First brisket on father's day

[DCOOZ]

picked up a 11lb USDA choice Angus brisket from Sams Club. Going season tomorrow with SPOG and let it rest in the fridge. Smoking with hickory and a little cherry. Will wrap with foil and then pray to the smoke gods I take it off at the right time. No broth no injection. Think I should be ok if don't mess up thinking it's probe tender but isn't. Will be posting pics as I take them.

 

[chilerelleno]

 

[noboundaries]

DCOOZ, your plan sounds good. Find a way to forget-about-it while it's smoking. Check that the temp is where you want it, and let the meat and smoke do their thing without any interference.

The point will give you a false tender probe, so probe the flat and don't bother checking the point.

Looking forward to the pics!

Ray

 

[DCOOZ]

Question? To trim or not to trim the thinner side of brisket for uniformity or to avoid having it burn? Just an at home cook.

 

[noboundaries]

I don't like to have a hugh thickness difference between the flat and the point, and I've seen some where the point is 3" thick and the flat 1". I'll pass on those most times unless I REALLY want the point.

I trim the most fat from the point, right down to the meat a lot of times, and will only trim the hard or ugly fat from the flat, leaving the rest.

 

[tallbm]

Question? To trim or not to trim the thinner side of brisket for uniformity or to avoid having it burn? Just an at home cook.

Hi there and welcome!

My vote is always to trim the flat so what is left of the flat is uniform in thickness. I always post this picture for a visual of what I mean:

BrisketFlatTrimAway

• tallbm
• Oct 7, 2017

Don't worry about that good meat you trim away. You can smoke it as well or re-purpose it for something else.
If you smoke it along with the brisket you will just pull it earlier when it is ready.
I have a whole post on my trimming approach along with how "I" repurpose the trimmed meat into burnt-ends or chopped beef or a combo of both lol.
See here: https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/threads/my-brisket-flat-trimming-approach-explained-qview.286564/

I second what noboundries says about the point and the flat. Put your meat probe in the thickest yet center most portion of the flat. Don't bother with the point as it is always going to be tender way before the flat.

Finally, at a smoker temp of 275F a brisket will take just a hair over 1 hour a pound. I always plan and finish 4 hours or so before eating time. I wrap the brisket in double foil and then in 3 bath towels and set it on the counter for 4 hours until time to eat. The brisket is always piping hot 4 hours later!
You have no issues finishing early but there is nothing you can do if you run late so feel free to plan accordingly.

Best of luck and enjoy the brisket!!! :)

 

[DCOOZ]

So I put the brisket on at 4am at around 265 and 4hrs later IT is 160 but little to no bark. Going keep uncovered until I get a better bark. Also turned temp down to 240 since IT raised hr than I wanted.

 

[tallbm]

So I put the brisket on at 4am at around 265 and 4hrs later IT is 160 but little to no bark. Going keep uncovered until I get a better bark. Also turned temp down to 240 since IT raised hr than I wanted.

Oh don't worry you are in stall territory now. I bet at 265F it would take 2 hours to get to 180F.

I am 100% onboard with going uncovered. I do that with my briskets vs using foil. I've yet to try the butcher paper but that is only because I don't like fooling around with the meat once it is in the smoker.
Once you've got the trimming approach down to where you aren't losing good meat then you can roll uncovered/nekkid without worry and man it comes out fantastic!!!!

Remember if you end up finishing 4-6 hours early that is never a problem. You can double foil, wrap with 3 bath towels, and set on the counter until the 4-6 hours goes by and it is time to eat. The brisket will still be piping hot!

Keep us posted and I look forward to the pictures and hearing how good the brisket turned out :)

 

[DCOOZ]

Small piece if from trim. Rubbed it with Webber's original run to see the difference between that and SPOG on the bigger cut. Just wrapped after IT stayed at 165 for over an HR. The small piece has already been cut up and eatin. Helped practicing probing for tenderness on the small cut. Wasn't where it needed to be but tasted really good and wasn't dry just not tender as could been, but now I know what I should be feeling when I probe the bigger cut later today. Smoker running at 245. Used the pan and put the foil over it. No idea why honestly saw a guy on YouTube do it so I said YOLO. Will post pics when I slice.

 

[DCOOZ]

Probe is set to go off at 203 IT which is when I will test the tenderness

 

[DCOOZ]

Was probing pretty well at 190 but let run till 195. Had one part of the flat that wasn't feeling buttery. Now it's resting till dinner. Fingers crossed.

 

[tallbm]

You can learn something from just about every brisket cook you do.
That was a cool idea to practice on that small piece to get an idea of tenderness.

Your brisket looks good. No matter what the point aught to be fantastic! If the flat isn't all the way there deep in the thickest yet center most part you can always chop it up, throw it in a pot with BBQ sauce and simmer it hard to have some fantastic chopped beef brisket for sandwiches!

 

[DCOOZ]

Some pieces were absolutely delicious and some were dry. Also realized no matter how much YouTube I've watched I still had no idea how to cut it. Most of it did well with bend and pull test. Couple pieces not so much(these pieces were closer to the middle) which I would have bet a yrs salary out was probe tender before pulling. Overall not disappointed being out was my first ever attempt.

 

[tallbm]

Some pieces were absolutely delicious and some were dry. Also realized no matter how much YouTube I've watched I still had no idea how to cut it. Most of it did well with bend and pull test. Couple pieces not so much(these pieces were closer to the middle) which I would have bet a yrs salary out was probe tender before pulling. Overall not disappointed being out was my first ever attempt.
View attachment 398263 View attachment 398264

Nice work! The pictures show a brisket that looks pretty amazing with all the juiciness.

Yeah I think the area that was tough was probably the flat muscle that is the thickest yet center most portion of the whole brisket. That is the last part to tender up. Don't worry though you can throw that tougher meat into a crockpot or a skillet and simmer it with some BBQ sauce and it will get tender no problem.
You then just make chopped brisket sandwiches, brisket tacos, or brisket nachos with it and you will be amazed and understand that you really didn't waste it you just transformed it :)

I'm sure after this initial brisket cook you will have plenty of lessons learned to apply to the next one. Good 1st attempt :)