So for our church auction this year, we sold a dinner called "Smoker Surprise", which we advertised as me smokin' something but not sure what, could be brisket, pulled pork, ribs, whatever. Sold for $80/person for 10 people, yikes. Anyway in the past I've done a decent job on babybacks, turkey, smoked salmon, but never tried a full packer brisket.
Naturally I need to practice and test before the big day (in August). I've been reading and collecting many of your "secrets" and tips from this forum, great stuff! But after all that, I still have just a couple of questions -- for now!
1. Around here it seems to be tough to find a place that sells the big (8-10 lb) packers. Not Costco, all I see are smaller flats there. I've seen them in WalMart, but not all the time. Question -- how long can I keep it in my refrig before needing to get it smokin? I figure if I see one at WalMart I want to grab it when needed.
2. Seems that there is no sure fire (no pun intended!) way to time the smoking so that it's ready shortly before eating time. It's done when it's done, right?? And some of you folks say it even tastes better after a couple of days as leftover. So I'm thinking to make it maybe 2-3 days in advance of when we're serving it -- we'll taste test it here of course -- when it's all done, slice it up, wrap it up, then reheat when people are here. Make sense? Reheat in the smoker or wherever??
I think that's it. Looking forward to it. Will post results with qview around this time next week!
Thanks for any and all help!!
Howard
Naturally I need to practice and test before the big day (in August). I've been reading and collecting many of your "secrets" and tips from this forum, great stuff! But after all that, I still have just a couple of questions -- for now!
1. Around here it seems to be tough to find a place that sells the big (8-10 lb) packers. Not Costco, all I see are smaller flats there. I've seen them in WalMart, but not all the time. Question -- how long can I keep it in my refrig before needing to get it smokin? I figure if I see one at WalMart I want to grab it when needed.
2. Seems that there is no sure fire (no pun intended!) way to time the smoking so that it's ready shortly before eating time. It's done when it's done, right?? And some of you folks say it even tastes better after a couple of days as leftover. So I'm thinking to make it maybe 2-3 days in advance of when we're serving it -- we'll taste test it here of course -- when it's all done, slice it up, wrap it up, then reheat when people are here. Make sense? Reheat in the smoker or wherever??
I think that's it. Looking forward to it. Will post results with qview around this time next week!
Thanks for any and all help!!
Howard
