Gonna be a good night (1st brisket)

[will work 4 bbq]

Hello midnight smokers. After many years of Q'in I finally decided that I shall try my hand at a brisket... Well actually my wife volunteerd me for it lol. So now im up on this beatiful night with a beer in my hand and a big hunk of meat in my smoker. For the rub I just kept it simple, SPOG but I may have gone a little bit heavy on the onion I can smell it still. Ok I guess that's it for now.
Wish me luck.

 

[mike243]

Good luck and looking good to me, seasonings rarely end up over powering on long smokes unless its something spicy,I smoke more overnite with the pellet smoker,getting up every hour or 2 to check add or adjust made for a long day lol

 

[SmokinAl]

Nice looking brisket!
Good luck!
Al

 

[schlotz]

How ya holding up?

 

[will work 4 bbq]

Had a few temp fluctuations about 3 hrs in when i opened the door to spritz it, I couldn't get it stabilzed. It was going back and forth between 225 and 260. It's stable now so hopefully its ok. My internal temp is at 135.

 

[miller51]

Yeah, it's it killer.... It never fails, spend an hour getting the grill right where you want it, then it runs for a couple hrs without moving a single degree... you open it up for 30 seconds and you fight it for 2 hours trying to get it right again... Guess that's why it tastes so good though, it it were easy you'd be able to get good BBQ everywhere and it wouldn't be so rewarding after a good long smoke...

Don't be afraid of a little heat on that brisket, it's one meat that can definitely take it. You planning on wrapping to shave some time off that smoke?

 

[will work 4 bbq]

Yea it's been fun so far. So i'm planning on wrapping it but i couldn't get a hold of butchers paper. The butcher gave me parchment paper because theirs has some sort of wax coating on the inside.. So i guess i'll use foil. At what temp should i wrap?

 

[gmc2003]

Usually in the 160* to 170* range. You'll know when the stall hits

Chris

 

[indaswamp]

Always fun to cook something new, looks like the members got ya covered on the brisket, be back to see the pics. Good job so far....

 

[miller51]

Yeah, I like the butcher paper, but would use the foil if that's all I had (I keep parchment paper (no wax) handy though if I can). The stall on a brisket can be brutal. I usually wrap in the 170* range when the needle stops mooving or starts going backwards. My first full brisket without a wrap was 19 hrs on the smoker and then 2 resting while I rested! Now, I'm a hot and fast(er) and a butcher paper guy for the most part. I do some meats without the wrap, but brisket on the thin end can really dry out and over cook in the hot and fast cook without the wrap.

 

[will work 4 bbq]

Just wrapped it at 163. Looking mighty tasty, hopefully it's as good as it looks.

 

[miller51]

Looks awesome, I'm doing 2 big pork butts and bb ribs this weekend and never thought i'd be jealous of someone else's cook... guess i'm going to have to pick up a brisket for next weekend!

 

[will work 4 bbq]

So i pulled it about an hour ago at 192 and its been resting . I had to go to the grocery store real quick and i checked my temp just now it's @ 165. i thought the temp would go up down. What's up with that? Any help is appreciated.

 

[gmc2003]

How did you let it rest?

Chris

 

[schlotz]

How is it resting? In a cooler surrounded by towels, on the kitchen counter? Did the probe test reveal it was done at 192º? - seems a bit low to me.

 

[miller51]

Also, did it read 192 in more than 1 place? I checked my butt's last night and 1 spot said 205 and 3 other's said 196 so i took it a shade further since it was predominantly under and still felt firm. I kept mine wrapped in a room temperature oven for 2hrs no towls but 2 buts together and they only dropped 10*... burnt the hell out of my fingers pulling, but I like to really remove all the junk and fat...

 

[schlotz]

Ouch.... next time use some good coated bbq gloves.

 

[will work 4 bbq]

Resting on the counter, wrapped in foil with 2 kitchen towels. i didn't probe in multiple spots. Just the point where i originally put it.

 

[schlotz]

That's a reasonably significant drop, ergo using a cooler helps slow the loss. Maybe the foil wasn't tight against all parts of the meat? Something was amiss because the temp should have rose a bit before starting to decline. It might have, but being at the grocery for that hour, there's no way to know. The best place to check for IT would be to place it in the middle of the thickest part of the flat, not the point. Also checking for doneness (ie least resistance in & out) is more accurate using multiple spots in the flat. The point has way more fat and will always 'feel' done early not to mention having a diff IT. In reality most points could use more time, which is why you read of them being cubed, sauced and put back in the smoker for a couple more hours.

 

[schlotz]

On the bright side, everything may still work out. Every brisket has a mind of its own :D