Smoking Brisket without prepping it

[Central PA Cowboy]

Quick question. Would it be ok to just quickly dry rub a brisket and throw it in the smoker when I get home from work tonight? Any tips to keep it juicy would be great.

 

[gmc2003]

Quick question. Would it be ok to just quickly dry run a brisket and throw it in the smoker when I get home from work tonight? Any tips to keep it juicy would be great.

Sorry Derek, I'm not quite sure what your asking here. If it's dry rub and toss it in after work then yes.

Chris

 

[ristau5741]

brisket like low temps and slow cooking for all that meat to break down and become butter in your mouth, it's not a rush rush thing. lots of time and patience. Although you could consider, smoking it for a few hours to get some flavor, and then wrapping and putting in the oven to finish it off. assuming you wanted to eat it tonite and not for breakfast tomorrow morning.

 

[normonster]

Yes, there is no need to dry brine for 24 hours or whatever. I use a minimal rub sometimes and sometimes I find my self in your shoes and I just smoke the meat. I know that Bearcarver doesn't use salt at all on any of his stuff and I think Al has a post of some "naked ribs" he said were delicious, so a light rub that hasn't had time to penetrate is still fine. You'll get plenty of flavor either way. My go to method though is to dry brine for 24-48 hours and then rub with a saltless mix an hour or so before smoking.

 

[hillbillyrkstr]

The answer is yes.

Keep track of your internal temp. When you hit 195 start sliding your probe or toothpicks in different parts of the meat. When it slides in like butter it’s done.

Good luck
Scott

 

[SmokinAl]

The only question I have is, when you say no prepping, do you mean not trimming any of the extra fat off?
If that is the case then I would advise you to at least trim off most of the fat first, then put your rub on.
Al

 

[bdskelly]

Early on I never trimmed my brisket befor smoking. I’d wait until I sliced it and then trim away the excess fat. I believed that it helped keep it moist.
Now day I trim before I smoke. And I think I get better results doing it that way. B

 

[Central PA Cowboy]

The butcher trimmed it for me. However, it is an 8.5 # and right now it is only at 163° IT and has been in the smoker for almost 15 hours. I have it at 250° and it's an MES 30. Any suggestions? Do you think the smoker is the problem?

 

[bdskelly]

Hi Derek. When you say the smoker is at 250... is that what you have the MES set at? Or do you have another probe such as a Maverick in the cooker and it’s reading 250?
The reason I ask is some MES set points can be inaccurate and most of us use another prob and adjust the setting to that reading. As an example my last unit cooked at 10 degrees higher than it was set. Once you understand that you simply e set the cooker accordingly.
So check what the actual smoker temp is if you can.
I’d say 15 hours is a long time to get to an IT of 163. My experience is the brisket will stall at about 170 and continue on.
One last question. What is the outside temperature this morning? If it’s cold out that could slow things down a bit. B

 

[Central PA Cowboy]

Hi Derek. When you say the smoker is at 250... is that what you have the MES set at? Or do you have another probe such as a Maverick in the cooker and it’s reading 250?
The reason I ask is some MES set points can be inaccurate and most of us use another prob and adjust the setting to that reading. As an example my last unit cooked at 10 degrees higher than it was set. Once you understand that you simply e set the cooker accordingly.
So check what the actual smoker temp is if you can.
I’d say 15 hours is a long time to get to an IT of 163. My experience is the brisket will stall at about 170 and continue on.
One last question. What is the outside temperature this morning? If it’s cold out that could slow things down a bit. B

Thanks for this reply. It is much appreciated. I don't have another probe to check. Right now, it's about 50° outside. I am thinking it is the smoker then because my pork nuttsalso seem to take a long time compared to everyone else.

 

[motolife313]

Sounds like a really tough brisket if it's taking that long. The costco ones seem to take 45 minutes per pound at that temp

 

[bdskelly]

Invest a few bucks in a Maverick and your worries will be over my friend. Good luck b

 

[Central PA Cowboy]

Sounds like a really tough brisket if it's taking that long. The costco ones seem to take 45 minutes per pound at that temp

I hope not. It's from a local farm and I'd really like to continue getting my stuff from them, but that doesn't sound promising.

 

[noboundaries]

163F on an 8.5 lb brisket at 15 hours? You're not smoking at 250F regardless of where the smoker is set. You're most likely smoking in the 180-200F chamber temp range. The meat is safe, and will probably taste fine. If you don't have an oven thermometer to check your chamber temp, run down to the grocery store and pick one up for $5. Stick it on a shelf at least 2-3 inches away from the meat. You'll know in ten minutes the actual chamber temp of your smoker.

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• noboundaries
• Apr 28, 2017

 

[Central PA Cowboy]

163F on an 8.5 lb brisket at 15 hours? You're not smoking at 250F regardless of where the smoker is set. You're most likely smoking in the 180-200F chamber temp range. The meat is safe, and will probably taste fine. If you don't have an oven thermometer to check your chamber temp, run down to the grocery store and pick one up for $5. Stick it on a shelf at least 2-3 inches away from the meat. You'll know in ten minutes the actual chamber temp of your smoker.

016.JPG

• noboundaries
• Apr 28, 2017

Thanks! Trying this now.

 

[Kade]

Have you wrapped?

 

[hillbillyrkstr]

Agreed. Temp in smoker isn’t what it claims.

Also an oven and the Texas crutch can help you through this. Wrap your brisket in foil with some beef broth and seal it tight. Super tight.

Set the oven to 220 and keep your eye on it. When the IT of the meat is 195 start probing it. When the probe goes in easily your brisket is ready.

Scott