OPIEWFFW
Well-known member
So I tried my hand at a brisket last night. I am brand new to smoking meat, so this was quite the endeavor. Just shy of 10 lbs untrimmed. There was a lot of oxidized, hard, dark grey looking meat on the one side that had to be trimmed. And what I assume is the usual amount of hard fat. The soft fat was already in the ballpark of ¼" and didn't need much trimming. All told, I probably trimmed 2 or 3 lbs off the brisket.
I put a very light coat of yellow mustard on it and seasoned liberally with 4 Rivers Smokehouse brisket rub. Then I put it on the Bull on low and let it smoke at 180° for about three hours, spritzing with water every hour. Then I bumped it up to 225° and tried to let it ride till IT reached 165°. At about 4 hours it began to stall at around 150°. I tried to wait it out till 165° but the flat began to feel very hard to me and I feared it was drying into jerky. So around the 5 hour mark, I gave it a final spritz, then wrapped in foil and put it back on the Bull at 250°. That kicked the stall right in the ass. At about the 8 hour mark it hit 190° and I started probing for doneness. The point felt like I was sticking a probe in jello, but the flat still offered resistance. One of the times I probed, I accidentally went all the way through and came out the bottom of the foil. Enough juice drained out to fill the grease bucket over a 3rd full. I let it ride till the IT reached 203 and then pulled it. I opened the foil to stop the temp from increasing, for about 5 minutes, then closed the foil and placed it in a cooler for 2 hours.
And then the moment of truth came. I sliced enough pieces off the flat to have a little snack while it was fresh and warm, and enough for my lunch today. At first I thought it was going to be a brick. But after a slice or two it began to look much better. All told, it was a touch on the dry side, but not terribly so. But the flavor was out of this world. The bark was dark and soft but not soggy or slimy despite having stewed in its own juices in the foil. If not for the slight dryness of the flat, this easily could be the best brisket I have ever eaten. And really, only the first bits of the thin part of the flat were noticeably dry. The slices would bend and hang limp when hung over my finger, but didn't quite do the falling apart when stretched thing.
So, things I might do differently next time are:
Start at 225° instead of 180°.
Wrap as soon as it begins to stall, regardless of internal temp.
Keep it at 225° the whole cook, instead of raising to 250° after wrapping.
NOT poking a damn hole in the bottom of the foil and letting all those delicious juices run out.
All in all I am pretty damn satisfied with how it turned out. This is only my third big cook on any kind of smoker. Ever. So I think I am pretty fortunate to have gotten away with not destroying this brisket.
Any suggestions or input is always appreciated!
I put a very light coat of yellow mustard on it and seasoned liberally with 4 Rivers Smokehouse brisket rub. Then I put it on the Bull on low and let it smoke at 180° for about three hours, spritzing with water every hour. Then I bumped it up to 225° and tried to let it ride till IT reached 165°. At about 4 hours it began to stall at around 150°. I tried to wait it out till 165° but the flat began to feel very hard to me and I feared it was drying into jerky. So around the 5 hour mark, I gave it a final spritz, then wrapped in foil and put it back on the Bull at 250°. That kicked the stall right in the ass. At about the 8 hour mark it hit 190° and I started probing for doneness. The point felt like I was sticking a probe in jello, but the flat still offered resistance. One of the times I probed, I accidentally went all the way through and came out the bottom of the foil. Enough juice drained out to fill the grease bucket over a 3rd full. I let it ride till the IT reached 203 and then pulled it. I opened the foil to stop the temp from increasing, for about 5 minutes, then closed the foil and placed it in a cooler for 2 hours.
And then the moment of truth came. I sliced enough pieces off the flat to have a little snack while it was fresh and warm, and enough for my lunch today. At first I thought it was going to be a brick. But after a slice or two it began to look much better. All told, it was a touch on the dry side, but not terribly so. But the flavor was out of this world. The bark was dark and soft but not soggy or slimy despite having stewed in its own juices in the foil. If not for the slight dryness of the flat, this easily could be the best brisket I have ever eaten. And really, only the first bits of the thin part of the flat were noticeably dry. The slices would bend and hang limp when hung over my finger, but didn't quite do the falling apart when stretched thing.
So, things I might do differently next time are:
Start at 225° instead of 180°.
Wrap as soon as it begins to stall, regardless of internal temp.
Keep it at 225° the whole cook, instead of raising to 250° after wrapping.
NOT poking a damn hole in the bottom of the foil and letting all those delicious juices run out.
All in all I am pretty damn satisfied with how it turned out. This is only my third big cook on any kind of smoker. Ever. So I think I am pretty fortunate to have gotten away with not destroying this brisket.
Any suggestions or input is always appreciated!
