Smoking brisket advice please.

[BillTheButcher]

Hello All, New member and new at smoking. I recently purchased a East Oak electric smoker and have used it twice. My question is this coming Saturday 4/27 I am making brisket again for a family gathering, but unfortunately it looks like rain in the forecast and I have no place to do it that is covered . Any advice if I do it the day before ? Should I leave it in butcher paper and fridge overnight,
then reheat/ slice before the party. I just don't want it drying out.
Thanks for any input.

 

[schlotz]

Welcome to SMF from Indiana. What about just tucked into a garage opening? Just use a box fan to keep the smoke out.

 

[Winterrider]

Just "please" don't do an overnight without hot / cold alarms set.

 

[SmokinEdge]

Cook it the day before and cool in the fridge, then reheat it up the morning of. Easy and practical.

 

[Fueling Around]

Welcome to the forum.
No experience with an East Oak smoker. I've done brisket on a cheap offset and my pellet pooper.

Cook it the day before and cool in the fridge, then reheat it up the morning of. Easy and practical.

I've done that, but I don't wrap in foil or butcher paper. I smoke over a large foil pan to collect the drippings. After it hits the stall, it goes in the pan foil covered to finish in the oven. Chill quickly and the next day it reheats in the oven in an hour or two.

 

[JLinza]

Save the drippings if you can. And add them back in when you re-heat. I put mine back on the smoker in a pan at 225 - 250, (but the oven works great too) with butter and the drippings. Let it come up to at least 140°F, takes a couple hours or so. If no drippings use beef broth.

 

[tallbm]

Hello All, New member and new at smoking. I recently purchased a East Oak electric smoker and have used it twice. My question is this coming Saturday 4/27 I am making brisket again for a family gathering, but unfortunately it looks like rain in the forecast and I have no place to do it that is covered . Any advice if I do it the day before ? Should I leave it in butcher paper and fridge overnight,
then reheat/ slice before the party. I just don't want it drying out.
Thanks for any input.

Hi there and welcome!

I also second cooking it the day before. Put in the fridge to cool wrapped in foil. Reheat day of in the oven still foil wrapped until its about 165F degrees Internal Temp (IT) of the meat.

Hell I've even sliced while fully fridge cold (slices like a charm this way) then put back together and tightly press and wrap with the foil and reheat. It will reheat even faster this way as well. You will lose nothing doing it this way or leaving it whole and then slicing. I average 1 brisket about every 2 months so have done plenty being here in brisket country (TX).

Do one of the two approaches feel most comfortable with. Best of luck!

 

[Chasdev]

If your oven has a low temp setting of 150, just wrap in foil and pan it to "hold" it until you slice.
Most all BBQ joints hold cooked briskets for a LONG time before serving, overnight is normal.
A Cambro works to hold cooked brisket too but they are spendy.

 

[BillTheButcher]

Hi and thanks all for the advice.
My oven only goes down to 170 but I guess that will work.

Another question is ,I want to take a piece of flat and put BBQ sauce on it to try. Would I do this from the start, or after I put it in foil ?

 

[sandyut]

Welcome to SMF. I assume an electric smoker wont get this hot but…I run my briskets at 275 and they turnout great and cuts a lot of time off.

 

[tallbm]

Hi and thanks all for the advice.
My oven only goes down to 170 but I guess that will work.

Another question is ,I want to take a piece of flat and put BBQ sauce on it to try. Would I do this from the start, or after I put it in foil ?

If you are just trying to have a little meal or snack, I would cut this flat piece off when you pull it out of the smoker and then do your plan to wrap, hold, refrigerate, or whatever you land on. It's not uncommon to want to eat on a little piece once you pull it from the smoker :D

 

[BillTheButcher]

Hi sandpit, My smoker can go to 275. I'm still trying to figure all this stuff out ( allot to learn) My other issue is how long to actually smoke brisket, or other meats.
Meaning ,how many Hrs to keep wood chips in. We don't like stuff overly smoke flavored.
This is definitely a learning experience for sure.

 

[BillTheButcher]

Hi tallbm, I plan to have the point and flat seperate while smoking, just not sure when to do the BBQ sauce.

 

[tallbm]

Hi tallbm, I plan to have the point and flat seperate while smoking, just not sure when to do the BBQ sauce.

Oh bbq sauce at that point. I'm of no help there, I never sauce in the smoker, only at the table.
I also never separate my flat and point muscles since the flat muscle is such a pain in the butt, especially alone. I would need to wrap my flat where the point doesn't. I also don't wrap my whole packer briskets at all in my MES40.

So not sure how much I can help with your setup BUT I do know for sure that you can always refrigerate and reheat the next day, just make sure they are well wrapped in foil so they don't dry out on you upon reheat AND don't over reheat them which should be easy to avoid :D

 

[BillTheButcher]

Ok, Thanks for the advice.

 

[SmokinEdge]

Hi and thanks all for the advice.
My oven only goes down to 170 but I guess that will work.

Another question is ,I want to take a piece of flat and put BBQ sauce on it to try. Would I do this from the start, or after I put it in foil ?

Brisket cooks for to long to sauce at the beginning. If you want to sauce in the cooker do it after the stall which happens at around 160ish IT at about 180 IT would be a good spot to sauce.

My sauce is usually never on meat except chicken and is always on the side at the table. I do make a “bbq juice” though that is runny and I usually mob my briskets and butts with it a couple times during the cook, just another layer of flavor.


BBQ JUICE

https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/threads/bbq-juice.308642/

 

[tallbm]

SmokinEdge brings up some good points.

I would heavily recommend waiting until an IT of 180F before saucing if you were going to do it. If you wrap or cover briskets too early, you will end up with roast beef flavor instead of smoked beef bbq brisket flavor. So the longer you wait, the better. I personally don't ever wrap/cover beef (chucks mainly) until an IT 180F or higher.

In my case, I only wrap meat that will dry out. My MES keeps moisture in well so wrapping is limited to beef chucks or pieces of brisket flats I may smoke, etc. Whole packers, pork butts, ribs, chicken, turkey, etc. never get wrapped in any way in my smoker :D

 

[BillTheButcher]

Thanks ,sure learning allot from you guys. I guess the bottom line to all of this is there's many different ways to smoke stuff, time,temp wrap,no wrap etc.
I guess I have to just figure out what works for me.

 

[schlotz]

Definitely are a number of ways to smoke things and its a learn as you go process. Plenty of reading here should sort you out. One thing is constant, briskets can't tell time and get done and tender when they want to. Temp is only a guideline to start testing the flat (ignore the point) all over with a probe. I usually start probing around 195º if it doesn't feel like going into a jar of peanut butter wait for a +3º rise in the IT and probe again. Repeat until you are there. Agree with David ( sandyut ) we also run at 275º . Saves time, the stall is mostly eliminated and can do one same day for dinner albeit getting up early to ensure enough resting time once tender. Regarding BBQ sauce, I'm of no help since we always do our briskets Texas style with only salt & pepper in order to enjoy the rich beefy flavor. If doing this a day early and pulling when tender, leave it open on the counter for 15 minutes to ensure the cooking has stopped i.e. an IT drop of 5º or more before wrapping tight and putting in the fridge.

 

[BillTheButcher]

Hello schlotz. , curious, at what point do you stop the actual smoke, or do you smoke the whole time it's cooking? I have 2 8 lb points I'm doing but don't want it overly smoked.