I finally smoked my first brisket july 3/4. I've only done pork and chicken for years. Like another poster I got a $1.87/lb choice brisket. 11lb before trim, probably trimmed 2 or 3 lbs off. My trim could definitely be better next time.
Overall it was amazingly tasty of mostly juicy. Smoked on my large bge with b&b lump hardwood blend w/ oak, plus 4 fist sized oak chunks. Was going for a hot n fast cook to serve for lunch on the 4th. Threw it on the smoker at 10pm. rolling around 275, 300. 1230am things looking good, temps staying put. 3 am 175 internal temp decided i was 30 min from bark being where i want it to be before i wrap in butcher paper. set alarm on phone and fell asleep watching skyfall. woke up around 630am to my 13month old son waking me up from his room.
smoker was at 250, bark was looking very barky. temp probing low 200s to mid 210s in thinner lean side. the bottom of the brisket felt a bit hard. the fatty side was probing like room temp butter. i immediately wrapped with butcher paper and left on counter for an hour then put it in a cooler for 4 hours.
when i unwrapped around noon, there was virtually no liquid at all but upon cutting in half beefy fatty juices were flowing a lot in the middle. the edges were quite dry. id say 90% of the fatty side passed the bend test beautifully and was soft and juicy and perfect but the edges and the end were very dry. maybe 60% of the lean side passed the bend test and was worthy of serving as slices.
all the dry stuff got chopped up for burritos/tacos. the slices were amazing and shared plenty with our neighbor who had a little party for all the neighborhood kids. my smoke ring was weak compared to what i usually see on my pork shoulders. smoke flavor was great though.
i think next time ill get a bigger brisket, trim better, not fall asleep right before wrapping time, and reconsider wood chunk type and volume.
thanks everyone on this forum for every little tip and experience youve posted, it makes it easier to tackle for a first timer like me. such large and usually expensive cuts are intimidating.
i also need a bigger smoker haha, the large bge barely fit that little brisket over the deflector plate. maybe i can bring the pit boss cabinet back out.
Overall it was amazingly tasty of mostly juicy. Smoked on my large bge with b&b lump hardwood blend w/ oak, plus 4 fist sized oak chunks. Was going for a hot n fast cook to serve for lunch on the 4th. Threw it on the smoker at 10pm. rolling around 275, 300. 1230am things looking good, temps staying put. 3 am 175 internal temp decided i was 30 min from bark being where i want it to be before i wrap in butcher paper. set alarm on phone and fell asleep watching skyfall. woke up around 630am to my 13month old son waking me up from his room.
smoker was at 250, bark was looking very barky. temp probing low 200s to mid 210s in thinner lean side. the bottom of the brisket felt a bit hard. the fatty side was probing like room temp butter. i immediately wrapped with butcher paper and left on counter for an hour then put it in a cooler for 4 hours.
when i unwrapped around noon, there was virtually no liquid at all but upon cutting in half beefy fatty juices were flowing a lot in the middle. the edges were quite dry. id say 90% of the fatty side passed the bend test beautifully and was soft and juicy and perfect but the edges and the end were very dry. maybe 60% of the lean side passed the bend test and was worthy of serving as slices.
all the dry stuff got chopped up for burritos/tacos. the slices were amazing and shared plenty with our neighbor who had a little party for all the neighborhood kids. my smoke ring was weak compared to what i usually see on my pork shoulders. smoke flavor was great though.
i think next time ill get a bigger brisket, trim better, not fall asleep right before wrapping time, and reconsider wood chunk type and volume.
thanks everyone on this forum for every little tip and experience youve posted, it makes it easier to tackle for a first timer like me. such large and usually expensive cuts are intimidating.
i also need a bigger smoker haha, the large bge barely fit that little brisket over the deflector plate. maybe i can bring the pit boss cabinet back out.
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... nice work
