Our daughter graduated from Western Washington University last week, and today is the big party - so I opted for a beef brisket, to which said graduating daughter was very agreeable!
Started with a 13.5# full brisket from Minder Meats, a great local meat supplier. I think these briskets were USDA Choice, anyway they have them on summer special for $3.69/lb. A quick phone call, my wife stopped by the next morning to pick it up, and we had brisket in the house.
I smoke in an MES 30, so I needed to cut the brisket in half, giving two roughly equal size pieces (length x width), with one being just the flat and the other being thicker because it had the cap on it. Then, standard prep for me: kosher salt, onion powder, garlic powder, and lots of fresh cracked black pepper. Wrap and set in fridge for a couple hours.
Then, at 8PM into the MES pre-heated to 235F. I used the mailbox mod, and AMPS maze filled with pitmaster's choice and pecan. Got things rolling and settled in for the night. I checked at 2:30AM and the maze was smoking along nicely (I've had some problems with that, and am working on getting more reliable burns), and temps looked good., Back to bed.
By 8AM internal temps were in the 180s, and I finished just before noon, so just under 16 hours total time (the AMPS finished at about the 12 hour mark). The flat had been on the top rack, and showed temps of 195-201 in various spots. The thicker piece had been on the lower shelf, and showed 198-205 temps throughout; overall, the internal temp of the thicker part was a little higher than the flat.
Wrapped in foil on a small sheet pan, and into the cooler with the towels until dinner time - will be about a 4 hour rest in there. I'm getting hungry . . . .
Started with a 13.5# full brisket from Minder Meats, a great local meat supplier. I think these briskets were USDA Choice, anyway they have them on summer special for $3.69/lb. A quick phone call, my wife stopped by the next morning to pick it up, and we had brisket in the house.
I smoke in an MES 30, so I needed to cut the brisket in half, giving two roughly equal size pieces (length x width), with one being just the flat and the other being thicker because it had the cap on it. Then, standard prep for me: kosher salt, onion powder, garlic powder, and lots of fresh cracked black pepper. Wrap and set in fridge for a couple hours.
Then, at 8PM into the MES pre-heated to 235F. I used the mailbox mod, and AMPS maze filled with pitmaster's choice and pecan. Got things rolling and settled in for the night. I checked at 2:30AM and the maze was smoking along nicely (I've had some problems with that, and am working on getting more reliable burns), and temps looked good., Back to bed.
By 8AM internal temps were in the 180s, and I finished just before noon, so just under 16 hours total time (the AMPS finished at about the 12 hour mark). The flat had been on the top rack, and showed temps of 195-201 in various spots. The thicker piece had been on the lower shelf, and showed 198-205 temps throughout; overall, the internal temp of the thicker part was a little higher than the flat.
Wrapped in foil on a small sheet pan, and into the cooler with the towels until dinner time - will be about a 4 hour rest in there. I'm getting hungry . . . .
