe: Fair. I think the meat cooked about right at the temps Smokin recommended although I think on my next one I might do the crutch (foil) at 165 or 5 hrs whichever comes first. Secondly I really liked the aroma of the rub and the marinade, but the family disliked the finish sauce and thought it was too sweet.

Overall I felt inspired to combine my usual recipe and parts of this one for a hybrid that should yield great results, with the following modifications:

Marinade (overnight 12 hrs)
3 tbsp. fresh ground black pepper
3 tbsp. celery salt
2 tbsp. cinnamon
3 tbsp. sea salt
3 tbsp. garlic pepper
3 tbsp. oregano
3 tbsp. chili powder (actually I plan to use my Southwest rub)
Yellow Mustard

Lightly apply mustard to the meat then firmly rub in 1/2 of the above rub mixture, refrigerate the brisket 6-12 hrs.

Remove the brisket from the refrigerator and let it start to come to room temperature, and firmly rub in 2/3 of the remaining rub mixture.

Place in cold smoker set to 225� and smoke to 165� or 5 hrs whichever comes first, then remove the brisket from the smoker and place on a piece of aluminum foil large enough to wrap the brisket; sprinkle the last 1/3 of the rub on the brisket and close up the foil and return it back to the 225� smoker and then go with Smokin's modification: "Leave a temp probe in it. Pull it out when the temp hit 190 to 195.

The issue of pulling it this way is how long it's going to be sitting in the cooler. The longer in the cooler, pull it out at 185. Only an hour or say, pull it out at 195".

If anyone tries this out let me know it might be another week before I do my next brisket. Take care!

I tried the recipe at the top of this topic for my first brisket (a trimmed one in cryo from SuperWalmart) and the results were great. I had concerns I'd get a dry finished product because I bought the wrong piece of meat, but it turned out fine. I wrapped it in foil when the temperature got to about 165. My gal is out picking up another piece of (untrimmed) meat so we can try it again. Guess I'm excited. We've only eaten about a pound off the first one. I'm thrilled to hear that they freeze well.

Help!

OK folks - I am a loyal reader and follower of these great recipes. I tried the above recipe and the flavor was superb (the marinade, rub, and the finishing sauce are fantastic).

I am running into trouble with how dry my brisket it is turning out. Here are the steps I took.

1. Marinated a 3.6# flat from Albertsons for 6 hours.
2. as it heated to room temp from the fridge I put on the rub.
3. Then set the smokette's temp to 250 and place the flat in the middle rack. Two separate temperature probes were inserted in the center of the flat and one temp was probe was monitoring the center of the smoker's temp. (Temp of the smokette air was 230 for the duration of this brisket attempt).
4. At the three and a half hour mark, the brisket's temp had plateaued at 156 degrees and stayed there for another three hours.
5. Once the brisket hit 165 degrees, I drenched the flat in the finishing juices, wrapped it in foil, reinserted the probes back into it, and then placed it back into the smokette. (Being sure to place the probes into the thickest part of the brisket with care not to touch anything else but brisket).
6. Let the smokette do its thing until the flat hit 190 degrees.
7. Pulled the flat out, and let it wrest in the foil for about 30-45 minutes.
8. The total cooking time to hit 190 degrees was 10 hours for 3.6 lb brisket. The end result was the flavor was excellent, but the flat itself, was dry, dry, dry. I've read here ow that 1.5 - 2 hours per pound is a common cooking marker. I was cooking to internal meat temp (per the wise instructions of Smokin Okie's instructions). I also know that "it's done when it's done". That's why I let the flat cook to 190 degrees without opening the smokette (almost 3-4 hours longer than it should have taken to get to 190).

OK BBQ Gurus, tell me what the heck I did wrong. I love the smokette and want to become great with it, but after all that effort and love I put into that days cooking, I am a bit disappointed with the results.

Semper BBQ,
Kdub

PS - I'm flying a three day trip and wont be back on line until the 11th. Looking forward to hearing and learning from my mistakes in this process.

A 3.6# flat sounds awfully small and I'll bet most if not all of the fat was trimmed off of it.

Between not being very thick, and not having any fat, I would guess it's more like smoking a steak and that would lead to dryness.

Just my $.02

Ok, I am trying this recipe as we speak. Whoever mentioned reducing the marinade and adding it to the finishing sauce had a good idea. My husand and I both love the mix. The marinade had enough pepper in it to give the finishing sauce a little "kick". I marinated for about 5 hours. Wish it was more, but hey. 10lb brisket. Put it in at 9 pm and will check on it around 7am or so.Hoping it to be done around 10. Wish it and me luck because I've already invited my sister over for some breakfast brisket LOL