I had an elderly wife and husband chase me down at the GS last week wanting to ask a question because they saw the brisket in my cart….. they explained they won a traeger at bingo and they wanted to do brisket…..so the wife and me had a real nice cooking lesson about cooking brisket, the wife was carefully taking notes while the husband was just grinning ear to ear……….
So that got me thinking I should do a post to share “a” way for smokers to have reliable and consistent brisket in a simple way, similar to the one I did for pulled pork (see below)….this method is very similar
https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t...simplified-and-reliable-dinner-timing.325427/
So step one is if you can get a point cut that is the best place to start….this one is a nice 12lbs
If you can’t get a point cut or you want to do a full packer this method will also work….
Step 2 trim to a 1/4” and it’s ok if you trim a few spots to the flesh…..ie cause once it’s trimmed dress it with salt for a dry brine. The min time to cure is 24 to 36 hours or up to 48 hours which is ideal it the cut is 5 inches thick or more…place it open air in the fridge.
Save all the fat and cut it into small pieces and then save in a foil pan.
Here is the result after 32 ish hours of curing….
So the day of smoking…..I started prepping at 7:30 am tuning in the smoker and then seasoning up the point…..this is my 5 spice rub but any of your fav rub will work….
Time to put the point on the RT…..it was a brisk morning….
Running the RT 1250 @ 265….
In it goes along with the diced trimmed fat cap….
Progress check 4 hours in….
It has warmed up but still brisk….
Looking good…..the crust is forming up nicely and fat is rendering good….
So my rule is that you run the brisket @ 265 for 5-6 hours regardless of INT…. You are looking for bark development vs INT. As the INT will take care of its self in fact with this method there is no need to have a INT till after 5 hours in……so now we let it ride for another hour….
5 hours in…..
The crust is looking good so time to foil boat right in the rendered fat pan and baste…..5 hours @ 265 will create a deep crust!
I use a small measuring cup to baste it for several minutes, ie just like a pan seared steak….
All wrapped up and back in the smoker at 265….
So just like the pulled pork method, once coved the brisket will hit an INT of 198-200 in 90 to 120 mins….Ive never had one take more than 140 mins typical is 100min…..
So remember this was a 12lb point…..that’s a pretty big one….and it was just under the two hours to a INT of 200….
Still brisk!
Here is a peak……oh man yes. Now note that I set my notification to 200, this gives me an alarm a INT 195 and this is when I start probing for tenderness…..the best tool I have found for this is a bamboo bbq skewer…..if it takes effort or there is resistance then I needs more time…..next test is at INT 198……..followed by 200….. it’s done when the skewer can be pushed through with just a little bit of resistance and it giggles like jello….. I find that a 200 INT is the most consistent temp to a nice texture slice
Once tender cover it back up and pull it.
The next step is the hold, if you have an oven with a warming feature place it in a 140-165 to hold till dinner. To get an ideal texture you want to hold it for 2 hours after you pull it. If your oven doesn’t go that low you can wrap in a towel or two or just cycle your oven to get warm then of again, it will only need a few cycles…..
We had dinner at 6:30 so this one held in the oven till then…..and now the slicing…..
The bend test….
Once sliced I transfer it to another foil pan (ps I get these in bulk from Amazon (50 cents each)…and once transferred I dress the slices with the rendered fat/tallow and make sure I get some of the dark colored gold at the bottom of the pan….this is a money maker….now if you didn’t dry brine it you can sprinkle the slices with some salt at this point as well….
Close up…..
Tonight was a simple plate……just some box mac and a slice, ie I said this was brisket made simple….
So, in summary:
Pre cook prep:
36 hours prior, trim and salt for dry brine…..
Cook day:
7:20-7:30 Prep smoker chamber temp 265 and rub dress the brisket:
8:00 put the brisket and diced fat trimmings into the smoker
1:00 to 2:00 place in the foil boat, baste with rendered tallow/fat and cover (not tight against the brisket) and back in the smoker….
2:45 to 3:00 @ 195 start to test for tenderness and giggle…second test 198, third 200….. ( if you do a full packer focus on the point as the flat will take care of its self during the hold….
3:00 to 5:00 hold @ 145……
5:00 to dinner hold…..
Dinner: Slice and dress with rendered tallow & serve!
This method is very reliable in both tenderness and timing and will make your brisket cooking stress free and full of sleep……ie as long as the brisket goes on by 9am it’s ready for dinner every time…..
So that got me thinking I should do a post to share “a” way for smokers to have reliable and consistent brisket in a simple way, similar to the one I did for pulled pork (see below)….this method is very similar
https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t...simplified-and-reliable-dinner-timing.325427/
So step one is if you can get a point cut that is the best place to start….this one is a nice 12lbs
If you can’t get a point cut or you want to do a full packer this method will also work….
Step 2 trim to a 1/4” and it’s ok if you trim a few spots to the flesh…..ie cause once it’s trimmed dress it with salt for a dry brine. The min time to cure is 24 to 36 hours or up to 48 hours which is ideal it the cut is 5 inches thick or more…place it open air in the fridge.
Save all the fat and cut it into small pieces and then save in a foil pan.
Here is the result after 32 ish hours of curing….
So the day of smoking…..I started prepping at 7:30 am tuning in the smoker and then seasoning up the point…..this is my 5 spice rub but any of your fav rub will work….
Time to put the point on the RT…..it was a brisk morning….
Running the RT 1250 @ 265….
In it goes along with the diced trimmed fat cap….
Progress check 4 hours in….
It has warmed up but still brisk….
Looking good…..the crust is forming up nicely and fat is rendering good….
So my rule is that you run the brisket @ 265 for 5-6 hours regardless of INT…. You are looking for bark development vs INT. As the INT will take care of its self in fact with this method there is no need to have a INT till after 5 hours in……so now we let it ride for another hour….
5 hours in…..
The crust is looking good so time to foil boat right in the rendered fat pan and baste…..5 hours @ 265 will create a deep crust!
I use a small measuring cup to baste it for several minutes, ie just like a pan seared steak….
All wrapped up and back in the smoker at 265….
So just like the pulled pork method, once coved the brisket will hit an INT of 198-200 in 90 to 120 mins….Ive never had one take more than 140 mins typical is 100min…..
So remember this was a 12lb point…..that’s a pretty big one….and it was just under the two hours to a INT of 200….
Still brisk!
Here is a peak……oh man yes. Now note that I set my notification to 200, this gives me an alarm a INT 195 and this is when I start probing for tenderness…..the best tool I have found for this is a bamboo bbq skewer…..if it takes effort or there is resistance then I needs more time…..next test is at INT 198……..followed by 200….. it’s done when the skewer can be pushed through with just a little bit of resistance and it giggles like jello….. I find that a 200 INT is the most consistent temp to a nice texture slice
Once tender cover it back up and pull it.
The next step is the hold, if you have an oven with a warming feature place it in a 140-165 to hold till dinner. To get an ideal texture you want to hold it for 2 hours after you pull it. If your oven doesn’t go that low you can wrap in a towel or two or just cycle your oven to get warm then of again, it will only need a few cycles…..
We had dinner at 6:30 so this one held in the oven till then…..and now the slicing…..
The bend test….
Once sliced I transfer it to another foil pan (ps I get these in bulk from Amazon (50 cents each)…and once transferred I dress the slices with the rendered fat/tallow and make sure I get some of the dark colored gold at the bottom of the pan….this is a money maker….now if you didn’t dry brine it you can sprinkle the slices with some salt at this point as well….
Close up…..
Tonight was a simple plate……just some box mac and a slice, ie I said this was brisket made simple….
So, in summary:
Pre cook prep:
36 hours prior, trim and salt for dry brine…..
Cook day:
7:20-7:30 Prep smoker chamber temp 265 and rub dress the brisket:
8:00 put the brisket and diced fat trimmings into the smoker
1:00 to 2:00 place in the foil boat, baste with rendered tallow/fat and cover (not tight against the brisket) and back in the smoker….
2:45 to 3:00 @ 195 start to test for tenderness and giggle…second test 198, third 200….. ( if you do a full packer focus on the point as the flat will take care of its self during the hold….
3:00 to 5:00 hold @ 145……
5:00 to dinner hold…..
Dinner: Slice and dress with rendered tallow & serve!
This method is very reliable in both tenderness and timing and will make your brisket cooking stress free and full of sleep……ie as long as the brisket goes on by 9am it’s ready for dinner every time…..
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