1st Brisket this weekend.

[aggieljh]

I'm going to attempt my first brisket this weekend...and the more i read, the more I am unsure of how I want to do it.  Cooking Sunday lunch for about 8 people

Getting my Yoder 640 delivered tomorrow, so I don't know if i want to use that or the Big Green Egg

Foil or no foil?

Inject?  Spritz?

Leave the point on, or cut it off for burnt ends?

Last, I want it ready about 11:30 on Sunday, so do i cook it Saturday afternoon and pull it off and leave in foil, or put it on Saturday night and let it cook through the night...

 

[max2]

Don't overthink it first of all.

Highly recommend you read this post on brisket - will answer quite a few questions for you -

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/...r-the-misconception-of-the-1-to-1-5-hour-rule

If it were me the brisket would go on whole (don't separate point and flat) the night before to make it ready by ~ 11am next day.  No need to inject or spritz or wrap unless you want to get up in the middle of the night.

An alternative to that is to cook it all day Saturday, refrigerate, then warm up in the oven Sunday a few hours before time to serve.

 

[firemanjon]

Congrats on the smoker!! I have researched heavily into getting one for when I can't be home all day...I love those units...let us know how it works!! That's a great read max2 linked to...lots of useful information. I've done brisket many different ways and my personal favorite for around the house is finding one with tons of marbling in the meat, using a simple SPOG rub and I like to leave them unwrapped the whole time. If I do wrap, I prefer butcher paper to foil, and I leave them whole. One trick I use at home is I do heavily butcher the brisket. I like to dig deep into the fat vein between point and flat taking fat completely off top of point and cutting it close to halfway off. What this does for me is allows me to get rub directly onto the point meat and in between the flat and point. The second thing it does for me is I begin probing the brisket for tenderness around 185. Usually when the flat is around 190 the point is done on most of mine. This deep cut into the fat vein allows me to simply grab the flat and it pulls right off the point leaving the flat on to finish...usually around 195+ IT. I wrap the point in foil in a cooler until point is done. Once flat is done I wrap it in foil to rest as well. When I get ready to serve, I take the point, slice it into cubes, throw it into pan with sauce and back onto smoker for 30 min or so. It's all personal preference in my opinion and I like this method best because I like the bark of one unwrapped better. Hope this helps.

 

[ab canuck]

Yep Congrats on that smoker... Nice unit... and yep check the links...

 

[sirsquatch]

I can only speak to cooking it on the Egg, and I've only done it once so take this with a nice big saltpig.

Foil or no foil?

Foil if you get short on time, otherwise let it ride!

Inject?  Spritz?

Neither if cooking on the Egg

Leave the point on, or cut it off for burnt ends?

I prefer to just leave it on.

Last, I want it ready about 11:30 on Sunday, so do i cook it Saturday afternoon and pull it off and leave in foil, or put it on Saturday night and let it cook through the night...

I would give myself 3 hours before your preferred slicing time to pull it, wrap it, throw it in a cooler for a couple hours (the extra hour is in case it decides to take longer than your plan)

I would cook it overnight, start earlier than you think, it will stay plenty hot if you wrap it and put it in a cooler if it's done earlier than planned.

If you decide to do it on the Yoder...well someone else will have been answers. 

 

[SmokinAl]

I would say since it's your first brisket, I would just use salt & pepper.

Put it on the grate whole & let it go until it's done.

195-205 or until probe tender.

This will give you a basic brisket smoke & you can modify the process from there.

A lot of folks including myself think this is the perfect way to smoke a brisket.

Let the meat do the talking!

Al

 

[aggieljh]

thanks for the info everyone...i'm thinking i may just use the egg since I am a little more familiar with it, and I can use the Flameboss to keep an eye on it for me throughout the night...

may get up early and throw a rack or two of ribs on the yoder to give it a shot...

 

[bmudd14474]

Check this out

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/...liced-brisket-defies-conventional-wisdom/0_40