Uses of whiskey with brisket, need ideas!

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Since I only have 3 hrs until I start getting the fire going, I decided I needed to start priming my liver.

Here are the ingredients for the Mac and Cheese.


The ingredients for my liver, also the whiskey I am going to use for the glaze. Crown Maple is the only type I have not tried yet. Very good, very sweet.


Found a great use for the bags the Crown comes in. I'll use the maple bag for another smoking accessory that I don't know I need yet.  
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Well, I believe I've hit the plateau. I knew going I to this that briskets take time, so I'm riding it out. I probed it at the 7 1/2 hr mark and it was at 138 IT at the thickest part of the flat. I got a little worried, but knew I have not let the temps dip and have been keeping them @ 215-235 very steadily. Only times it has dipped below 200 was when spraying with my apple juice every 2 hrs, and I didn't begin the until 3 hrs in. It has risen to 145, held for an hr, dropped to 144 for an hr, and just now went back to 145 as I type.

I'm using a calibrated Maverick ET732 along with two oven thermometers on either side of the brisket as a fail safe. Its now been on for 10 1/2 hrs and is sitting at 145 IT.

Think I may try and take a nap now.
 
Here it is going on the smoker at 10pm.


14 hours later, currently at 158 IT, smoker purring along at 225. This smoker has really surprised me. When I put it on last night I was nervous because I was having to make adjustments for the first hour. Then I followed what I have learned on here. Last week made a basket, which has made a HUGE difference. Anyone who is on the fence about it, it cost me $20 for the metal, and 30 minutes of labor. No reason not to. Anyhow, after I got it set, first basket lasted around 5 hours. When I re-loaded, I raked the coals toward the vent and kind of overlapped the new coals starting closest to the chamber and kind of on top of the lit coals. I have rarely made adjustments. I could of snuck in quite a few naps. But being my first over-nighter, guess I wasn't comfortable.

 
Thanks.

I pulled it off with an IT of 178. At this point, time on smoker was 20 hours for an 11 lb packer. May need to calibrate my probe. Either way, brisket seems amazing. Point was hard to cut into cubs, shredded some. Its on the smoker now as burnt ends, as well as mac and cheese. Flat is in cooler, hope its just as tender. Had a hard time finding the fat line to separate. May of cut into the flat. Tried using the back of the knife but I couldn't find that sweet spot. Lessons learned.

So far so good. Pics to come!
 
There is a technique where you smoke it above a pan, let the drippings collect in the pan, then later put the brisket in the pan and seal it with foil. I have done this with Red Stag (cherry flavored bourbon) and, when I put the brisket in the pan, added a little Red Stag. I think I could taste it but even more, I think the alcohol made it more tender (and being in the juices, it was really moist and tender).

Here's a description of this method from John Rodriguez, it worked really well for me:


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If this is your first brisket then I would do the following:

1) Night before rub the brisket with worshteshire-rire-y, worshty... yeat that sauce! then put your rub on the brisket. Keep it simple - salt, pepper, garlic powder, and paprika work well. Wrap it in plastic wrap and let it get happy.

2) Fire up your smoker, bring it up to 210-220° and toss in your brisket. Place a foil pan with 1 bottle of good beer in it under the brisket.

... now comes the hard part!

3) Leave it alone! Don't peak, don't poke, just leave it be untill the internal temp. gets to 165°.

4) At 165°'ish take the brisket and put it in the pan with the drippings and cover it tightly with foil.

.... 2nd hard part - you guessed it, leave it alone!

5) Wait for the internal temp. to get between 190° and 205° (190 for slicing 205 for pulled/shredded).

.... Don't try to rush it! Don't turn up the temp on the smoker! Don't pull it early!

6) Pull it out of the smoker, double wrap it in heavy foil, then place it in a dry towel lined cooler and cover it with more towels..... and the really hard part - wait for 1 hr.!

7) Open it up and enjoy the best dang brisket you ever had!

Suggestion: while the brisket is resting take the juices from the pan and the juices from the foil and put them in a small container and toss it in the freezer till the fat sets up. Pull the fat off and re-heat the juices to spoon over the brisket as a finishing sauce.
 
My best results have been using Tequila and bourbon together. I also use the wood chips from the oak bourbon barrels. I add about a shot and a half of each I also add about the same amount of vinegar and a few dashes of liquid smoke when I foil wrap for the last few hours of smoking. I've feed this to several groups of people and in each setting someone in the group detects the slight hint of bourbon in the meat. I have also found that the mixture helps tenderize the meat.
 
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