Smoked up my first brisket this weekend. First off, it was harder to find a whole packer here in Maryland than I anticipated. Checked Costco, Sams, Wal-Mart and several grocery stores with no luck. Finally had to have a local butcher order me one, it ended up being $3.89/lb and 17.5 lbs, so it was an expensive piece of meat, but it was worth it.
I watched lots of videos and read a lots of posts- ended up trimming and rubbing, letting marinade in the fridge for 24 hours, then smoked for about 15.5 hours on the UDS until IT of 198. It ended up being great, but I think I can do better next time.
Burnt Ends
After the Rest
Slices of the Flat.
A few observations. I think I will use less sauce with the burnt ends next time, they were really good, but I think the excess sauce hid the taste of the meat. Also, I used a heat diffuser, but ended up using a regular cookie sheet because I didnt get around to using the pizza plate with the holes drilled in that people recommend for the UDS. I think that the square shape of the cookie sheet caused one side of the flat to cook faster/more that the other side. As you can see from the pics, one side of the flat just crumbled while the other side sliced neatly into strips. I think this also caused it to be a bit dryer than I hoped because the thermometer was in the cooler section of the meat. I'm thinking that next time I will try to get a more even cook with a better diffuser. All-in-all, it was great and a big hit with the family. Looking forward to my next one.
I watched lots of videos and read a lots of posts- ended up trimming and rubbing, letting marinade in the fridge for 24 hours, then smoked for about 15.5 hours on the UDS until IT of 198. It ended up being great, but I think I can do better next time.
Burnt Ends
After the Rest
Slices of the Flat.
A few observations. I think I will use less sauce with the burnt ends next time, they were really good, but I think the excess sauce hid the taste of the meat. Also, I used a heat diffuser, but ended up using a regular cookie sheet because I didnt get around to using the pizza plate with the holes drilled in that people recommend for the UDS. I think that the square shape of the cookie sheet caused one side of the flat to cook faster/more that the other side. As you can see from the pics, one side of the flat just crumbled while the other side sliced neatly into strips. I think this also caused it to be a bit dryer than I hoped because the thermometer was in the cooler section of the meat. I'm thinking that next time I will try to get a more even cook with a better diffuser. All-in-all, it was great and a big hit with the family. Looking forward to my next one.
