First Brisket on Saturday, Have a few ?'s

[mattygfl]

Hey everyone. I have been doing plenty of research on this brisket and I think i have a good plan. However I am using about a 5.5 lb flat and not a full brisket. Should I do anything different? My game plan is as follows...

Rub the night before with my normal pork rub since i am doing a shoulder as well. Put on smoker fat side up at 225-250 degrees. Smoke at 225-250 till it reaches 170. Mop every hour after the first 2 hours. Wrap at 170 in foil and mop juice. Bring to 200 and wrap in towels and toss it in the cooler.

Should I be doing anything different since its just the flat portion?

Seems very similar to doing pork to me?

Thanks in advance. Will definitely post a qview of the shoulder and brisket on Saturday.

 

[fire it up]

Sounds like a perfect plan.
No need to change it up.

 

[jaxgatorz]

Sounds like a good plan to me....I just did my first 1 this past weekend and it was just the flat too.......I did mine pretty much the same way as u are gonna.The only thing i would change is the going to 200.. It was almost to tender to slice..Think i will only take my next 1 to around 190 next time.Happy smokes !!

 

[rivet]

You are set, bud! Good plan, just be aware that you will have a great stall somewhere in your brisket. Just ride that baby out. Good smokes to you and don't forget the Q-Vue!

 

[fire it up]

Oops, I forgot about that

Some folks take them to 200 but I do as Jax mentioned, I pull at 190 if I'm slicing brisket, which I always do, chuckies if I want shredded beef.

 

[rickw]

Sounds like ya have it covered. I take my brisket to 200 then in a cooler for a good rest period. I also don't use the same rub for pork as I do beef. I'm not a big fan of sugar with beef.

 

[mattygfl]

thanks guys for the reassurance on what i had planned.

also i was kinda thinking bout that whole sugar on beef thing... i may end up changing it. i dont use a ton of brown sugar in my pork rubs like some folks so i may be good, but again i might change the rub for the brisket. anyone have a good one they want to share? if not no worries, im sure i can figure something out.

i will qview the process on Saturday. Thanks again for all the info.

 

[rickw]

I just like a basic spice rub.

Onion powder
Garlic powder
Black pepper
Red pepper
Cumin
Cayenne pepper
Paprika
Course salt........very little.

 

[bluefin1]

lets see some photos of the the finish product. good smokin

 

[csmith2884]

I cut most of the sugars from mine...going with the thought that in the heat for that long it would burn, but after reading here and taste testing, I think I will cut all the sugar next time for the taste.

 

[mattygfl]

the brisket came out awesome!!! also had a huge long stall on both the pork and brisket. ive never had it stall that long before but i have read about it on here quite a bit. I guess i was just lucky all the other times that i never the meat stall like that. Im glad i got up at 5 and started the smoker. I had the meat on by 630. I think it was close to 7 when i pulled it.

It was really windy and kinda cold too so maybe that is why? Or maybe cause i had so much meat on the smoker at once? im not really sure?

anyways here is a quick qview. thanks for all the recs and help. also the rub i made for the brisket was SOOO GOOD. i will post it along with these pictures.

Brisket Rub Recipe:

1/4 cup Paprika
2 TBSP Salt
2 TBSP Sugar
2 tablespoons Mustard Powder
2 TBSP Chili Powder
2 TBSP Ground Cumin
2 TBSP ground Black Pepper
2 TBSP Cayenne
1 TSP onion powder
1 TBSP Garlic Pow

threw the pork in here even though this is a beef thread!

 

[fire it up]

Looks like it came out great!
Congrats on a success.