I picked up a vac packed 12# brisket from Costco the other day. I've not done one before but the wife is always asking me to cook one but they never sell whole briskets, just the trimmed flats and I heard those were kinda iffy to smoke sometimes since they can dry out. I was working out near a business Costco where they have a whole different inventory and sure enough, they had whole untrimmed briskets. So I picked one up.
I made my own rub of salt, paprika, pepper, garlic and onion powder and just a small bit of brown sugar. I trimmed it but I don't think I did a good job. The fat was super thick, like almost 2 inches thick in some spots and the point seemed pretty massive compared to all the other pics I've seen while researching.
Once it was trimmed and rubbed up I put it on the UDS. I am using cherry and pecan chunks with Kingsford Blue charcoal. I put the brisket on at 6:30pm with a UDS temp of 235deg. It's 2 hours in and the brisket already hit 144deg. Does that seem extremely quick? I tend to panic so I went outside and double checked the internal temp with my instaread thermos and sure enough the thicker parts are at 140deg with the thinner end of the flat hitting 155deg.
After trimming I'd say I was left with an 8lb chunk of meat. I was figuring on anywhere from a 8 to 15 hour cook. I am planning to pull it at 165-170deg, separate the point, cube it up for burnt ends and put them and the flat back on, let the flat hit 195deg, pull it, wrap in foil and let rest for a few hours, once it's ready, I'll pull the burnt ends and go to town. Wish me luck!
I contemplated trying out a local butcher to get a whole brisket but they charge so much money, like $4.99lb. I didn't want to try my first and blow it and waste $60. $30 is bad enough if I screw it up lol.
Non fat cap side before trimming.
Non fat cap side after trimming.
Fat cap untrimmed.
Fat cap trimmed.
I made my own rub of salt, paprika, pepper, garlic and onion powder and just a small bit of brown sugar. I trimmed it but I don't think I did a good job. The fat was super thick, like almost 2 inches thick in some spots and the point seemed pretty massive compared to all the other pics I've seen while researching.
Once it was trimmed and rubbed up I put it on the UDS. I am using cherry and pecan chunks with Kingsford Blue charcoal. I put the brisket on at 6:30pm with a UDS temp of 235deg. It's 2 hours in and the brisket already hit 144deg. Does that seem extremely quick? I tend to panic so I went outside and double checked the internal temp with my instaread thermos and sure enough the thicker parts are at 140deg with the thinner end of the flat hitting 155deg.
After trimming I'd say I was left with an 8lb chunk of meat. I was figuring on anywhere from a 8 to 15 hour cook. I am planning to pull it at 165-170deg, separate the point, cube it up for burnt ends and put them and the flat back on, let the flat hit 195deg, pull it, wrap in foil and let rest for a few hours, once it's ready, I'll pull the burnt ends and go to town. Wish me luck!
I contemplated trying out a local butcher to get a whole brisket but they charge so much money, like $4.99lb. I didn't want to try my first and blow it and waste $60. $30 is bad enough if I screw it up lol.
Non fat cap side before trimming.
Non fat cap side after trimming.
Fat cap untrimmed.
Fat cap trimmed.