First Briskit

[coffee_junkie]

I bought my first brisket last night. It is around 10lbs. I have smoked just about everything but a brisket so I have pretty good confidence that I can pull it off. But I have a few questions for those of you who have more experience.

Will Jeffs Rub be okay? I have a huge batch of it that I need to use up.

Could someone explain to me how to make burnt ends? I am thinking I just seperate the point from the flat and when the flat gets a good bark on it take it off, cube it up place in a pan, sprinkle with more rub, smother in bbq sauce and throw back on the smoker for a while, (till 200* internal temp?)

About how long will the cook take? I just need to know when to get started.

I am thinking I want to slice and serve on hoagies with some sauce, I like sweet baby rays. Maybe some good sharp cheese to go on top. Any other suggestions?

Thanks in advance for all of your replies.

 

[brdprey]

love the name i have stock in juan valdez myself. but on the subject of coffee has anyone tried the coffee rub for brisket. i thought i remember seeing one , it could have been on a cooking show but dont remember. if you do, can you rifle it up

 

[mballi3011]

A coffee rub has been propular the last few years out there. I have never tried it but thats not saying it isnt good. Now for the Burnt Ends. You want to smoke the brisket and then seperate the point and the flat. Then cube up the point thats the hump on the flat and it will be seperated by a thick fat layer. You could almost grab the point and pull it off. Now then you take the cubed point and add some more sauce to them and throw them back into the smoker for a couple of hours. You have to be really quite and then when their done they will be really soft and believe me they will melt in your mouth thats when you want to be quite for all the good folks will come out of the woodwork for the burnt ends. So you get to taste them yourself and then you can share them after you have gotten some first. The cook always gets the best little tibbits.

PS oh yea Jeff's rub will be really good on the brisket.

 

[jstanford]

Still confused on the point and flat part, it all looks like one big hunk of meat to me, I have done a few and would really like to know how to seperate and cook the point for burnt ends. Thanks, do you have pictures or a previous post I can check out? Haven't had any luck as of yet finding one....

 

[pokey]

Look here:

http://www.amazingribs.com/recipes/beef/texas_brisket.html

In this pic, A is the flat, B is the point.

 

[coffee_junkie]

Okay, so once the entire brisket has reached 190*, then separate the point, and make the burnt ends? Will the burnt ends get done while the flat is resting (1 to 2 hours)?

 

[deannc]

Okay, so once the entire brisket has reached 190*, then separate the point, and make the burnt ends? Will the burnt ends get done while the flat is resting (1 to 2 hours)?

Yes, smoke the entire brisket to an internal meat temp of 190*.  Pull from the smoker, separate the point from the flat.  Double foil the flat, wrap in a couple towels and put in a dry cooler to rest for an hour...two hours if you can.  

Once you have the flat wrapped and resting, trim the fat from the point, cut into chunks, place in a foil pan, sprinkle with rub (if you like), cover in sauce of your choice and place back in the smoker for a couple hours while your flat is resting.

Still confused on the point and flat part, it all looks like one big hunk of meat to me, I have done a few and would really like to know how to seperate and cook the point for burnt ends. Thanks, do you have pictures or a previous post I can check out? Haven't had any luck as of yet finding one....

Ensure you are buying a complete whole brisket.  With the brisket lying flat on the cutting board, the thinnest end of the slab of meat will be the flat.  The layer of fat that separates the flat from the point is very obvious because it's almost like a big vein that runs completely between the two pieces of meat and as Mballi stated, you could almost pull the two sections apart.
 

 

[jstanford]

You guys ROCK! What other sites could you get so much good info from soo many good Q'ers?? NOWHERE.... I have the confidence I need to hit these out of the park, OK....maybe a ground rule double! But they should be good, keep the ideas coming, they are helping more than me i'm thinking

 

[fourthwind]

Here is my take on doing a full packer brisket.  I am a bit concerned that all you have is a flat.  10 lbs is a bit small for a full packer.  You can look at this site to see what it looks like, and a step by step on how to seperate. http://www.ilbbqs.com/brisket/   It's one of the better tutorials I have seen.  I seperate the flat from the point.  Slather with spicy brown mustard, and cover liberally with your rub of choice.  Rest overnight.   Get it into the smoker very early.  I put mine in foil pan's.  One pan for the flat, and one for the point and trimmings. I put fat side down for and hour and a half, then flip over for the remainder of the smoke.  Smoke at 240° to 250° until the meat hits 165°.  Typically the point get's there sooner than the flat so watch them both.  Once the point hit's 165, remove it from the smoker, and cut into 1 inch cubes.  Do another coating of rub on the cubes, and return them to the smoker.  Let smoke un covered for about an hour, then coat with you prefered bbq sauce, then smoke for another hour and repeat the coatings until the cubes are fork tender and resemble man candy =)  When the flat gets to 165°, drain and reserve the juice in the pan, cover with foil, and return to the smoker.  At this point I usually crank the heat up to about 275°.  continue cooking the flat until you get 195°.  Remove and let rest at least 30 minutes before cutting.  IF you want it to rest longer, wrap the covered pan in towels and put into an insulated cooler or oven and rest for up to 2 hours.  Slice across the grain and drizzle the heated up juices you reserved on top.  Then enjoy! 

Happy Smokes!

 

[jstanford]

BTW, Sorry I highjacked your thread!

 

[jirodriguez]

You'll do fine CoffeJunkie. One tip when you do the burnt ends, do a light coating of sauce, since they are only going to go back into the smoker for another two hours or so if they have to much sauce on them then they never develop a 2nd bark. I find they best when the outside has just a little bark on it and the inside is moist and tender.

Also since you like Sweet Baby Rays try this: 2 parts SBR, 1 part cider vinegar, 1 part apple juice, 1\2 part katchup, brown sugar to taste. Bring that up to a boil then simmer for about 5 minutes, reduce to low and keep it warm till you are ready to eat. It goes really, really well on brisket, sometimes I add a little Worshty sauce or A1 to it as well.

 

[coffee_junkie]

Here is my take on doing a full packer brisket.  I am a bit concerned that all you have is a flat.  10 lbs is a bit small for a full packer.  You can look at this site to see what it looks like, and a step by step on how to seperate. http://www.ilbbqs.com/brisket/   It's one of the better tutorials I have seen.  I seperate the flat from the point.  Slather with spicy brown mustard, and cover liberally with your rub of choice.  Rest overnight.   Get it into the smoker very early.  I put mine in foil pan's.  One pan for the flat, and one for the point and trimmings. I put fat side down for and hour and a half, then flip over for the remainder of the smoke.  Smoke at 240° to 250° until the meat hits 165°.  Typically the point get's there sooner than the flat so watch them both.  Once the point hit's 165, remove it from the smoker, and cut into 1 inch cubes.  Do another coating of rub on the cubes, and return them to the smoker.  Let smoke un covered for about an hour, then coat with you prefered bbq sauce, then smoke for another hour and repeat the coatings until the cubes are fork tender and resemble man candy =)  When the flat gets to 165°, drain and reserve the juice in the pan, cover with foil, and return to the smoker.  At this point I usually crank the heat up to about 275°.  continue cooking the flat until you get 195°.  Remove and let rest at least 30 minutes before cutting.  IF you want it to rest longer, wrap the covered pan in towels and put into an insulated cooler or oven and rest for up to 2 hours.  Slice across the grain and drizzle the heated up juices you reserved on top.  Then enjoy! 

Happy Smokes!

It is a small packer, It is maybe 12lbs I could have underestimated a bit..

Thank you all for the words of encouragement and wonderful advice. I frequent a certain duck hunting forum, and it seems all people do there if argue and fight. What a great site we have here.

 

[coffee_junkie]

BTW, Sorry I highjacked your thread!

No Problem, I hope you are as excited as I am to try out the brisket. BTW sorry I misspelled brisket in the thread title, I tried to edit it but it won't let me.

 

[357mag]

I am a bit concerned that all you have is a flat.  10 lbs is a bit small for a full packer.

My Labor day brisket was just under 10# and I have one in the freezer that is a hair over 10#. Both are full packers. You can find packers in the 9-10lb range if you look for them. I got both of these at Walmart. My smoker is only 14" wide so I am always on the lookout for small briskets. I know I can get a point in the 5-8lb range, but I like the full packers for the burnt ends.

I don't sauce my burnt ends. I like the flavor of them just the way they are with a little extra rub sprinkled on.