Two at a Time...

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tukson

Smoke Blower
Original poster
Got about 25 people to feed tomorrow night at my wife's, boss's home.

Found two briskets about 10 lbs each and as an experiment one was very floppy and the other was fairly stiff.. there was 7 in the bin and I tried to pick two as close to the same thickness and fat cap as possible... I've been wanting to see if there was really a difference in the feel of a tender one and one that wasn't as tender.. We Will See tomorrow night.. off to bed now and will be up very early to fire up the smoker ... my grandson already loaded it with wood and kindling... of course to him it is all a waste of time unless we are cooking ribs... LOL...
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ok, got them on the smoker.... trimmed a little of the thickest fat off and cut checkered pattern on fat cap.. put about 2 or 3 tablespoons of mustard on each and 1. I put a spicy black pepper, garlic, cayenne, onion powder and salt rub. 2. used the commercial steak grilling rub... Seared both and put on the smoker at 0400hrs .... fat cap up on both for one hour heavy smoke .... 50/50 hickory/mesquite... then put each in a tin foil pan fat cap up ... and inserted probes.... at 0500hrs...
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I have found that I had to build up the fire from its usual size to get it up to 225f ... the 20 lbs of cold meat takes its toll and needs a lot of heat....
 
Sounds like you are off to a good start - be sure to post some pics
 
tukson, not sure what type of smoker you're using, but here is a trick that I use on my Lang-I open all of the air intakes and build my fire; I shoot for a food chamber temp of 275°-300°. When I put the meat on the smoker, the temps will fall but since the Lang has a quick recovery time the chamber temps will settle around 230°. Once the meat warms up and the chamber temp starts to climb, I start closing down my air intakes to keep the chamber temp below 250°. A couple of sticks every 30-40 minutes and she purrs right along.
 
Thanks Dutch, I did about what you said... I simply have never done large amounts of meat all at once ..and it caught me off guard ...20 lbs of ice cold briskett all at once sucked up all the heat...but fortunately it recovered ok... I leave the exhaust 100% open and use the intake to choke it down and I had it ready to go and now I know to open both ... till the meat warms a bit...

fortunately the two briskets are beautiful. and we are headed out to the party.... things got a bit hectic around here and I didn't have time to keep pics and updates..  I'll try to do a better job next time....
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I'm very curious to find out if you notice any difference between the two briskets. Have a great time at the party and please let us know.
 
Placebo, I kept the two in separate pans and pulled the flats and sliced the points... as for the flats, I couldn't tell a bit of difference last night when off the smoker and again today for lunch warmed up.. But the point of the limp one was definitely more juicy than the stiffer one... looking at the meat, I do believe the floppier one has more marbling through it and my question is does the marbling cause the softness in the feel of the whole brisket ... maybe so.. If this is true then anytime I want to slice one I will definitely pick a floppy one.. as far as pulling a flat for sandwiches ... I can't tell any difference in them.

I am definitely no expert or professional in meat handling so take this with a grain of salt  (no pun intended)
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Watching the two pans at the party ... I put the pulled flat in one end of the pan and sliced the point about a 1/4 in thick and laid the slices stacked on the other end of the pan.. 90percent of the pulled flats were eaten and only two or three slices total of the points eaten ... we only had paper plates and plastic forks, so this may have been the reason, but the sliced points were juicy, tender and delicious ... these folks are school teachers and administrators and they all eat out and have a lot of varied experiences with food types and the briskets were definitely a hit at this party... as this is only my 2nd and 3rd brisket on my new smoker .. it really helps with my confidence to try and feed a large number of people at once...
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