Hi, I am going to be smoking a whole brisket tomorrow that I got from Costco, it’s prime-grade meat. Going to be smoking in my Backwoods Smoker ‘Chubby’.
The brisket is really on the small side, just over 8.5 pounds and is quite a bit smaller than any briskets I’ve ever smoked before, usually I’ve done ones that are 12-15 pounds.
I wonder if anyone here has any special tips or considerations to keep in mind as I smoke such a small one.
One thing that makes me a bit nervous is that the flat of the brisket is pretty thin and I’m concerned it could overcook.
Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.
Hi there and welcome!
I live in brisket land (TX) so I average about a brisket every 2 months or so.
You are correct that a thin flat will overcook and will do so easily in your case. An 8 pound whole packer is pretty small, I stick to 14 pound whole packers and higher because I trim away the thin brisket flat meat and repurpose it for other amazing dishes.
I have a lot of info on brisket trimming here:
https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/threads/my-brisket-flat-trimming-approach-explained-qview.286564/
But the short story is this. Cut away the thin flat meat so what is left leaves you with a uniform thickness allowing the flat and whole brisket to cook more evenly without overcooking.
The image below shows removing the green area by making a "U" shaped cut in a manner that leaves the flat meat good, thick, and about uniform.
Make sure your temp probe is in the thickest center-most area of the FLAT muscle, never the point. The point will be fine.
Finally if you trim the deckle fat and any other fat then you can do what I've been doing for a while now on all my briskets.
I put the brisket FAT side DOWN. I then take all the excess trimmed fat (I slice the deckle fat into a few flat slices as well for this) and I lay it on top of the brisket around the end of the Flat and the edges of it. I then continue laying fat down on top of the Flat and the rest of the brisket until I run out. This will add a layer of protection to the meat where the fat takes the heat and air directly AND it will render and baste the meat side of the brisket allowing it to stay nice and juicy and have great beef fat flavor all over it.
My brisket set up is brisket is a following to prevent my smoker from getting all drenched in beef fat.
I use the lowest smoker rack (I have an MES).
I put a foil pan on the lowest rack.
I then put a wire smoker rack directly on the foil pan.
I put the brisket on the wire rack that is sitting directly on the foil pan so that 80%+ of the fat will be caught by it.
I then put the fat strips on top of the brisket.
Before smoking: (This was the most fat I ever had that covered the whole meat side up of the brisket)
After smoking: (see it on the foil pan? Look at how that beef fat dried and curled up and turned into amazing smoked beef cracklins!!!)
Now I set up my smoker so that the bottom smoker rack is in with the foil pan on it. Then in the kitchen am working the brisket and put it on the wire rack that will sit on the foil pan. This way I can season, arrange all the fat on the meat side up side, and easily carry the whole thing by the wire rack to set on the foil pan in the smoker. Easy, peasy.
BTW, I never wrap a brisket since my MES holds moisture very well. Your smoker may require you to wrap a small thin brisket later in the smoke but I wouldn't do that until it hits 180F Internal Temp (IT) of the meat in the flat area I mentioned the probe should go. Wrapping too early
(the moment it hits 160-165F IT) just creates a roast beef flavor instead of a smoked brisket bbq flavor.
That is a bunch of stuff I threw out there for you. I hope it helps and ask any questions you may have :D
