Using Bacon to smoke Beef Brisket,.. question?

[drjoeshmoe]

So I am smoking my first beef brisket in a masterbuilt electric smoker.
I did some reading and am pretty sure I have all the knowledge I need,....well except after I got home and realized the Albertsons butcher (not sure he would qualify as butcher?), He trimmed off most of the fat cap.

So I went to Albertsons to buy a brisket,...to my surprise there was only 1 available, it was an 8 pound choice for $57. I am only feeding the wife and 2 kids and didn't want to spend $57 on my first brisket.

The butcher offered to cut the brisket in half, I chose the flat, 4.5 Pounds at $31.
For some reason, unless this one just had little fat, he trimmed most of the fat cap.
I read some would use bacon to substitute, which I did at least 2 layers of thick cut bacon.

My question is,...would the bacon need to come off before I wrap at about 165 ?....would I lose the awesome bark by leaving on the bacon? or would The bacon break down and just add flavor and bark?

I am smoking at 225, under the brisket I have a pan with a bottle of angry orchard green apple beer, I plan to put the brisket in this pan of beer/drippings, and cover with foil at 165.
I am about an hour into smoking as we speak.
Thanks for any knowledge.
Joe

 

[SmokinAl]

I would put the bacon on a rack above the brisket so it drips on the brisket & you still get a nice bark on the meat.
I do this with the trimmed brisket fat.
Al

 

[drjoeshmoe]

dang, I wish I would have thought of that.
Flavor wise, the brisket was very good, the bacon was not a desirable texture, so I just pealed it off.
It was very tender but at the same time, probably could have been more moist. Most likely due to the butcher cutting off most of the fat.
I smoked at 215 most of the time, after wrapping at 160, I raised to 220, and took to 200-203, depending on which probe you go by.

 

[tallbm]

dang, I wish I would have thought of that.
Flavor wise, the brisket was very good, the bacon was not a desirable texture, so I just pealed it off.
It was very tender but at the same time, probably could have been more moist. Most likely due to the butcher cutting off most of the fat.
I smoked at 215 most of the time, after wrapping at 160, I raised to 220, and took to 200-203, depending on which probe you go by.

Hi there and welcome!
It sounds like you had some success.
Flats seem to be tricky and can dry out on people. I think the fact that you wrapped it kept it from losing even more juice.
I run 3 probes in a brisket when I cook it and man I tell you that you the temperature changes, lead changes, and all around temp behavior inside a brisket is absolutely crazy! You can see one probe be 40 degrees lower then the rest for most of the smoke and then some time later it is leading the pack in temp, and then it goes down and up and all over hahahaha. I just wait until I get a range of readings that seem sensible for me to start probing the brisket for tenderness because that is how you know a brisket is done. That is usually anywhere from 200-205F or a little higher for me. Never do all 3 read the same but they are usually within 3-5 degrees of one another at the end :)