Smoking my first brisket today

[DougCA]

Hi everyone,

Today I’m smoking my first brisket. I got a prime whole packer from Costco that was somewhat small - 8.75lb. I trimmed about 3 pounds of fat off the meat and put a simple salt and pepper seasoning on it. After reading about various methods, I decided to put it on a rack in an aluminum pan and will wrap it in foil at 160. I put it on about 6:30am so hopefully it’ll finish before midnight!

I do have a question. I put in two probes into the flat to monitor temp. They currently differ by 12 degrees. How do I decide which one to go by to discern when I hit 160 and 205? The first one to but that temp or the last? I don’t want to over or undercook.

Will update with finished pics.

 

[dcecil]

Are they in different areas of the flat or side by side? You wanna make sure your probe is in the thickest part of the cut. That will take the longest to cook. Temp will just be a suggestion anyways, you are cooking to tenderness. The temp will just tell you when to start checking for tenderness. Nothing wrong with starting to check for tenderness at 195. When you can stick a tooth pick or probe in any multiple areas of the brisket and and it just goes in like butter, your done. Pull, blanket it up and let it cool for at least an hr. Some let rest for 3-4 hrs but I dont have that kind of patience LOL.

 

[bdskelly]

Doug gave great advice. I put the probe in the point / peak and I do not wrap. B

 

[brimcconnell]

You've come to the right place for help. I'm looking forward to pics.

 

[DougCA]

Thanks for the advise. The probes are hard to see in the pic. There's one in front and one in the back. I tried to find the thickest part and since I had two ports to use on my Smoke, I figured I'd put in two to see how they differed. Will wrap at 160 or so when it stalls and then monitor for tenderness at 195. Thanks again!

PS it smells good outside.

 

[DougCA]

Graphs of the two probes so far. It’s been a bit breezy so I turned the smoker a bit. I suspected the lower temp probe was getting affected by the wind as it is near the exhaust vent. I don’t think I’ve hit the 160 degree stall yet.

 

[DougCA]

Still going at 8:20p. Been in the 180’s since 6p. I guess I know what’s not for dinner tonight!

 

[KrisUpInSmoke]

Still going at 8:20p. Been in the 180’s since 6p. I guess I know what’s not for dinner tonight!

Lol! When it's done, you could wrap it in 2 layers of foil, a towel, and put it in a sealed cooler. Make some eggs and potatoes in the morning and have it for breakfast.

 

[DougCA]

haha yes! The other half was less than thrilled at the idea of brisket for breakfast lol.

 

[KrisUpInSmoke]

Brisket can be temperamental. There are threads here on reheating brisket, if it comes to that. People eat corned beef and roast beef hash, ham, steak for breakfast. Why not brisket?

Worst case, you stay up and finish it off... leave a trail of brisket remains with a note next to your body for after you lapse into food-coma..."I did it for you....," juice on your shirt, brisket hanging off your face...lol....

 

[DougCA]

lol

it's 10:30 and it hit 192.1, but but it's been sloooooow going and it just regressed a bit to 191.9. I'm wondering if it's hitting the point of little return at 225 and I should toothpick it or bump to 250.

 

[TomKnollRFV]

This sounds alot like my Kalua pork I did... I ended up unwrapping it and raising the temp at the god knows what mark and it still took -hours-. <That sucker had I not cheated and changed things up, would have likely gone on for 30+ hours>.

If it makes you feel better, Jeff even has the temp on his recipe as 240-250f. I've had to go from 225f to 260f on cooks because there was storms coming and I didn't want to leave my smoker uncovered in a major storm. I sadly have not yet pulled the trigger and done a brisket. <All the ones I've seen are 15 pounds or so! Wish I could find a 9 pounder maybe!>

 

[dcecil]

Nothing wrong with turning up the heat.

 

[DougCA]

I bumped it to 250. Now it's climbing again. 193.7!

 

[DougCA]

195! Seemed soft with a toothpick in various places so I pulled it. Resting now.

 

[DougCA]

Can’t say I was very hungry by midnight, but I did have a few pieces. The brisket has a good bark and seems to be a bit on the dry side (at least in the ends). I was surprised to not have more drippings in the pan but that may be due to the cook at 225? Next time I think I’d cook at 250. Here’s pics including the final graph. Started at 6:45a and pulled at 11p. Whew!

 

[gmc2003]

Looks good to me,

Point for sure.

Chris

 

[SmokinAl]

It looks pretty good from here!
Brisket is the hardest meat to get right, and for your first try, you did very well!
Al

 

[sauced]

Looks good to me as well....very nice job for the first time.
I smoke my briskets in the 275 temp range....hot and fast. Brisket cooks faster and no real difference.

 

[KrisUpInSmoke]

Did you let it sit for an hour? Maybe two or three before trying it? I think that can make a big difference with brisket.