Ref; And Pulled the Trigger..First Brisket

[TomKnollRFV]

I got a 11.5 pound brisket, deckle off ..they said 3/4 inch trim, it actually looks at most 1/2 in most places, if that. It was 2.99 a pound <And I looked all over> at Gordon Food Services, which is the cheapest I saw..because I haven't seen it any where else I can go. <No Costco or Sam's club>.

So my idea is to run my smoker at 240f with the brisket in it, with a big ole aluminum throw away pan under the brisket to catch any liquid that drops down in it.

My question is..I have a MES140s, should there be water in the water pan for this? Hopefully some one can tip me off before I put the brisket in. I'm just relaxing a bit from dealing with stores before I trim and begin the rub process.

<Plan to do a mustard rub, and use this honey garlic rub I got. Weber's honey garlic rub is really good..or I think so. I got a jar of it for a few bucks, used some actually in ABT seasoning, might as well use it up on a brisket.>

I'll get pictures of the brisket before and after I trim so you can question who lets me handle sharp objects ;)

 

[Rings Я Us]

Hmm.. I buy all my briskets at GFS. I usually end up trimming off 2 or so lbs from it before smoking. Most of the thick white stuff on the side can come off . The hard stuff trimmed way down. Trimmed to 1/4" fat on top is good.
Water pan covered with foil and no water is popular. Thick end nearest to the hottest spot I guess.
Should be ok with that rub if it's not too sweet.
You can make some cross hatch marks with a knife to help render fat and help with some seasoning penetration.

Good luck on that adventure. :cool:

 

[TomKnollRFV]

Well it says honey Garlic Rings... but it was more akin to roasted garlic. I mean I -love- heavily garliced foods.

I'm hoping I can get a decent au jus base out of collecting what renders out. :)

 

[Rings Я Us]

Well add some beef broth or stock to that pan before you start.
I get burnt junk in the bottom of my pan, as the fat melts and drips down, it evaporates faster than it builds up. Give yourself some liquid to keep the pan drippings from burning.

 

[radio]

brew 12-16 ounces of coffee and add 2-3 Tbsp beef base to it. if it starts to boil dry, add more water before it completely evaporates. best Au Jus out there!
When trimming the brisket, take note of which direction the grain is running and make a cut or two in the meat 90° to the grain so you can easily tell which way to slice it later

 

[TomKnollRFV]

I was going to do the tooth pick method to remember which way to slice :)

Also We searched high and low for my grandfather's ole knife, he was a master chef, we can't find it. I went 'good enough' after hacking away at least 1/2 pound of fat with my SOG Seal Pup Elite. <Pretty ticked that knife just disappeared. it was a few hundred dollar knife in the 50's. Lovingly cared for>. Hopefully some day we remember where it went. For now I just sort of hack tear and get annoyed at the meat. Legit wish I had frozen the entire thing or some thing now. <It wasn't frozen when I bought it>.

 

[RiversideSm0ker]

I love that Weber honey garlic rub. Especially on pork. I love garlic too and I am betting that it will be pretty good on your brisket as well. Enjoy.

George

 

[TomKnollRFV]

I was pleasently surprised to find out it was good. Just finished seasoning the non fat side; letting it sit for 15-20 mins then it's time to get the smoker going and on she goes <Also time to get my lil webber going to make some burgers for dinner>.

Plan to put the pan I seasoned it in under it with a bit of water just to help with the Au Jus process there. Also because I didn't get a chance to clean my smoker out entirely. Rain last night+drunkeness didn't help the plan, then it was 90f in the sun today and that+after effects of dollar pints of Bud Light ..well.. ;)

I ended up saving a bit of that weber rub back for the future. <I want to sprinkle some onto brisket after all>. I did how ever have this general seasoning mix from the Caribbean, and I've used it on some T-bones. It was very good, so I added it on the non fat cap side to try and cover as much as possible. It's also MSG free which is a plus.

 

[Bearcarver]

I got a 11.5 pound brisket, deckle off ..they said 3/4 inch trim, it actually looks at most 1/2 in most places, if that. It was 2.99 a pound <And I looked all over> at Gordon Food Services, which is the cheapest I saw..because I haven't seen it any where else I can go. <No Costco or Sam's club>.

So my idea is to run my smoker at 240f with the brisket in it, with a big ole aluminum throw away pan under the brisket to catch any liquid that drops down in it.

My question is..I have a MES140s, should there be water in the water pan for this? Hopefully some one can tip me off before I put the brisket in. I'm just relaxing a bit from dealing with stores before I trim and begin the rub process.

<Plan to do a mustard rub, and use this honey garlic rub I got. Weber's honey garlic rub is really good..or I think so. I got a jar of it for a few bucks, used some actually in ABT seasoning, might as well use it up on a brisket.>

I'll get pictures of the brisket before and after I trim so you can question who lets me handle sharp objects ;)

I'm a little late, but I'm pretty sure I told you this before:
NEVER put liquid in an MES water Pan!!! Not a good idea!!

You can put a pan under your meat for Au Jus, but not in a pan close enough to the heating element to cause more moisture in an already too humid environment !!!

Bear

 

[TomKnollRFV]

Oh I didn't put any in the water pan :) I got a pan under it, the one I actually put it on to season it to not make a mess. I remember the Bear advice of 'Don't put extra water in a MES' :)

Think she's in the stall. Or near the temp range at least. I sort of staggered outside like a zombie to check on the pellets and only checked the temp using the built in probe. Gonna check my other thermal probes in a bit when I'm a semblance of human again.

I'm pretty sure if the neighbhors saw me I looked like a half dressed zombie pawing at the smoker.

 

[banderson7474]

What is the toothpick method for knowing which way to cut? I've done the pre-cut method but haven't heard of the tooth pick method.

I've just recently started to capture the juices in a pan so I can use it after. I also got one of those fat separator cup things too. You can always put it in a cup in the fridge but I'm never patient enough to wait an additional day.

 

[TomKnollRFV]

Oh, the tooth pick thing is just inserting a tooth pick so it's aligned the way you want to cut. Which I ended up forgetting to do, fortunately one corner of the brisket was mangled off by my hacking of fat, so I can see it. <Also as I learned with my family, my intentions to let the meat rest will promptly go to hell any how>.

I actually had water in the pan under the brisket last night, when I went to check this morning, it was all gone. Not sure I'll get much in the way of drippings for au jus here. I'm following Jeff's game day instructions of 240f. Ya'all think I should step her back from that?

 

[TomKnollRFV]

Just an update now that I'm some what human... got the other thermal probe in proper. The one that's barely in is the built in MES Probe, mostly I didn't like it hanging and when I tried to cram it into a mustard rub covered piece of meat..well it didn't get far in and I didn't want to coat my hands in mustard etc again at 1 AM to set it properly..

The probe at a NORMAL depth is reading 153f IT. The not so seated probe is reading 166f.

My broken probe says right now inside my house in the air conditioning it's 185f. Looks like I'll do 2 rows of pellets after this one burns. She's def in the stall.

 

[gmc2003]

Looks like it's coming along nicely.

Chris

 

[TomKnollRFV]

Sure hope so; though I think my hopes to have it done by 6 PM might be inaccurate...

Update; unless both my good thermal probes are shot, I believe we might officially say she's in the stall. 1 PM, I checked temp. 158f. Yep. As always, When I think 'I'll get this done in a 24 hour window' I should tell my self 'You don't remember the other times it took 30+?'

 

[RiversideSm0ker]

Sure hope so; though I think my hopes to have it done by 6 PM might be inaccurate...

Update; unless both my good thermal probes are shot, I believe we might officially say she's in the stall. 1 PM, I checked temp. 158f. Yep. As always, When I think 'I'll get this done in a 24 hour window' I should tell my self 'You don't remember the other times it took 30+?'

24 hours seems pretty extreme at anything in the 240 range. Didn't you say this was about 12 pounds? You've got me worried about the 4th.

George

 

[TomKnollRFV]

Probs post trimming she was 11 pounds or so. I didn't measure it or any thing after trimming, but this isn't really to concerning to me. I mean I had a 7.8 pound pork butt take over 24 hours.

 

[banderson7474]

The only way anything would take 24hrs for me is if I fell asleep and lost temp.

 

[TomKnollRFV]

I'm stubborn about going hot and fast. Very Stubborn. I treat it like a sin to go over 250f on my smoker ;)

Also I've determined I am going to vac seal brisket with some au jus..and then use my instant pot to reheat it. Mine lets me set very accurate temperatures. ..I guess technically it's not -actual- sous vide but it's a good way to heat things up!

 

[tallbm]

It just takes some time. It is done when it is tender and it is tender when you can stab a toothpic all around and there is no resistance. The IT will just tell you when to start checking for tenderness. An IT of 198-200F is where I start. Many recommend an IT of 195F so it can vary for many reasons :)

Also I do my briskets at 275F that seems to give me about 50min-1hour or pound or in that ball park. I don't wrap my briskets, I like the flavor much better unwrapped and rolling smoke the entire time :)