My first brisket today

[ma?tley ca 1/4 e]

Well, today is the day I finally smoke my first brisket. I got a 6 lb. flat at Sam's. Since we have never done a brisket my wife insisted I also smoke a butt in case the brisket sucks. In my opinion if your going to smoke one butt, you might as well smoke two. here's the pics after all had been rubbed last night.

 

[joed617]

Looks good, Lotta food thier .. Good Luck and thanks for sharing the pics.



Joe

 

[smokemack]

Good luck on the smoke! I'll be here all day. Got some frozen thing for lunch. It sure would be nice to see pictures (

) of some real food while I'm stuck here at the office... :)

 

[ma?tley ca 1/4 e]

the butts have been on since 6 am. The brisket went in at 7 am. the brisket is now holding at 160*. I will post some more pics later.

 

[ma?tley ca 1/4 e]

9 1/2 hours in and I'm at 178* on the brisket. It held at 165* for right at 4 hours. Hopefully this last little bit will go by quicker. I want to let it rest in a cooler for a coupe of hours, but I would like to eat before midnight also. :evil:

Oh well, you can't rush a smoke.

 

[smokemack]

That temperature plateau KILLED me on my first brisket. I wasn't expecting it to last so long. We ate late that night... Good luck the rest of the way. Enjoy! :D

 

[cajunsmoker]

I feel your pain brother. :cry: I've bee at 169 for about the last hour and a half on my butt smoke. I got folks coming to eat tonight :x .

 

[sean]

I'm just thinking that Arizona ain't all that far from Alabama .....

What time we eating Mystickal?

LOL - Good luck!

 

[ma?tley ca 1/4 e]

Approximately 8:00 pm central time. I now have the brisket in the cooler and am starting the sides... My family favorites...homemade mac & cheese and my awesome baked rice.

 

[willkat98]

Good job Mystick Al.

Sure hope you got a good cut for your first one so the family likes it.

From my own experience, make SURE you cut the first one properly (against the grain) or the family by get a "chewy" piece.

And watch that grain! it will change directions on the flats I get.

You said 8pm, so maybe we have time.

Time to snap a pic after you unwrap and slice!!!

 

[willkat98]

Oops, now I gotta ask

Is that tub on the counter full of rub?

 

[ma?tley ca 1/4 e]

Yes, that's my rub. I made 3 lbs. last night

 

[vulcan75001]

Mystickal

Looking good...hope all turns out well...
I didn't want to put a whammy on your MOJO...so I posted my yesterdays smoke in another topic...

Later
Richard

 

[ma?tley ca 1/4 e]

Well, not bad for my first attempt. It was plenty tender, but just a touch drier than I expected. Not really dry, just not juicy. Now if my butts will get done. 14 1/2 hours and they're only at 170* Here's the pic of the finished product.

 

[willkat98]

Can I ask, what are the temps like?

Are they, were they, high at the beginning?

I was hoping to see a nice pink ring.

What flavor wood you use?

 

[ma?tley ca 1/4 e]

I used hickory. I kept it smoking steady for about 7 or 8 hours. I have a gas GOSM so my temps stayed between 220 to 235. I was really surprised about the smoke ring. The 2 butts had nice rings. Maybe it was just the way I had it in the smoker. I had the butts on the bottom two racks and the brisket was on the top rack. Maybe I tried to smoke too much at one time. That's the first time I've loaded it up that heavy. I took the butts off after 16 hours. One was at 193 and one was at 187. I brought them in, unwrapped them let them cool about 45 minutes and pulled them. They weren't bad, but not the best I've done. They sat at 160 for probably 5 to 6 hours. Nothing wanted to cook yesterday. I had to go to bed. I usually cook them to about 200, but after 16 hours I was ready to get things over with.

 

[smokemack]

Nice looking brisket Wes looks good and juicy from here. I got a very nice ring on my first (and so far only) brisket, but it was the only thing I had in the smoker. I also pulled mine out of the fridge, rubbed it, and got it on the smoker. So it went down still a bit cold, I didn't get it room temp before loading. Not 100% sure if any of that makes a real difference or not, but it turned out well. Not quite as tender as I had hoped, but good juice, very good flavor, and good ring. Congrats on the brisket! Do you have any pictures of the pork?

 

[sean]

Nice - looks good! .... For some reason, I seem to have better results when I do a full packer rather than just a flat. I wonder why?

Just dropped a small butt on today... I have the same time problem with butts, they go on and on and on ... I'm a learning though!

 

[cajunsmoker]

Good looking food there Mystikal :D

I had the same problem yesterday with my Butt, smoked a 6# Butt for 11 hours and still had to finish in the oven. :evil:

Don't know why, the temps were good, it just didn't want to finish.

 

[icemn62]

Maybe it is a good thing I did not BBQ yesterday. Now I am happy I had to spend the day at work.

The brisket looks good but I would have thought a smoke ring would have been present. It sounds like you did everything right, just did not get the kiss from the smoke gods..

Do you allow the brisket to come up to room temp before going on the grates? Larger cuts I like to get on while still cold, I feel it helps with making that pretty pink ring. I have just strted using hickory, and still I am not sold on it. I use it, because it is all I can find near me now. I liked the results I was getting using a small amount of cherry or apple wood with my brisket. Both looks and taste.