BRISKET FLAT, MY WAY

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No I didn’t add any water, I just strained the soup to get the onions out. I didn’t want to dilute the flavor. Good luck & let us know how it worked for you. Also, welcome to the forum, glad to have you join us!
Al
Thanks! One other question… if I don’t have a foil roasting pan (and don’t really feel like running into town just for that), I should be able to just use a glass pan, right? Isn’t it just to make sure the juices are contained? Material shouldn’t matter for smoking, right? It’s not like baking brownies in an oven…
 
Thanks! One other question… if I don’t have a foil roasting pan (and don’t really feel like running into town just for that), I should be able to just use a glass pan, right? Isn’t it just to make sure the juices are contained? Material shouldn’t matter for smoking, right? It’s not like baking brownies in an oven…

Yes you can use any pan that you have, and you are right, the whole point of using a pan is to keep the meat moist. The reason I used a foil pan is because it’s hard to clean the smoke residue off a regular pan. So don’t use one of your wife’s good pans. :emoji_sunglasses:
Al
 
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Yes you can use any pan that you have, and you are right, the whole point of using a pan is to keep the meat moist. The reason I used a foil pan is because it’s hard to clean the smoke residue off a regular pan. So don’t use on of your wife’s good pans. :emoji_sunglasses:
Al
Well, I ended up using my wife’s glass pan, everything was going fine, but the smoke was approaching 6 hours and it was time to get dinner on the table, so I cranked it up to 450-500 to finish it off and also hopefully crisp the onions a bit. Not only did it bake some of the juices onto the pan, but as soon as I took it off the smoker, it started popping and cracking the pan. So, I owe my wife a new pan. Or in her words, “a whole new set.” :emoji_laughing:
 
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Well, I ended up using my wife’s glass pan, everything was going fine, but the smoke was approaching 6 hours and it was time to get dinner on the table, so I cranked it up to 450-500 to finish it off and also hopefully crisp the onions a bit. Not only did it bake some of the juices onto the pan, but as soon as I took it off the smoker, it started popping and cracking the pan. So, I owe my wife a new pan. Or in her words, “a whole new set.” :emoji_laughing:

Sorry to hear that. I buy the aluminum pans in bulk from Sam’s club. It will make your life much easier!!
Al
 
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Hey Al, sorry if I missed this before but what do you think for this approach. My father in law wants me to smoke a flat he has this upcoming weekend on his electric smoker.

I will strain the onions and inject the broth, then cover in my SPOG rub and wrap in plastic until the following morning. Then cover with the onions and smoke as you have instructed. Just want to make sure it won't be overly salty or anything else you can think that could go wrong like that.
 
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Hey Al, sorry if I missed this before but what do you think for this approach. My father in law wants me to smoke a flat he has this upcoming weekend on his electric smoker.

I will strain the onions and inject the broth, then cover in my SPOG rub and wrap in plastic until the following morning. Then cover with the onions and smoke as you have instructed. Just want to make sure it won't be overly salty or anything else you can think that could go wrong like that.

I think it will be excellent!
Al

very nice
Thank you my friend!
Al
 
It's no secret that a lot of folks have a problem smoking a small well trimmed brisket flat. I to had my struggles for a while, but a couple of years ago I found this method and have been using it ever since. So I would like to share my method with all of you. If you already are successful smoking flats, then this is not aimed at you. If you are having problems getting them to come out tender & juicy, then I hope this will be of some help. So here we go!

I started out with a Choice full packer weighing 14+ pounds.
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I trimmed it up & separated the point & flat, then cut the flat in half.

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I really took off a lot of fat.

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Then I took the thick piece of flat & the point & put them in a curing brine. The flat will be corned beef & the point will be pastrami.

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Now all I have left is the thin part of the flat & as you can see it is very well trimmed. So this is about as difficult as I can make it.

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Next step is to take 2 cans of French onion soup & strain out the onions.

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Then inject the brisket with the liquid.

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Then put it in the aluminum pan with the rest of the liquid & spread the onions on the top of the brisket. This will do 2 things. It will protect the meat from the heat & give the brisket some flavor.

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It's going into the Lang today. I use a water pan next to the firebox to even out the side to side temps.

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I don't need to start a big fire, cause it is so hot outside. So a couple of small splits & a big handful of charcoal will do the trick.

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Then after it gets going I add a couple of more small splits & she's ready to go.

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Into the smoker goes the brisket.

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At about the 1 hour mark & then every 45 minutes to an hour after, I baste the brisket with the pan juices. The Lang recovers right away after opening up the door, but even if your smoker doesn't do that, this step is still very important. This helps to keep the brisket nice & moist.

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The smoker is running around 250 degrees for most of the time.

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Well it took about 5 hours to get to 205, I started testing it with a toothpick around 195 & it just wasn't done. I had to let it go to 205 before it passed the toothpick test.

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I let it rest for about 30 minutes on the counter, then sliced it up.

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As you can see it is quite tender & juicy.

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I don't know why, but I felt like putting mayonnaise on my sandwich last night, with a pickle on fine china. Today it will be BBQ sauce.

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That is it folks!
Thanks for looking & I hope this will help someone who is struggling with getting a flat to come out tender, juicy, & delicious!
Al
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I’m very interested in making pastrami and corned beef. Have you posted a recipe for those? I love both, but I never buy it because I’m not a fan when it’s all fatty I would love to create my own lien cuts.
 
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Sorry, im late to the party.
That is a very helpful tutorial. Thank you very much. I will be giving this a try.

Your very welcome, hope yours comes out great!
Al

I’m very interested in making pastrami and corned beef. Have you posted a recipe for those? I love both, but I never buy it because I’m not a fan when it’s all fatty I would love to create my own lien cuts.

I think that is what I just did!
Al
 
I use Campbells French Onion a lot...can leave some strange color but I love the taste. And I've found anyone else's French Onion is noticeably inferior to good ol' Campbells.
 
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