Brisket Newbie

[BurntWeenie]

So Winn Dixie had brisket on sale. Time to take the plunge. I have a recteq 590. Relatively new to all this. 12 lbs untrimmed. Going fat side down. Do folks start first thing int he morning so they can do things like spritz all day? Or do you stay up all night or not spritz?

 

[sandyut]

I do mine fat side down always. Temp profile is like this: 180 for 1-2 hours, then 275 till probe tender. I never spritz or wrap. if you can start the cook about 0600 or 0700 - running it at 275 should get you done in time for supper same day.

 

[BurntWeenie]

I do mine fat side down always. Temp profile is like this: 180 for 1-2 hours, then 275 till probe tender. I never spritz or wrap. if you can start the cook about 0600 or 0700 - running it at 275 should get you done in time for supper same day.

thanks

 

[PaPa Bill]

I’m new to brisket smoking also jliddel. In fact I just smoked first one this past Christmas weekend.
I placed the scored and dry rubbed fat cap up, I ran my masterbuilt propane fired upright box as close to 225 as I could. I got a deal ($4.46/lb), on an 18 lb full packer and started it at 21:00 hrs. to achieve an early afternoon mealtime. I had to cut it into two halves to fit in the smoker, and I wrapped it tightly in pink butcher paper at the stall. Pulled it at 11:30 am,(203 degrees), wrapped in towels and placed it in a cooler till it was 150 degrees, then sliced it
My adult kids said it was the best they had ever had, and the grandkids came back for seconds.
That’s good enough for me!

 

[BurntWeenie]

I do mine fat side down always. Temp profile is like this: 180 for 1-2 hours, then 275 till probe tender. I never spritz or wrap. if you can start the cook about 0600 or 0700 - running it at 275 should get you done in time for supper same day.

So about 10-11 hrs?

 

[bauchjw]

Welcome to the group! The first long smoke can be stressful to try to figure out! There are a lot of different techniques and tricks that can get overwhelming. I recommend you just go simple the first time and not worry about spritzing or wrapping. Not that either are bad, they are personal preferences. The key is getting your first brisket tasty and not to get overwhelmed while doing it.

I’m sure you’ve heard and read, but the key is cooking brisket to probe tender (toothpick slides into the meat all over without resistance) this normally happens around an Internal Temperature (IT) of 200 degrees or higher..203/4/5. It’s not the Time it takes per pound or the IT, the probe counts. Dry brisket is underdone brisket, you need to break down the collagen and tissue lacing the meat.

If I had your brisket and was doing diner cook for family, I’d probably put it on around 5 am. That should give you plenty of time. WARNING: At about an IT of 150 to 170 expect a stall. This is from your meat sweating out moisture and offsetting the temperature of your smoker, evaporative cooling. The meat won’t increase IT again until enough moisture has evaporated from the brisket that evaporative cooling cannot offset your smoker’s heat. Don’t panic, it could last 1 hour or 6. Each cut is different, you just have to ride it out! Once you’re through the stall though, you’ll see your IT climb quicker to the probing end! It’s a good feeling!

I’m not familiar with the RecTeq,thr Fat cap positioning can be a debate, but generally I’d say have it down if you have heat coming up toward your brisket to protect the protein from getting charred with your fat. For my Traeger I keep fat side down because the most intense heat is coming up. But, when I had a good stick burner with a heat deflector plate I did fat side up. If the most heat hits the bottom of your brisket go fat down.

Something to note, the thick part of your brisket is a flat and the thin part is a point. If you know where your smoker cooks the quickest (hot spot) put the flat in that area and point in the slower cooking area. The point gets done quicker, but has more fat and can wait for the flat to probe tender…burnt ends are tasty! The Flat is leaner and takes longer, don’t stress about overcooking the point and pull the brisket early.

Once flat is tender to the probe pull and rest, this rest is critical! let the meat rest for a minimum of an hour, more if possible. If you wrap a brisket or Butt in foil or butcher paper, then wrap in old clean towels and stick it in a small cooler it’ll still be hot 3 hours later or more…and well rested.it’s actually ideal.

Sorry if long winded….I’ll try to sum it up better, relax with a cup of coffee and set your smoker somewhere between 225 and 275 at about 5 am. Throw the brisket on. Expect a stall. When the IT is about 200, start probing the thick flat. When there is no resistance pull and Rest the meat for at least an hour, then cut against the grain. Be sure to take pictures to share with us! Finally enjoy!
And now it’s time for me to……

 

[BurntWeenie]

Welcome to the group! The first long smoke can be stressful to try to figure out! There are a lot of different techniques and tricks that can get overwhelming. I recommend you just go simple the first time and not worry about spritzing or wrapping. Not that either are bad, they are personal preferences. The key is getting your first brisket tasty and not to get overwhelmed while doing it.

I’m sure you’ve heard and read, but the key is cooking brisket to probe tender (toothpick slides into the meat all over without resistance) this normally happens around an Internal Temperature (IT) of 200 degrees or higher..203/4/5. It’s not the Time it takes per pound or the IT, the probe counts. Dry brisket is underdone brisket, you need to break down the collagen and tissue lacing the meat.

If I had your brisket and was doing diner cook for family, I’d probably put it on around 5 am. That should give you plenty of time. WARNING: At about an IT of 150 to 170 expect a stall. This is from your meat sweating out moisture and offsetting the temperature of your smoker, evaporative cooling. The meat won’t increase IT again until enough moisture has evaporated from the brisket that evaporative cooling cannot offset your smoker’s heat. Don’t panic, it could last 1 hour or 6. Each cut is different, you just have to ride it out! Once you’re through the stall though, you’ll see your IT climb quicker to the probing end! It’s a good feeling!

I’m not familiar with the RecTeq,thr Fat cap positioning can be a debate, but generally I’d say have it down if you have heat coming up toward your brisket to protect the protein from getting charred with your fat. For my Traeger I keep fat side down because the most intense heat is coming up. But, when I had a good stick burner with a heat deflector plate I did fat side up. If the most heat hits the bottom of your brisket go fat down.

Something to note, the thick part of your brisket is a flat and the thin part is a point. If you know where your smoker cooks the quickest (hot spot) put the flat in that area and point in the slower cooking area. The point gets done quicker, but has more fat and can wait for the flat to probe tender…burnt ends are tasty! The Flat is leaner and takes longer, don’t stress about overcooking the point and pull the brisket early.

Once flat is tender to the probe pull and rest, this rest is critical! let the meat rest for a minimum of an hour, more if possible. If you wrap a brisket or Butt in foil or butcher paper, then wrap in old clean towels and stick it in a small cooler it’ll still be hot 3 hours later or more…and well rested.it’s actually ideal.

Sorry if long winded….I’ll try to sum it up better, relax with a cup of coffee and set your smoker somewhere between 225 and 275 at about 5 am. Throw the brisket on. Expect a stall. When the IT is about 200, start probing the thick flat. When there is no resistance pull and Rest the meat for at least an hour, then cut against the grain. Be sure to take pictures to share with us! Finally enjoy!
And now it’s time for me to……
View attachment 524216

Thanks. It confirms all I have read

 

[BrianGSDTexoma]

I have found long holding time after cook really helps also so don't be afraid to start early. I use my Electric smoker set at 140 but wrap and put in cooler will work just fine.

 

[schlotz]

bauchjw has ya covered. One aspect to reiterate, the point will always probe tender due to the higher fat content. Probing for tenderness should be in multiple places on the flat. Once there you are done. Remove and let it sit open on the counter so it slightly cools (IT should drop 5º), this stops the brisket from cooking further, then wrap in towels and place in a cooler for the rest period.

 

[BurntWeenie]

So who makes a digital tenderness probe?

 

[sandyut]

So who makes a digital tenderness probe?

Any instant read thermometer will work fine.

So about 10-11 hrs?

give or take. 12lbs pre-trim willl likely become about 10LBs or so. Timing a brisket is harder than predicting the weather. but I would expect a 10 lb packer to be done in less than 12 hours at 275.

There is good advice above.

I usually trim out some of the deckle fat on the trim. some do some dont. If its real thick and hard I trim some off, just be sure you dont separate the flat from the point.

 

[BurntWeenie]

Any instant read thermometer will work fine.


give or take. 12lbs pre-trim willl likely become about 10LBs or so. Timing a brisket is harder than predicting the weather. but I would expect a 10 lb packer to be done in less than 12 hours at 275.

There is good advice above.

I usually trim out some of the deckle fat on the trim. some do some dont. If its real thick and hard I trim some off, just be sure you dont separate the flat from the point.

A "tenderness probe". I watched Steven Raichlen and also The Chef Show to see how to trim

 

[tallbm]

Here's my 2 cents.

A 12 pound brisket will not likely have a ton of fat so I wouldn't trim more fat than the hard deckle fat that is on the side and between the flat and point muscle. No need to stress just cut a major chunk of it out and you have done the job, no need to get every bit of it.

I would also trim the flat meat according to how I specify in here. In short make a "U" shaped cut and remove the thin flat meat so that what remains of the flat meat is about uniform in thickness for the whole flat muscle. This saves the thin meat from burning up and being tossed out. Repurpose that good trimmed away flat meat for stew, grind, smoke it, whatever, etc.

My Brisket Flat Trimming Approach Explained - QView

Well I have had a number of private messages where people ask for more info about what I do when I trim away the thin Flat portion of a brisket I smoke. So today I figured I would just post about it with plenty of pics so it becomes easier to understand vs when I just go "blah blah blah trim...

www.smokingmeatforums.com

Timing, this is important!!!
Doing an unwrapped brisket at a steady smoker temp of 275F in my smoker takes briskets like 1hr 5min or so per pound before it is likely tender.
As people have stated a brisket is done ONLY when it is tender. It is tender when you can stab all over with something like a wooden kabob skewer and it goes in like butter ALL OVER. If you get any resistance let the Internal Temp (IT) rise another 2 degrees or so and try again.
Best place to place the temp probe is in the thickest yet center most part of the FLAT muscle, don't fool with temping the point muscle. It wll trick you ever time.
So with that timing and that smoker temp figure out the time it likely takes **** THEN ADD 4 HOURS to it!!!!
Figure out when you want to eat it and then take the estimated cook time per hour+ 4 more hours and start then.
If you finish 4 hours early fantastic, u just double wrap in foil and then wrap in 3 bath towels and set on the counter and it will be piping hot 5 hrs later.
If you do not finish 4 hours early... you have 4 hours of buffer to finish before people attack you with their forks :)
This is the most crucial part... get your timing to where you finish well before time to eat. If you dont you likely will rush and pull it off early and it will not be ready. It will be tough and dry which = undercooked.

I check for tenderness about 200F IT of the meat and pull when tenderness test passes.

For seasoning, I go SPOG (Salt Pepper Onion Garlic), simple.
I do not wrap, I do not spritz, I do not mop, I do not chant at the smoker, I do not dance around the smoker, I do not do kung fu moves at my smoker. I just let it go until the thermometer tells me.

I would place fat towards the heat source so the fat may get a little burnt up if anything but it will protect the meat. No need to trim fat if it has 1/2 inch or less of fat. Don't worry about getting it to like 1/4 inch of fat just roll with it, as it will mostly melt away.


So recap. At 275F smoker temp estimate 1h 5min per pound + 4hrs. Figure your eating time and then start at whatever time before eating time that your overall estimated time dictates.
I have an electric smoker nd briskets are so big I always end up smoking overnight and wake up when my remote thermometer tells me to check for tenderness (200F for me).

Its done when it is tender.

Whole Packer Briskets dont care about spritzing so I recommend not wasting the time and losing the heat in the smoker. They also don't care what temp they are cooked at as long as you arent burning them so I recommend 275F or higher if you want.

Fat towards heat source.
Season simply and I recommend u do NOT add sugar so you can cook at higher temps and not burn sugar. We really put no sugar on BBQ here in TX.

I smoke 1-2 briskets a month as they go on sale a lot here in TX. So take this info and use what you will. You will learn something for sure with this smoke to improve on your next smoke :)

 

[BurntWeenie]

Here's my 2 cents.

A 12 pound brisket will not likely have a ton of fat so I wouldn't trim more fat than the hard deckle fat that is on the side and between the flat and point muscle. No need to stress just cut a major chunk of it out and you have done the job, no need to get every bit of it.

I would also trim the flat meat according to how I specify in here. In short make a "U" shaped cut and remove the thin flat meat so that what remains of the flat meat is about uniform in thickness for the whole flat muscle. This saves the thin meat from burning up and being tossed out. Repurpose that good trimmed away flat meat for stew, grind, smoke it, whatever, etc.

My Brisket Flat Trimming Approach Explained - QView

Well I have had a number of private messages where people ask for more info about what I do when I trim away the thin Flat portion of a brisket I smoke. So today I figured I would just post about it with plenty of pics so it becomes easier to understand vs when I just go "blah blah blah trim...

www.smokingmeatforums.com

Timing, this is important!!!
Doing an unwrapped brisket at a steady smoker temp of 275F in my smoker takes briskets like 1hr 5min or so per pound before it is likely tender.
As people have stated a brisket is done ONLY when it is tender. It is tender when you can stab all over with something like a wooden kabob skewer and it goes in like butter ALL OVER. If you get any resistance let the Internal Temp (IT) rise another 2 degrees or so and try again.
Best place to place the temp probe is in the thickest yet center most part of the FLAT muscle, don't fool with temping the point muscle. It wll trick you ever time.
So with that timing and that smoker temp figure out the time it likely takes **** THEN ADD 4 HOURS to it!!!!
Figure out when you want to eat it and then take the estimated cook time per hour+ 4 more hours and start then.
If you finish 4 hours early fantastic, u just double wrap in foil and then wrap in 3 bath towels and set on the counter and it will be piping hot 5 hrs later.
If you do not finish 4 hours early... you have 4 hours of buffer to finish before people attack you with their forks :)
This is the most crucial part... get your timing to where you finish well before time to eat. If you dont you likely will rush and pull it off early and it will not be ready. It will be tough and dry which = undercooked.

I check for tenderness about 200F IT of the meat and pull when tenderness test passes.

For seasoning, I go SPOG (Salt Pepper Onion Garlic), simple.
I do not wrap, I do not spritz, I do not mop, I do not chant at the smoker, I do not dance around the smoker, I do not do kung fu moves at my smoker. I just let it go until the thermometer tells me.

I would place fat towards the heat source so the fat may get a little burnt up if anything but it will protect the meat. No need to trim fat if it has 1/2 inch or less of fat. Don't worry about getting it to like 1/4 inch of fat just roll with it, as it will mostly melt away.


So recap. At 275F smoker temp estimate 1h 5min per pound + 4hrs. Figure your eating time and then start at whatever time before eating time that your overall estimated time dictates.
I have an electric smoker nd briskets are so big I always end up smoking overnight and wake up when my remote thermometer tells me to check for tenderness (200F for me).

Its done when it is tender.

Whole Packer Briskets dont care about spritzing so I recommend not wasting the time and losing the heat in the smoker. They also don't care what temp they are cooked at as long as you arent burning them so I recommend 275F or higher if you want.

Fat towards heat source.
Season simply and I recommend u do NOT add sugar so you can cook at higher temps and not burn sugar. We really put no sugar on BBQ here in TX.

I smoke 1-2 briskets a month as they go on sale a lot here in TX. So take this info and use what you will. You will learn something for sure with this smoke to improve on your next smoke :)

Thank you for the essay. This reinforces the direction I was head. Simple, slow, patient

 

[BurntWeenie]

So smoked it overnight. Rest in a cooler for a few hours. Cuts like butter. Thanks for all the help.

 

[912smoker]

So smoked it overnight. Rest in a cooler for a few hours. Cuts like butter. Thanks for all the help.

Pics or it didn't happen

Keith

 

[BurntWeenie]

Pics or it didn't happen

Keith

 

[912smoker]

Beautiful !