Tri tip or brisket?

I have to go with brisket cuz you can make them oh so delicious burnt ends with the point

aaaah... YES! Definitely!

Different pieces of meat for sure. Many will swear by the tri-tip as their favorite cut of meat for smoking. The brisket is obviously the king (or darned close to it) of beef smoking.

My question to you would be, have you ever smoked either? If not, maybe start with the tri-tip as it might be an easier or less frustrating smoke especially with your new smoker. If you've done one before and not the other, give the other a try.

I have not tackled a briscuit yet, but I have done a few tri-tips and they are failry easy to do and with all the marbeling in the tri tip you will not run the risk of it drying if your not careful. Since the texture and grain is similar to a briscuit I would think you could cut a tri tip up and make the entire thing as burnt ends. I have not tried that yet but was going to give it a shot.

When I have done Tri-tip I grill them to med- rare to med. About 1- 1 1/2 hours.

a brisket (full packer) is probably about 8 times larger than a tri-tip. how much 'que do you want to end up with?

I'd have to agree with Dude in that the brisket is king of beef for the smoker. I can think of 2 main reasons why: (1) if not handled with proper technique, it can throw a temper tantrum, thus being a more challenging smoke; (2) it is so versatile in it's end product: sliced flat, pulled point or cubed point for burnt ends...or just slice the whole thing if it comes out that way.

If a full packer brisket is your poison, especially untrimmed, will be an all-night labor of love, so be ready for that...it is definately worth the effort, or I wouldn't be doing on right now.

I've never smoked a tri-tip...always going for rather larger cuts myself (feeding 7+ here), so can't say much about it.

As Guvna mentioned, tri-tip is a toy compared to a decent sized brisket, so smoke time will be minimal, and should make for a less challenging endevour.

Whatever you decide, someone will be here to help you through it, so no worries, brother smoker.

Eric

To compare Brisket to Tri-tip is like comparing a car to a truck, one is mostly a smooth ride and has a lot of different utility, the other is always going to be a rough ride, and intended for some heavy duty stuff, yet you can enjoy them both, although they are completely different.

Brisket is from the front pectoralis muscle, it protects the more sensitive areas and vitals, so by design it is tough. Being tough Brisket requires cooking methods that are slow with low temp, to have time to work on breaking down the tough connective fibers. In addition usually a lot of doctoring or seasoning is used to get the desired flavors.

Tri-tip is from the bottom sirloin, although tougher than the upper sirloin it will be a easier and quicker to cook and made tender than Brisket. Usually most Tri-tip you can throw on the grill with just salt & pepper and 30 minutes later (depending on thickness) have a super juicy and tasty piece of meat. (Provided you cut on the bias.)

Brisket is a challenge to Q properly smoke and deliver to the table a piece of meat that everyone will enjoy. Tri-tip is simple to either grill or combo smoke & grill, and the desired results can be achieved with very little prep, because simple but proper cooking will be juicy, tender and extremely flavorful, like most quality steaks.

I'm a Calif. dude, who may do 2 or 3 briskets a year, and do easily more than a dozen Tri-tips mostly on the weber kettle, but I now have combo smoke / grilled a few. The cost of a Tri-tip plus the size (usually 2-4 lbs) make it an ideal quick grab item at the market, usually getting you out the door for around $10 with a piece that 4 people will really enjoy.

For convenience and ease Tri-tip.
For a Q challenge although great when done properly Brisket.
One is not better, they are different.

I've only done briskets, but I havn't been smoking meat very long either. With all the info and help available on this forum, don't be intimidated by the brisket. If you have the time to do a brisket I would say go for it. Burn't ends will put you on the top of the todem pole at your home.
Good luck and don't forget the Qview!

What he said!

split the difference and do a chuckie!

Spot on! I love briskets but a chuck is a wonderful cut for the smoker and it's smaller. Also has a lot of room for error. You are not likely to get a dry product like you can from a trimmed flat.