Well, about the only thing I got about 100% right on my first attempt at a packer cut brisket was separating the point from the flat. Thank you, Pit 4 Brains!!! (http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/wiki/brisket-separation-technique) I pulled the flat and made burnt ends from the point (well, kinda
).
I didn't get any pics of it whole because I was running behind and I wanted to get it into the marinade ASAP. It was a fresh 16+ pound full packer cut Black Angus brisket that I got from Craig over at Bar Mac Ranch.
I used the same marinade and rub recipes that I added to the WIKI: http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/wiki/brisket-marinade-and-rub, and I made 2 batches of marinade and 1 batch of rub. Each section of the brisket went into a 2-gallon Ziplock with 1 batch of marinade and sat in the fridge overnight (a little over 9 hours). The rub was the perfect amount to fully cover both sections with enough left over for the burnt ends.
Here it is separated and just out of the marinade:
And rubbed:
That was my *first* mistake. I should have dried them off completely before applying the rub. I'm certain that this had a strong negative impact on the bark (it was soggy).
My *second* mistake was thinking that I should take the point out at 195* to make the burnt ends while the flat was still smoking to 205*. Opening the door 5 times to do this slowed down the flat DRASTICALLY and, of course, caused it to be dry as a result. Fortunately, the drip tray was nearly 3/4 full with juices so I was able to correct this (put the juices in the freezer to let the fat separate, skimmed off the fat, and tossed some in with the pulled brisket).
So, anyway, I smoked it at 225* with Mesquite, and I was surprised at how fast the temps were climbing before I opened the door. After 1 hour and 40 minutes, the point was 158* and the flat was 160*, so I didn't foil anything knowing that there wouldn't be any kind of a bark on them at this point. After about 3 hours and 40 minutes, the point was 195* and the flat was 196*, so I decided that I wasn't going to foil them at all. This is where I took out the point, and things went downhill from there temperature-wise.
Here's how it looked when I removed it, then cubed for burnt ends, and then with some rub sprinkled on before I put them back in:
They went in for 2 hours then I sauced them and put them back in for 30 minutes. The final result wasn't very "burnt"-looking, but they were tender, juicy, and tasty:
So, 5 hours later after opening the door 5 times for the burnt ends, my flat was only 188*. I cranked up the smoker to 250*, but it still took another 3 1/2 hours for it to reach 205*. There may have been a stall somewhere in there, but I'll never know because I opened the door too many times (once is too many!!).
I was very unhappy with the bark, and I knew that it was going to be dry, but here's how it looked when I took it out:
I foiled it, let it rest for a couple of hours, pulled some of it and added in some juices:
Despite my mistakes, the flavor was completely OFF-THE-HOOK, it wasn't tough at all, and adding the juices back in was the "saving grace" for the moistness. I received compliments all around, and we all decided that we like to have our brisket pulled much better than sliced or chopped.
Happy Smoking, and thanks for looking!
I didn't get any pics of it whole because I was running behind and I wanted to get it into the marinade ASAP. It was a fresh 16+ pound full packer cut Black Angus brisket that I got from Craig over at Bar Mac Ranch.
I used the same marinade and rub recipes that I added to the WIKI: http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/wiki/brisket-marinade-and-rub, and I made 2 batches of marinade and 1 batch of rub. Each section of the brisket went into a 2-gallon Ziplock with 1 batch of marinade and sat in the fridge overnight (a little over 9 hours). The rub was the perfect amount to fully cover both sections with enough left over for the burnt ends.
Here it is separated and just out of the marinade:
And rubbed:
That was my *first* mistake. I should have dried them off completely before applying the rub. I'm certain that this had a strong negative impact on the bark (it was soggy).
My *second* mistake was thinking that I should take the point out at 195* to make the burnt ends while the flat was still smoking to 205*. Opening the door 5 times to do this slowed down the flat DRASTICALLY and, of course, caused it to be dry as a result. Fortunately, the drip tray was nearly 3/4 full with juices so I was able to correct this (put the juices in the freezer to let the fat separate, skimmed off the fat, and tossed some in with the pulled brisket).
So, anyway, I smoked it at 225* with Mesquite, and I was surprised at how fast the temps were climbing before I opened the door. After 1 hour and 40 minutes, the point was 158* and the flat was 160*, so I didn't foil anything knowing that there wouldn't be any kind of a bark on them at this point. After about 3 hours and 40 minutes, the point was 195* and the flat was 196*, so I decided that I wasn't going to foil them at all. This is where I took out the point, and things went downhill from there temperature-wise.
Here's how it looked when I removed it, then cubed for burnt ends, and then with some rub sprinkled on before I put them back in:
They went in for 2 hours then I sauced them and put them back in for 30 minutes. The final result wasn't very "burnt"-looking, but they were tender, juicy, and tasty:
So, 5 hours later after opening the door 5 times for the burnt ends, my flat was only 188*. I cranked up the smoker to 250*, but it still took another 3 1/2 hours for it to reach 205*. There may have been a stall somewhere in there, but I'll never know because I opened the door too many times (once is too many!!).
I was very unhappy with the bark, and I knew that it was going to be dry, but here's how it looked when I took it out:
I foiled it, let it rest for a couple of hours, pulled some of it and added in some juices:
Despite my mistakes, the flavor was completely OFF-THE-HOOK, it wasn't tough at all, and adding the juices back in was the "saving grace" for the moistness. I received compliments all around, and we all decided that we like to have our brisket pulled much better than sliced or chopped.
Happy Smoking, and thanks for looking!
