1st Brisket in SM025

Well,I'm no expert-but I have cooked a few briskets.

Every brisket can have a mind of its own.The quality of your finished product is often determined by the quality you start with.

You can start probing it with your two tined meat fork,or your temp probe and if it goes thru like butter-it is probably tender.If not-cook it another 5º and check again.

Sounds like your wood is fine and I wouldn't worry too much about what you add when foiling.

A couple hrs wrapped tight is usually good for them.

Keep good notes,so you know what small changes to make next time-if any.

Thanks Tom, I appreciate your comment and respect your smoking ability

FYI: I called my local butcher yesterday and he said they usually only do 'flats', but since i took him some of the pulled pork i smoked using the PB i purchased from him 2 weeks ago, he will get me a fresh 'packer' and when i show up to pick it up on Friday, he'll let me look at it and if i want anything trimmed off he'll do it for me before the purchase.

I've been reading through all the 'burnt ends' threads and i'm not sure if i'm 'skilled' enough to try the burnt ends on my first brisket. Plus at $3.94 a pound, i really don't want to waste any of the meat. LOL if that makes sense to you guys.


P.S. i forgot to mention that it's a 10 - 12 lbs packer, just might be a little 'folding' going on to fit it into the 025.

Just wad that rascal inside the cooker and don't completely block the flow of smoke/heat.
This ain't brain surery-it will shrink up.
Don't let the butcher start trimming.After it is cooked,the fat will come right off.Plus ,you'll learn some stuff.

Slice that that is slicable,chop what isn't.The diners can slice off what they don't want.

We all learn by cooking things and making adjustments.

Wow, $3.94/lb for a packer is pretty expensive. Is the butcher going to trim it before he weighs and prices it or after? If he'll do some trimming before, I'd let him trim the fat down to about a little over 1/4 inch. He'll probably take off quite a bit of fat and save you some cash. And a 10-12lber should fit without any problems.

How close are you to 32nd Street in Pittsburgh? There's a Restaurant Depot there. Join KCBS and RD will give you free day passes to purchase products there. The last packer I bought at RD was $2.09/lb.

Like Andy says,if you have options.That sounds like what most retailers charge to special order a single packer,if his purveyer will even find one.

They won't do a case,because they will be stuck with all the rest.They have to trim out the flat for small pot roasts and grind the rest for burgers.

If you are going to become a brisket cook,like Andy says,you have to work out a source.

Even buying cases work,because they freeze well for up to a couple years with a good freezer.

In the meantime,you may have to cook what you can get.

Thanks Guys! I work in downtown Pittsburgh, but live 45 miles south east of the city... My house is the same distance from Morgan town WV as it is from Pittsburgh PA...

I will def give the RD a looking into. I thought $4.00 a lb was a little pricy too. My parents are members of the local Sam's and the next time they go, i'll be going with them to see how much and even if they have 'packers'. There is a chance they may only have flats that are trimmed. We really don't have much room in the freezer for me to get a bunch of packers and freeze. I would love that, and i'd def go and buy a deep freezer for that purpose, but i think my parents would kill me and tell me i need to buy a house before i fill another square inch of their house with something. LOL... I'm not really sure if i'm going to be a 'brisket' smoker or really just a "i smoke whatever is in the freezer that day, or whatever i'm hungry for" kind of guy. LOL...

Oh and i'm not that creepy 35 year old living in his parents basement... I'm only 27 and plan on getting engaged next summer... Just waiting for my girlfriend to find a teaching job so as we're not trying to make all ends meet with only my salary.

quote:

Originally posted by Tom:
Well,I'm no expert-but I have cooked a few briskets.

Tom, As you know, we covered this officially. You ARE a brisket expert on this forum

Never had a problem getting a big packer in the 020, as long as I put it in diagonally, with the fat side down.

While I agree with Tom being the forum expert on briskets, RibDog or Smokin' could teach a few things about those stubborn unforgivable pieces of tuff meat that can be made into a fine meal if patience is used.

Good luck and have FUN!

thanks cal, i've got lots of patience and lots of beer in the fridge. I'll put 'em both together saturday morning while i'm waiting for the 025 to churn out another great piece of meat!

I have been cooking a few flats, not an expert for sure. I don't add anything when I FTC but I do place it in the cooler fat side up. Just remember how you wrap it in foil and foil it a couple of times. The juices from the fat flow down keeping things pretty moist. Enjoy your brisket. Your going to love it.

Good idea! I never would have thought about that! when you FTC your pork butts do you do place them fat side up? when i did my last PB the fat cap fell off when i tried to remove it from the smoker.

duck, i live in pittsburgh as well and i can tell you you wont find packers at sam's club, only cryovac flats. You will find packers at Walmart here. that makes no sense but trust me it is the case. I've looked for packers at sams for the almost 2 years i've had my smoker and had no luck. But i did pickup a 15 pound packer at walmart in west mifflin and smoked it last week used the kiss method and it was fantastic.

As far as placement when foiling butts,don't worry.They are the most forgiving meat you will cook.
Not much to the fatcap,and some just throw it away.

If we all think about the guy that is cooking about three dozen "big meats" this Sat and gets them right,you will see why they tell you to K.I.S.S.

Maybe we don't need all these hundreds of super secret tricks.

Just a couple of thoughts.

quote:

Originally posted by Tom:
If we all think about the guy that is cooking about three dozen "big meats" this Sat and gets them right,you will see why they tell you to K.I.S.S.

Thanks Tom, i'm not sure what you meant by this statement though.


Qburgh - i live about 15 miles south of Greensburg, and i've checked the Wally-worlds around me and all i saw was cryo flats, that's why i was going to check Sam's in Greensburg. Oh well, maybe i'll try a flat sometime.

quote:

Originally posted by Duck_Commander:

quote:

Originally posted by Tom:
If we all think about the guy that is cooking about three dozen "big meats" this Sat and gets them right,you will see why they tell you to K.I.S.S.

Thanks Tom, i'm not sure what you meant by this statement though.

Translation-those folks who cook very large quantities of briskets at a time with consistently great results use simple methods.

If you're doing only one, you may have time to play.

Thanks Mr. Maineiac.

Pags, after a do a few briskets and get them down to a T consistently, i wouldn't mind experimenting with something here or something there. But for me, i'm a young kid, and don't really want to spend much time in the kitchen preparing something, that i could have just used salt, pepper, and a few other spices and throw it in the smoker and forget about it... That time i spend in the kitchen soaking in pepsi or dr. pepper and stuff like that, is time i could be out in the woods hunting.

Plus, i would like to make sure i'm doing 'traditional' BBQ. Like with the slaw on the pulled pork samiches....Around my area, i've never seen slaw on PP before, until on here.... Everyone that ate the samich that way loved it. (i'm assuming slaw on the samich is traditional BBQ) LOL.

The question is,can a cook that has learned how to cook the product well, cook one ,or 30 ,and achieve the same quality product.

Smokin'Okie may take an FEC 750 and produce quality for hundreds ,or his old Smokette and produce the same quality for his family and a couple of friends.

A chef,like Max,may serve the same ,very high priced meal to a hundred guests some night and the quality and experience must be the same.

The simple technique is the same,not the amount of time.

You learn in chili comps that some people can produce a good pot of chili and when they have spare time they start to tinker /adding things they heard/read about until they usually ruin the good pot they had.

Occasionally,they got lucky and it turned out well.Then,they can't ever reproduce it.

At major comps,if you decide to be a vendor to thousands,you must pay the competition fees and compete with the pros.At some,the judges pick from your cookers to have the judges' sample and they must all be good.

A high priced caterer,serving bbq to a few hundred, must produce the same quality to the first and last guest.

If they struggled for days to do ribs,or brisket for four people,think how long they must take to do the same meal for a couple hundred.

At times,here on the forum,experienced cooks describe cooking for large groups at home.

At comps,many cooks offer a feed to all the other cooks that walk/drop by the evening before the main comps.

Believe me,those folks don't wish to serve an inferior product to friends/peers.

Something to think about.

oh, ok... i see what your saying now.

You know, i was reading about the FEC 750 yesterday and saw how much it costs, and thought to myself, who in the world has one of these, that can fork out that much money for a smoker. Either they love BBQ or have an expandble bank account.

Smokin',like many experienced comp cooks will help organize,solicit funds,materials,meats,and other teams to cook for troops returning home-or leaving,disaster victims,Senior citizens,charitable causes,etc.

Cookshack also is generous in support with equipment,supplies,etc.

Wow, i had no idea about any of that... that's very nice of him and all sponsors.

one last question guys before i leave work to stop at the butcher's shop to pick up my brisket.... If i plan on trying to 'slice' my brisket when finished smoking, at what internal temp should i pull it off the smoker to FTC for a few hours? (i'm assuming if i FTC there will be some 'cary over' heating going on)

Tom covered that in his first post. If ya are gonna be a brisket cook, patience is needed rather than a temp probe, per say.

That carry over heat, will be tenderizing going on.

you got it. Thanks Guys, Brisket going on in 30 minutes to smoke all night long!

Duck, as SmokinOkie always taught us, it's done when it's done. Temp is a guideline; not a sure fire formula. When a brisket or pork butt hits 190, take a long metal/wood skewer, ice pick, knitting needle, what have you and push through the center. If it's slides in and out with little resistance, you're good to go. I've had briskets ready in the low 190's...others above 200. Just remember to FTC when it's done and give it at least a 30-60 minute rest before slicing.

Thanks Cal, Max, Tom, and Smokin. I guess i didn't ask my question in the correct manner. Max, you actually answered my question... I was trying to get a 'guess' temp to open the door of the CS to 'test' the doneness via method you posted above.

I just didn't want to open the door too soon and lengthen the cook time if i didn't need to.

The brisket went on at 9:00pm and it's now 12:50am and she's smokin pretty good. Last time i check via the maverick at 12:30am the internal temp was 135*... since i'm smokin over night the 025 is set at 200*. got the Mav set to beep if the brisket hits 185 while i'm sleeping.

The brisket ended up being 12 lbs and i did not trim any of the fat off. I can say, this beast was stuffed in the top shelf of the smoker! LOL

i didn't get any pics of the 'before' as i had to run to a graduation party after work and when i came home i hit it with rub again and stuffed it in the smoker. I'll get some 'after' pics in the am.

again, thanks for all the help guys, your too nice!