2 lb. brisket in my Old Smokey Electric Smoker

Welcome!

For starters, your user name reminds me of this:



Besides that, I think you're doing well on that long road of experiential learning.

A 2 Lb hunk of brisket is a great "training wheels" smoke, although I'm not familiar with your smoker type, I'm sure it'll be up to the task.

Try your hardest to keep your temps between 215-225. I've gotten the best briskets smoking at 215. You've mentioned it'll be a while until your remote unit shows up, but do you have a meat thermo anywhere on hand to take readings? Also, do you have 10 bucks to spend for a cheap oven thermo to keep in your smoker until the time comes?

With those two tools, you'll be better equipped than you know.

For a slice-able brisket, you should shoot for 190-195 degrees IT, for a meltingly tender cut, shoot for 200-205. To give yourself a ballpark for how long this should take I would say 70-90 minutes a pound is a good idea for the timeframe; but be warned that this isn't set in stone, cooking by time and temp alone is like painting over all the windows on your car, and trying to drive to the next county thinking "it should take me 60 minutes at 60 miles an hour to get there". I've had 18 LB whole packers finish at 17 hours, and I've had 2.5 lb hunks of flat finish in six you never know.

Another way to guarantee a tender moist hunk of brisket brisket is to wrap it in foil after the cook. Like a good steak, it'll need about 20 minutes to rest (more time for more meat, though).

You ca also foil it when it reaches about 160-165 degrees, and finish cooking it on the smoker or in the oven. This is called the "Texas Crutch", despite the fact that I've known very few Texan pitmen who actually do this. This guarantees a trouble-free finish and safe passage through "the stall". Though, for a two-pounder, the stall will be very, very short.

Now, as far as becoming the "Family Pitmaster", ask questions and learn here, and pay Meathead a visit at Amazingribs.com. He'll walk you through all the basics.

Good luck!

Looks great!

It takes a real pro to get it to be really buttery.

I think pushing it to 205, then wrapping it with some beer and finishing it with an hour-long braise at about 180-200 degrees might yield some results in that direction.

Basically you'd have to treat it like braised short ribs instead of barbecue brisket.

That looks about perfect, though.

Biggfoot:

Are you still using your "Ol Smokey"? I'm on my second and still love it. The temp setting is a bit awkward as it only has low, med & high (no degrees) but I just ordered a thermomoter to mount in the lid. That should help me keep a steady and known temp.

=Dave R=

I know this is an old thread, but it was at the top of my goggle search.

I normally smoke 10lb briskets but this time I was smoking some beef ribs and wanted to try a small 2 lb brisket, but wasn't sure how long it would take. I knew it would take longer than the normal 1.5 hr per lb. But I didn't know how long.

I bought a 2lb flat and a 3lb point to go with my dinosaur ribs. It took me 9 hours, smoking between 225 and 250 on my offset vertical smoker to get my internal temps to a "need no teeth" 205 deg.of goodness.

I know 9 hours is still a lot of time, but for me, it works out good as I can now start at 7am and be eating by 6pm. Which is better having to start at 10 pm, waking up every hour or two, so it can be done by the next day.

So in closing, for my smokers out there. If you don't need to feed that many, try a small brisket and leave room to smoke some other meats at the same time.