cut brisket to fit?

Naaah, just fold it up a bit so it fits. It'll shrink down some after cooking, just rearrange it after a few hours, and move the "touching" parts (against the wall) so they're not touching for best exposure. Search the forum to confirm this, it is done all the time and the brisket still comes out great!

I've got the 55 which has the same size racks (14 X 14) and smoked a 12.5 lb brisket last week, just fold the flat under until it fits you'll be fine...

I would fold the deckle under and squash it in there. It will fit. When the flat gets done, cut the deckle off and leave it in on 250* and take it up to about 205* or so. You will love it.

Here is a link to Mainley Dave did his brisket.
Hope it helps. .http://www.lamaine.com/bbq/brisket.html

Mike

Thanks for the replies. I had to get going with it & figured I should just make it fit, but my little bride convinced me to cut it in half. It came out ok, but would have been better had I just made it fit, then rearranged it later.

The more I smoke, the more I learn.

So, in the future, are you going to listen to your wife, or a bunch of deadbeats that obviously have too much time on their hands?? Hmmmmm???

Tell the little woman to mind her P's and Q's until she becomes a brisket expert.

Then run !!!

You're right. The problem was I had to chunk it in there & run, so I really couldn't hang out long & wait for the experts. To top it all off, I knew in my heart of hearts that yall would say cram it in there & crank it up. It was a pure moment of weakness & I'll try to do better in the future.

From now on, when in doubt, I'll do it the cowboy way.

Just a thought, but since the question comes up occassionally, worth my 3 cents.

Don't worry, just smoke it.

Just throw it in and smoke. So WHAT if it touches the sides? The smoker is seasoned and it will be fine. It certainly shrinks up as you smoke and will pull back from the walls.

Like ribs. It's nice if you can expose all of them to smoke, but if they touch a little or overlap so you can do two more, go for it.

Only technique change I do is when I put a lot in the smoke, I try to rotate the meat so it gets to the smoke eventually.

Smokin'