First time packer, q-view after the jump...

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scvinegarpepper

Meat Mopper
Original poster
Feb 23, 2010
188
77
Lowcountry, SC
This was my first time doing a full packer. I picked up a nice 15.36 pounder from Wal-Mart. I had done flats before without injecting but decided to inject this one. I found an injection on here that I really liked. Sorry, but I can't remember who posted it. It was simple and sounded good. Nothing but beef broth, worcestershire, onion powder, garlic powder, and cayenne.

For my rub(s), I wanted a saltier, bolder rub on the flat (just my preference), and a sweeter, more barbecue-ish, rub on the point since I knew I would be saucing the burnt ends and wanted some good sugar to carmelize with the sauce. So, for the flat I used montreal steak seasoning, CBP, onion powder, and garlic powder. But the primary seasoning was the steak seasoning. I'd like to give a shoutout to my main man, SmokinAl, for that advice. For the point, I used a commercial, but local, rub from a catering company here in town called Charleston Pig Company. A guy I went to high school with started the company and I love his rub. It's got a perfect balance of sweet and heat, just what I wanted for the point. Oh, and I rubbed em both with OO before rubbing. Here's the flat and the point injected and all rubbed up. I threw them back in the fridge to marinate and soak up the seasonings for a few hours before I got ready to smoke. Also, I kept all the fat and put that on the top rack of the smoker to baste the meat as it smoked. Once again, props to Al for that suggestion.

6fed40c0_flatrubbed.jpg


79bca596_pointrubbed.jpg


I got the Master Forge rolling to about 225, smoking with some hickory chips and hickory dust in the AMNS. Some people might think that's overkill, but I'm having trouble with my AMNS going out. I think it's just not getting enough air. Because once I get it loaded and burning outside the smoker, it rolls fine, but within about an hour of going in the smoker, it dies out. So I've been using chips as a backup. I need to work on that though.

It took about 6 hours for the flat to hit 165. So I pulled em and foiled em, back on the smoker. Total time was about 8-ish hours. Quicker than I thought. But oh well. Here they are before slicing: (also, great trick I saw someone else on here with the toothpicks)

a801f9a0_flatdone.jpg


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Here's a cross-section cut of the point prior to cubing, decent smoke ring, IMO:

ac1048b6_pointsliced.jpg


Hit the soon-to-be-burnt ends with more of the CPC rub:

b68a2025_pointcubedrubbed.jpg


Hit the cubes with the hickory bourbon Stubbs sauce. Mehh...it was ok, best I could do in a pinch.

595cdbdb_pointcubedrubbedsauced.jpg


Now let's see how that flat turned out...Not bad at all, good smoke ring, however, this was near the end so the smoke ring should be deeper there anyway, I would assume, nonetheless, I'm happy with the smoke:

e0080120_firstsliceflat.jpg


Here you can see the smoke ring pretty well:

c61d04e7_flatsliced.jpg


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And finally some burnt ends: (I cooked the hell out of these things until finally I said screw it let's eat)

d7caefcb_burntendsdonebest.jpg


Overall, I'd call it a successful smoke. I will say next time for the burnt ends I want something with more sugar in it. Also, the flat was a teeny bit dry, but that's my fault. It was done way earlier than I would have liked, and I made the mistake of slicing it then. So I had to reheat it on the smoker with some more beef broth in the pan to keep it most, but it just wasn't the same. In hindsight, I probably should not have sliced it until I was ready to eat it. Oh well, live and learn. Hope you enjoyed the picks. I will definitely do another packer. Only this time I will plan more accordingly. Now for my next project I want to do pastrami...

-T
 
Great looking brisket,

 You are right on about not slicing till ready to serve. Wrap it good in foil after you take it off the smoker and then in a couple of towels and store in a small ice chest .

 if you fill all the air space in the ice chest w/ towels or a blanket it will stay hot for 6-8 hrs.
 
Great looking brisket,

 You are right on about not slicing till ready to serve. Wrap it good in foil after you take it off the smoker and then in a couple of towels and store in a small ice chest .

 if you fill all the air space in the ice chest w/ towels or a blanket it will stay hot for 6-8 hrs.
See, I made the mistake of putting it in a cooler with towels, but I didn't think to fill up the air space in the cooler with towels. Next time I will be all over it! Thanks for the heads up.
 
Very Nice Looking Brisket!

Nice Smoke Ring

Your AMNS is starved for air.  A propane flame consumes most of the available oxygen in the smoker. 

I've been playing around with an aquarium pump for combustion air.

Todd
 
Nice job Man. You say it was a little dry, but it sure looked juicy.

And that smoke ring was awesome.

Looks like you hit a homer on your first try!
 
Do most of you leave the Point and Flat connected before smoking or do you seperate the two before cooking like Pepper did above?  I have never tried the method above and I am doing a brisket for the LSU vs Alabama game and was wondering how the consensus smokes their brisket?
 
That is a beautiful brisket. Great job.

As for the AMNS do you dry your dust before using it? I put mine in a glass bowl and microwave for 60-90 seconds then stir and do anouther 60-90 seconds. It helps alot.
 
Just a little tid-bit from Western Colorado.  I do several briskets a year.  I leave them together, but remove most of the large fat deposits from the piece.  Rub them down good and smoke them in an old school Brinkman smoke n pit.  Usually 3 hours at 220 deg. with mesquite smoke.  Then remove from smoker, wrap in several layers of aluminum foil, in to the oven for another 2 hours at 350 degrees.  Be careful when opening the meat pack because it will be full of hot juice.  I usually transfer the meat and juice to a large dutch oven  to keep warm, until the party starts.  Never seem to have any left overs!!!Good luck.
 
As for whether or not to leave the brisket in place, it really is personal choice.  For burnt ends, you can consider separating them especially if the rubs will be different. 

I leave mine together, and that is how I was taught long ago.  I like the burnt ends, so I will have to think about changing up the situation.  What could happen, I enjoy two different tastes at the same time in stead of one?  Sounds good to me either way!
 
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Man that brisket looks awesome and the smoke ring is off the hook.
 
That brisket does look awesome.  I have two packers ready to go on today. What I plan on doing is when it hits 165, take it off, seperate point from flat, foil flat and cube the point, put it all back in the smoker and get after it again.

My brother (got to love him) wasnt thinking when he pulled ours out of the cooler last week for our family get together and all I heard was HOT HOT HOT..Im sorry but I had to laugh.

Good Luck

Dave
 
I was reading this thread while smoking my brisket.  Thanks for posting.  Yours looks beautiful and your smoke ring beats mine by far!
 
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