Beef Brisket

Welcome and congrats on the Smokette! Here's a couple of suggestions...

1. Make sure you season the Smokette before using it.
2. Read Smokin's 101 guides (http://www.cookshackamerica.com/Smokin_Okie.aspx) and search the forums for our experiences. You'll find a lot of info on our results.
3. Take a look at MainelyDave's great web site for tips and pictures! (http://www.lamaine.com/bbq/)
4. If you haven't bought the brisket, try a poRk shoulder for your first cook. They're hard to mess up and will help build confidence.

So... On to your real question... If you already have the brisket, and want to try it, here's what I did for my brisket last weekend...

I started out with a 5.5 lb flat that only had a partial fat cap. I seasoned it the night before and let it sit in the 'fridge overnight. For the seasoning, I coated it with yellow mustard to help the rub adhere and then gave it a liberal coating of Wizard BBQ Kickin' Beef Rub. Use whatever you like, including a simple seasoning of salt and pepper.

I also took a can of beef broth and seasones it with some of the rub and some garlic and brought that mixture to a simmer and then let it cool. I strained that mixture and let it sit overnight. (Thanks again for the suggestion, Jack!)

In the morning I took the brisket and mixture out and let them come up to room temp a little while I heated up the Smokette. I then injected the brisket with as much af the mixture that I could, and saved the rest for later. I put the briskete in the Smokette at 225 degrees with 2 oz of hickory. I left it alone (don't open the door if you can help it) and monitored the internal temp with my remote thermometer until it hit 190 degrees. That took just about 11 hours (so, about 2 hours per pound).

At 190 I opened the door and poked around with the thermometer and it felt nice and tender, so I pulled it from the Smokette, wrapped it in two layers of HD aluminum foil and then two beach towels and stuck it into an empty styrofoam cooler to rest for an hour. I then sliced it to about 1/4" thick and served it with some Blues Hog sauce that had been thinned with some of the broth mixture.

The key message here is to let the Smokette do the work, and, as Smokin' always say, "its done when it's done...).

SmokingIslander, Welcome to the forum! You'll love your Smokette! IMO, I would start out with a butt. That brisket flat you have is sometimes a difficult meat to smoke. Like Ron said, it's hard to mess up a butt. Do read the 101's and the archieves. There's a lot of info there that covers almost any subject you can think of. Learn to use the "search" feature of this forum. You will gleen a lot from the wisdom and knowledged contained there. Another thing that is to have patience! As SmokinOkie Says, "It's done when it's done." You'l find a lot of good people here, always willing to help you out.

Good luck and remember to tell us about that first smoke!

As said above,a flat is maybe the most difficult to cook consistently well.

The CS was developed as a brisket cooker.

I recommend that you keep it as simple as possible,when you first cook anything.

Take good notes and make simple changes with each successive cook.

Do a search at the top of the page for brisket,or brisket flats,and it should help a lot.

Once you get the cooking technique down,than there are a lot of changes you can try.

This being said,I've cooked some passable choice large flats in a CS with a a coating of worcestershire,a simple rub of salt,pepper,some granulated garlic and a little brown sugar.

I stay away from mesquite on long cooks and prefer 3 or 4 oz of nutwoods.

Here is a good starter for a brisket flat,for your first cook.

Brisket Flats

225� is always a good place to start cooking many things.

Hope this helps a little.