Second Brisket, not too shabby...

[nnifnairb]

I meant to post this a while ago, so some of the details may escape me, but I'd say I'm pretty happy with my briskets so far. This was a Memorial Day weekend smoke. My wife's birthday was the following week and she said all she wanted was a brisket on the smoker. Yes m'am!!

I had my local butcher separate the point and flat for me so that it could fit in my MES30. Clocked in at about 11.5lbs total, so on the smaller side.

Rubbed with salt, pepper, brown sugar, onion and garlic powder, and a little bit of paprika and chili powder, and let it rest in the fridge for about 12 hours. No reason for the rest, other than I rubbed it when I had time and didn't want to do it in the middle of the night when I put them in the smoker.

Flat:

Point:

Got up at 2am to put them on, next time I'm just going to do it before bed. Set smoker to 235F, I've found this keeps temps between 225F and 240F pretty well. The MES30 also runs about 10 degrees cooler than its setpoint. Here's at 10am the following morning:

We were having family over for dinner, so I had to pull it at 5pm so that it could rest for an hour. Both the point and the flat were about 197F IT. The point was perfect. Juicy, tender, and falling apart as I sliced it. The flat could have used a little more time, but it was still amazing. I did use the toothpick test before pulling it, and could tell it needed a little more, but it was close enough.

Pre-slice point pic:

Sliced point:

Flat:

For next time I'll plan on putting them on before bed and resting in a cooler when they're done, if needed. This was a 15 hour smoke, and I think the flat could have used at least another hour. It wasn't dry, it just wasn't as moist and tender as it could have been. Dang it, now I'm hungry...

 

[tallbm]

I meant to post this a while ago, so some of the details may escape me, but I'd say I'm pretty happy with my briskets so far. This was a Memorial Day weekend smoke. My wife's birthday was the following week and she said all she wanted was a brisket on the smoker. Yes m'am!!

I had my local butcher separate the point and flat for me so that it could fit in my MES30. Clocked in at about 11.5lbs total, so on the smaller side.

Rubbed with salt, pepper, brown sugar, onion and garlic powder, and a little bit of paprika and chili powder, and let it rest in the fridge for about 12 hours. No reason for the rest, other than I rubbed it when I had time and didn't want to do it in the middle of the night when I put them in the smoker.

Flat:

Point:

Got up at 2am to put them on, next time I'm just going to do it before bed. Set smoker to 235F, I've found this keeps temps between 225F and 240F pretty well. The MES30 also runs about 10 degrees cooler than its setpoint. Here's at 10am the following morning:

We were having family over for dinner, so I had to pull it at 5pm so that it could rest for an hour. Both the point and the flat were about 197F IT. The point was perfect. Juicy, tender, and falling apart as I sliced it. The flat could have used a little more time, but it was still amazing. I did use the toothpick test before pulling it, and could tell it needed a little more, but it was close enough.

Pre-slice point pic:

Sliced point:

Flat:

For next time I'll plan on putting them on before bed and resting in a cooler when they're done, if needed. This was a 15 hour smoke, and I think the flat could have used at least another hour. It wasn't dry, it just wasn't as moist and tender as it could have been. Dang it, now I'm hungry...

Hi there and welcome!

Looks like a good attempt. Once you get a really satisfying brisket cook under your belt feel to then try the 275F smoker temp for a following cook. Your brisket should then go for about 45min to 1 hour per pound when the tenderness test lets you know it is done and good to go :)

Keep at it!

 

[SmokinAl]

For your first attempt I think you did real good!
Brisket is very hard to cook & get right!
You did very well!
Al

 

[nnifnairb]

Hi there and welcome!

Looks like a good attempt. Once you get a really satisfying brisket cook under your belt feel to then try the 275F smoker temp for a following cook. Your brisket should then go for about 45min to 1 hour per pound when the tenderness test lets you know it is done and good to go :)

Keep at it!

Thanks! I think I'm going to try that next. I have another one going right now at 225, and it's been on for about 15 hours. Should be ready very shortly though!

For your first attempt I think you did real good!
Brisket is very hard to cook & get right!
You did very well!
Al

Thanks Al! If it weren't for the awesome people in this forum, I definitely would have had a more difficult time. I've done a ton of reading, and it seems to have paid off. I'm about to pull my third brisket and it looks to be the best one yet! I think I'm starting to get the hang of the toothpick test.