First beef brisket suggestions

piaconis · Jun 21, 2012

OK seasoned veterans, after messing around with pork, chicken, and a little fish on the smoker, it is time for me to dive in and give beef a try. I'm looking for suggestions on brisket, from rub, to cooking/resting methods, to wood suggestions...anything else that matters. I am planning to use a vacuum sealed Angus brisket flat from Sams Club (around 5 or 6 pounds).

Thoughts? Ready...go!

s2k9k · Jun 21, 2012

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/search.php?search=brisket

dewetha · Jun 21, 2012

even better, Jeff's own vid:

there was a nice brisket newsletter also check out his web site and see if you can find it.

piaconis · Jun 22, 2012

Well, here goes nothing....

Fat cap scored and then given a good slather of mustard - this 7 pound hunk of meat looks good!

Rub applied and covered in foil overnight...looking good!

A little extra rub to fill in the gaps

First hour

More to come!

piaconis · Jun 22, 2012

And at three hours...

smokinhusker · Jun 22, 2012

Looking good! Is that a flat?

piaconis · Jun 22, 2012

Yep. Figured I'd try a Sam's Club special first, before spending some real money at the local meat market, just in case I screw it up.

piaconis · Jun 22, 2012

Four and a half hours in...I appear to have hit stall temperature

bruno994 · Jun 22, 2012

Looking good. What IT are you shooting for? Or just going with the toothpick test? Either works for me.

piaconis · Jun 22, 2012

Thinking 190, and then resting it in the cooler for a couple of hours. Never done the toothpick test. How does that work?

piaconis · Jun 22, 2012

As you can see, there was a little depression in the meat that collected the fat that was rendering and made a little pool. Is this normal, or should I have done something different to prevent this? Obviously it doesn't develop the bark in this spot, and it seemed to wash away the rub. Just one of those anomalies that comes with cuts of meat?

bruno994 · Jun 22, 2012

Yep, just an anomaly or abnormality, whatever. If that is your fat cap, it doesn't matter if the rub has washed away anyway. Take a toothpick and probe the brisket, typically somewhere starting around 180 IT, if it slides in easily, its done, if not, keep on cooking until it does. On the rare occasion, a brisket might not pass the toothpick test at 205, very rare, unless your cooking hot and fast, then not so rare. You can also use a temp probe to check for doneness.

southtexascoast · Jun 22, 2012

I like to buy a small untrimmed brisket that weights around 9 pounds. They are hard to find but worth the wait. tht size are fairly flat and don't have all the internal fat on the big end.

piaconis · Jun 25, 2012

Final result after removal and resting:

And sliced...

jrod62 · Jun 25, 2012

That good looking brisket Thumbs Up

dougmays · Jun 25, 2012

looks great! nice smoke ring on your first brisket. One rub i love to use is TexasBBQRub.com's brisket rub with a pre-bath of worsty sauce!

piaconis · Jun 25, 2012

Thanks guys! I thought it looked pretty good, given it was my first try. And thanks for the suggestion, dougmays. That sounds tasty!

It was really tender on day #1, when we sliced it and served it bare. I sealed it to save the leftovers for day #2, and added some sauce to replace the moisture that I lost from cooling and reheating, and we made brisket sandwiches out of it. I had fun trying my own rub, because it gave it a unique taste, but I can see where these Texas guys with their super secret rubs can get such great results. It really expresses itself, especially when you score the fat cap (thank you Jeff for the YouTube advice!).

First beef brisket suggestions

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