Brine or marinade

Hello m2pitmaster and welcome to the fun.  Many good folk here with a load of experience that they are more than willing to share.  If you have specific questions just start a thread and someone with experience will be along soon to offer advice.  Spend some time doing some research on the forums, tons of advice and recipes already available there.  The trial and error method works well.  We will try to help you keep the errors to a minimum since we already made them for you.  We look forward to your contributions.  Due to size I would think you are smoking a well trimmed flat??  If that's the case then I would say marinade.  If it is a piece of a whole packer with fat intact I would say neither.  A little baste/mop as you cook maybe.  Hope this helps,  Have fun.  Good luck.  Keep Smokin!

Danny

If I am going to foil I sometimes marinade in Claudes overnite, but if not it only gets a rub. I don't think I have ever brined one, I have injected but not too often. I pretty much smoke it, with rub. If you need more flavor get a new butcher, if you need more moisture leave you pits door closed or seal it better. Only dry briskets I've had were just over cooked.

But every smoke is about making your personal prefrence the best it can be using what you have.

The above is just how I like it, its ok to be different.

Don't get stressed, start easy and build. If it ain't fun its not a

good smoke.

I rub it down, wrap it up, throw it in the fridge for a day or two, then unwrap and re-rub before throwing on the smoker. The foil will add a bit of moisture but mostly I think it helps you pass the thermal lag faster.

But there is plenty about all this on the boards, to which I welcome you. There will some really cool people here to help you with understanding and enjoying the boards. If I can help and you don't see me just drop me a note.

Welcome to my addiction!

Welcome to the SMF Family...Brisket is really best Simple but that is not to say a Marinade or Injection will not benefit if there is a particular flavor profile or it is increased moisture you desire. Brines for Beef other than making Corned Beef and Pastrami are pretty infrequent, I have never tried it...JJ

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Opinions vary on brisket preps...I will sometimes use an injection mixture with beef broth and worchestershire sauce, but most often I only rub it and smoke it.  As Danny mentioned it sorta depends on fat content.

Red

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Kat

m2pitmaster said:

I have finally figured how to control my temp on my Char Broil 22" barrel style cooker.
Now, I'm smoking an 8lb brisket this coming weekend an I am curious.
A rub will definitely be applied, regardless, should I brine or marinate the brisket?
Should I do both?
Any tips this query will be greatly appreciated, and the meat smoking gods will bless your grill!

Click to expand...

m2, evening....  for your first brisket, I would apply a rub until it won't hold no more...   use a small water pan for the first 3-4 hours while the smoker is 225 ish....   when the water is evaporated or you pull the pan, the meat will start to form a bark that will seal in the juices...    I like bark so I don't foil....  cook the brisket until the IT (internal temp) is 195 ish for slicing.....    after the water pan is pulled, the temp of the smoker can be raised to 250 ish if you desire...  helps with the bark and keeping in the moisture and speeds up the cooking process...  No mopping necessary.... keep the smoker closed as much as possible...    After this brisket, you can change cooking techniques.... adding sauces.... foiling.... etc....   a naked brisket is good to start with to give you some direction to go in the future with an excellent reference point.....  

There's my $1.35 worth of advice.....        Dave