My first Brisket!

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aspicola

Newbie
Original poster
Apr 18, 2014
9
11
This past weekend for Mother's Day I smoked a small brisket for my future mother-in-law and family. I picked up a 5lb and used a store bought rub called "Savory Smokehouse" mixed with another rub I had around that I can't remember the name of.

I smoked it at ~225 for about 5 hours, and then foiled it and kept it at heat for another 3 hours so it was in for 8 hours total. I then coolered it for about 45 minutes. I was smoking in my MES 30 with a mix of applewood and hickory chips. To get a better smoke I break up a charcoal briquette and use a mix of dry and soaked chips. I have found this provides the most smoke if I start it at about 250F and then dial it down.

It came out pretty good for my first time, definitely different than the boston butts I've been doing. I was pretty nervous for my first time because I've read that beef is much less forgiving and I was very concerned about it being too dry. When I pulled it out of the cooler it was definitely tender, almost falling apart. I ended up slicing it in pretty big slices because it was literally shredding up. It was a little bit dry, so I'm thinking I trimmed a little too much of the outer fat cap and cooked it a little too long. Otherwise it tasted great, a bit peppery of a rub but the fats were broken done so I was happy. Everyone really enjoyed it. My fiancee and I paired it with some smoked chicken legs, grilled baby portabellas, and bacon potato salad. 

Can't wait to try a brisket again for sure! I'm really learning my smoker pretty well and things are coming out better and better each time!

Here are some views, I didn't get a pic of the first few slices but did get some of the middle.

Right before injection and placing on the smoker:


Right after pulling from the cooler and removing the foil:


Some of the slices of beef, YUM:

 
Looks delicious aspicola!  Nice job!  
bravo.png


Red
 
What was the IT when you pulled it? Keep in mind the smaller the brisket flat it becomes a little more difficult to keep the moisture in. If you pull it at around 200 IT and wrap it nice and tight with some liquid and drop her in a cooler for a good hour and a half or 2 you might get a better moisture content. Goid luck.
 
Thanks Red!

The IT was between 165 and 175 when I foiled it, about 190 when I pulled it out, and after the rest it was about 195. I figured the smaller, thinner cut was going to make it a bit more of a challenge to keep the moisture. Thanks for the advice geerock!
 
Thanks for the Qview the first one I tried I wasn't happy at all with it think maybe I didn't smoke long enough when you wrapped in foil do you add a liquid. Like when I do pork butt I like to add apple juice what could you use for beef thanks again looks great.
 
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