First Brisket Ever.....

[thebigman65]

I have smoked lots of stuff....wouldnt say I'm a rookie....I've done ribs...shoulders....cheese...bacon...chicken...etc.
I am going to finally take the plunge and smoke this bad boy this weekend

....bought it a year ago!....lol.....any advice from the experts?....its labeled as a whole brisket.

 

[TomKnollRFV]

I'm doing my first starting tonight... Have a good knife for trimming. My family has this thing of not understanding how to keep knives sharp <Like legit, I grew up being told to cut well done steak with a butter knife. My mom was -weird- about knives.>

 

[thebigman65]

Lol....good luck!....we will keep each other posted!.....all my knives are super sharp....have a guy who comes to the house once in a while to sharpen them.....worth every penny.....

 

[TomKnollRFV]

I gotta go through and bring mine in. My SOG seal pup elite, which has cut my palm almost to the bone, was struggling with the fat <I mean I was trying to cut brisket fat with a 3 inch knife. What did I expect?>. What you doing for your rub?

 

[SparkyLB]

I have this absolutely exquisite rub that I'll share with you. Equal parts by volume of kosher salt and black pepper. The salt is heavier so tends to sink as you shake the vessel while administering it. Swirl it while you apply to keep the ratio even. 250F for about 6 hours or so, then wrap in butchers' paper, or foil if you want more steam. The former gives a slightly crustier bark. Both are good.

Pull it at about 195F internal temp. Let it rest for at least an hour.

Brisket's kinda variable, so if it's not perfect next time, adjust either when you wrap, (or don't wrap it at all); or pull at 190F if the first go-round was a bit less juicy than you prefer.

It's pretty important that you discern the direction of the grain, so give yourself a hint before cooking by nipping off a tiny corner before the cook. Just make that nip 90 degrees to the grain so you'll know when it's done to keep your knife parallel to that nip.

Pretty hard to mess up brisket unless it's cooked too long.

 

[TomKnollRFV]

I go to every cook convinced I am going to make a horrid product. Even when I make a bad product it's still not my worse nightmare <Nothing inedible yet XD>

 

[oldsmokerdude]

Going to give a brisket a try this weekend myself. Have tried in the past with mixed success. Hopefully some of the tips I've gathered in this forum will help tremendously.

Have a good knife for trimming.

As a side note, I've been using a Worksharp Sharpener for about 6 months and can't recommend it enough. This sharpener (after a little practice) will make all your knives including serrated wicked sharp.

 

[thebigman65]

I gotta go through and bring mine in. My SOG seal pup elite, which has cut my palm almost to the bone, was struggling with the fat <I mean I was trying to cut brisket fat with a 3 inch knife. What did I expect?>. What you doing for your rub?

I have a general rub I use for just about everything....also rub a little yellow mustard on it.

 

[Rings Я Us]

Brown sugar, paprika , cumin, cayenne, onion and garlic powder, salt, pepper, yellow dry mustard, chili powder..

It's all good!

 

[Nathanman]

Hi guys, I'm pretty new to the forum so can't comment on smoking the brisket but I was a chef for years so can comment on keeping knives sharp. If you have a good quality knife, all you need to keep it sharp is a good quality steel. When you first get the knife it's likely to have a 45 degree grind on the blade, get a good knife man to change this to a 30 degree angle then give the knife a couple of passes on the steel before each use. I've had my sabatier set 20 years and have never needed a regrind to get them sharp again. Lots of folk spend fortunes on knives and then buy a cheap steel, it's worth the extra to get a decent one.

 

[thebigman65]

4 hours in

At about 6 hours now....160 IT....gonna wrap it now and wait for the magic!

 

[thebigman65]

At 177....wrapped and waiting.....

 

[TomKnollRFV]

Haha don't do what I did. Forgot the Au Jus pan filled up..and the thing never got over 178f...then I pulled the Au Jus Pan... LOL

 

[thebigman65]

Finished product.....was so good!.......