First time on this forum and Brisket Ever starting tomorow any help to my questions would be very ap

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joeskydiver2000

Newbie
Original poster
Apr 21, 2017
5
10
Hello, not real familiar with forums but anyway. I live in Wyoming and have two smokers a Bradley digital and my new addition is a Smoking Tex with an Auber WSd1501GHP (it has the meat probe). also have iGrill2 with 4 temp probes.

I got Jeff's book for Christmas 2 years ago and everyone loves his recipes. I mostly do ribs, chicken, and turkeys, and have made most  of the sides in the book as well.

I have been smoking about 2 years now once a month or so. Tomorrow I will be attempting a 15lb USDA Prime Brisket from Costco. using my Smoking Tex with The Auber

Question one, it doesn't fit in my smoker can I cut part of it off if so what end, do I need to sear it or something?. it looks like I need to cut 4" off if I place it diagonal in the smoker.

Question two, is it realistic to plan for 1.5hrs per pound. and should I plan to finish using that time table near my 6pm dinner time or should I shoot for an earlier time and wrap with foil and place in a cooler until dinner time?

Question 3. I always see a people say 225° to 250°, every smoke I have done in the past I do at 225° should the brisket be smoked at 225. The smoking tex with The Auber temp controller maintains Set Point +/- 1°.

The Plan is: Garlic and onion paste in the frig. today to place the brisket in the smoking tex tha is at temp 225° Saturday 11am to finish Sunday 4pm to eat at 5:30pm.

Thanks in advance for any help guys.
 
Joeskydiver2000, welcome to SMF!  Glad you landed here, chute open, and enjoying smoking meat too!

Personally, I've never cut a packet brisket down, but I've purchased a lot of packers, flats and points over the decades.  Near as I can tell, most of the flats and points were separated by the butcher along the fat layer between the flat and point.  The only exception was my local Costco.  For some unexplained reason they cut full packers lengthwise.  I never purchased one.  That just seemed insane.

Below is a picture about the flat and point.  It should give you and idea how to separate the two along the seam.  If you separate the point and flat, your longest timing will be the weight of the biggest piece of meat. 

Take pics and let us know how it turned out.  

 
Welcome to the board, sky! As for timing, it's better to be done early and let the meat rest, rather than having everyone around your dinner table hammering their empty forks and wondering when you will finally serve up.

If you're new to discussion forums, you've found a good one. Some of them can be quite nasty but this is a place where everyone helps everyone else. Just ask (as you have) and you'll get answers.
 
Thanks guys,  yes this brisket seems to be one piece never being separated before. I looked at the brisket prior to the garlic and onion rub I put on it last night. I will look again and separate. I cant believe the size of some of the briskets at Costco. I got the smallest one and its huge.

Who knew smoking meat was so addicting, see..... now that I know there is meat that wont fit in my NEW smoker I'm going to have to buy a bigger one now. I like the set it and forget it type when it comes to temp and wood. I like the spritzing etc. but hate managing temp I'm too much of a control freak to remain sane during the process.

Thanks again. I will try to post some pictures before and after.
 
Yes, please post pictures!

Separating the point from the flat for the first time can be a bit of a challenge, but once you find the fat line you'll breeze right through it.
 
I have a Smokin-It #2 and it was my first and only smoker for a while. It would not fit a whole packer either. I used to cut enough off of the flat end to fit. I just put the cut off part in the smoker too. It will, or course, get done sooner, but just be mindful and you should not have a problem. Heck, you got enough probes to monitor 2 cuts of meat. Yes you could separate the point and flat and it would likely fit they way as well. I always liked keeping the point and flat in tact since I think it smokes better that way. Specifically, the portion of the flat under the point is the best part of the flat. 

Keep in mind that the brisket will shrink quite a bit as it cooks. No need to get too aggressive with cutting it down. Just cut it enough to fit and in fact it can touch the sides a bit since it will shrink. Just make sure you smoker walls where it will touch are fairly clean. Use a scraper in those areas to clean it a bit. 

You have the perfect set up for overnight smoking. I usually start my briskets around 10-11pm. I smoke at 225-250 depending on size. I try to time it to be in or pulling out of the stall at ~ 6-7am. Then I get up and wrap it and put it back in. I continue to cook to an internal temp nearly 200* then start checking to see how easy a skinny probe or a toothpick will slide in. When the toothpick slides into the flat with little to no resistance I pull it. If it has a slight resistance I put it straight into a cooler (usually wrapped in a towel or 2 to keep the cooler clean). If it probes with no resistance then I open the wrap and let it steam out for 5 -7 minutes. Then wrap up again, usually in a new wrap, and into a cooler. It will stay warm for many hours. 

When I get up at 6 or 7 am and wrap it, it will finish cooking in less than 4 hours after that typically. 

Since you have a large one, if you don't separate the point from the flat, I would smoke it at 240* or so. You can always jack up or down the temp in the morning if you need to. 

Also, I too am a lazy, good for nothing, hands off smoker. I have charcoal, pellet and an the aforementioned Electric (Smokin-It #2). All of them are hands free with temp controllers. The only type smoker that cannot be made totally hands free is a stick burner. At least not that I know of. And yes, you need another smoker and have a good excuse to get one. Once you do this brisket, you will be hooked on em and want to do them whole and often. 

Post pics when you are done. Happy smoking. 
 
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