Questions before first brisket smoke.

[bayil7]

In the “Basic Brisket Smoke” sticky, the fourth post asked if he could use his pork butt rub for his first brisket. He was told to try it, and he will learn if it will work for beef as well. Normally I would have followed this advice as I have smoked many pork butts. However since this will be my first brisket, and it will be served to friends and family I was wondering if you take a look at my planned brine/rub, and tell me if could work? I know that there are many ways to do brisket, and I hope to try many of them over the years, but today I’m trying to avoid an obvious failure that I lack to experience to avoid.

My brine is a simple salt and molasses mix. My rub is cumin, fennel seed, coriander, onion powder, chili powder, and paprika.

Also, I’ve heard that big briskets won’t fit into the MES 30. If I can’t find a nice small 6-8 pound brisket, what is the best way for me to cut it in two?

Quick note: I got a MES 30 for Christmas, and broke it in last weekend with some pulled pork. This weekend is my boy’s birthday and I plan to smoke some chickens and brisket for his parties. I have many questions heading into this weekend, and will try to post each question is it’s proper place. After which I will try to cross link the posts in case anyone is interested.

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/...or-attaching-elbow-to-mailbox/80#post_1133801

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/74461/martini-poultry-brine#post_1133803

 

[dougmays]

Bayil7....i think your planning just right. When you ask "will this rub work"...its really a matter of what your looking for. Pork rubs tend to be a little sweeter then chicken and brisket rubs, but if your going for a sweeter taste (which is usually what most guests like) then that is fine. If you wanted to go more "texas style"....you want a drier heat with pepper, salt, and herbs. Your rub above sounds very flavorful and savory wand a happy medium between the 2 i just discussed. 

I dont have a MES myself but if you brisket is to long for the width of the smoker keep in mind it'll shink quite a bit during the smoke...so touching the sides a bit at first isnt a huge deal. One trick you could try would be to put the brisket in a pan so that it "slumps" into it and effectively makes it less wide because it wont be laying flat. 

There was another post recently asking this same question and someone mentioned butcher's twice to wrap around and tie so that the ends are angled up and again decreasing the overall length of it. 

In your brine i'm guessing there will be water in the mix of salt and molasses to dilute the molasses a little and allow the flavor to penetrate the meat? I dont brine my briskets but instead do a going juice toward the end when i wrap it and continue to cook

hope this helped and feel  free to post anymore questions you have. 

 

[flash]

Many rubs have 4 or 5 similar ingredients to begin with.  I recently used a Brisket rub on our pork butts. Came out fine.

 

[dougmays]

At my last competition i tried my poultry rub on a brisket for vending and it was delicious! 

 

[crazyq]

Alot of rubs and seasonings on meat are personal preference.

I dont use my rib/butt rub on brisket because to me beef shouldnt have a sweet taste and my pork rubs are sweet with heat. My brisket rub is alittle more along the lines of some heat but not overpowering the taste of the beef.