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2nd Brisket this Weekend Questions


 
If the probe or fork enters and releases smoothly I pull it for resting.
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Kevin, I'm still at 181, think I should keep her on or take her off and foil in a warm cooler for a couple of hours? Can you see in my pic where I have the probe? I think I'm in the middle of the flat. She's been sitting at 181 for about 2 hours now. BTW - There's no questions the probe went in and out with ease. Required no effort at all.

Thanks in advance!
 
PS I really hope these long posts throughout my cooks help others when researching how do to something.
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They do and they will, no doubt.

You'll have to judge feel on your own since none of us that finish by feel are in your backyard (in Phoenix heading your way though!). Temps don't tell done with Q, feel does. Temps can bea guide, nothing more. Higher quality (more marbled) beef is tender, usually, at lower internals. Learn to feel. This might be a good time to give feel a shot, no?
 
Higher quality (more marbled) beef is tender, usually, at lower internals. Learn to feel. This might be a good time to give feel a shot, no?
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LOL, If you guys were in my backyard we'd be having a great time, drinking some great beverages and about to eat a killer brisket (I hope). She's choice grade, pretty well marbled. I think this is what I'm going to do. I'm going to boil a big pot of water, which will take about 20 minutes, warm the cooler, another 10 minutes then pull her, wrap and rest for 2 hours. Some times you've just got to "go for it" I guess. But based on how that probe went in I think she's really really close . . . even though the probe is still only at 181.
 
Pulled at the 15:45 mark at 184. She was what I think is fork tender.

Wrapped her in foil, into warm cooler for a few hours then and early dinner. Next challenge, figuring out how to slice the thing
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As always, thanks to everyone for their tips, espically you Kevin for your "real-time" advice. I'll be sure to pay it forward.

I'll update with more pictures.
 
figuring out how to slice the thing
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Against the grain, pencil width. If youcan't tell how the grain is running, slice tiny corner off the flat. You'll see the grain and will then know where your starting point needs to be.

Have a great dinner.
 
Dwain Gleason posted this suggestion on March 23, 2004:

"Paul Kirk and others recommend cutting a notch off the end of the flat end of brisket against the grain BEFORE smoking, so that you can just cut parallel with that notch after smoking. "

I've tried this and it works very well.

Thanks, Kevin, for the pencil-width suggestion. I've been cutting my brisket a little too thin and it breaks up.
 
I think on this brisket slicing should be pretty easy as I can see the grain on the top of the brisket (see inline picture below, red indicates how I'll slice her). However, I've heard the grain changes direction, but looking at this picture they look consistent throughout the roast. The only other thing I need to do is remove the point, correct? If memory serves me correctly there's a piece of fat between the flat and the point that you run your knife through to separate the two, correct?

GrainSlice.jpg
 
The only other thing I need to do is remove the point, correct? If memory serves me correctly there's a piece of fat between the flat and the point that you run your knife through to separate the two, correct?
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If you want to separate them, yes. I don't bother. Some like to separate the flat from point when the brisket is removed from the cooker, returning the point to the cooker to cook more--or to cook to the burnt ends point. I just slice off what I'll beeating from the flat, some more for the next day's hash or sandwiches, and freeze the point and whatever is still attached of the flat for chili, enchiladas, taquitos, a braise, whatever.
 
Larry, sounds like you cooked like I used to cook brisket before some of me friends here convinced me to try a high temp cook - just like your low temp cook, but get the cooker to about 325 - 350F. Cook to about 165, foil until tender. Just like you did but takes half the time.

KCBS used to reccommend brisket be sliced to the width of a number 2 pencil but they dropped that when someone gave a rep a pencil that his kid brought home from first grade - remember those pencils? - about as think as a softball bat so the kids can get a good grip
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Damn you Larry, after looking at those pictures, I just picked up a 13 lber from Smart n Final. I must say, great marbling with a pretty good price. I think I paid around $22. I'll be throwing it on the smoker at around 9pm today for dinner at 7pm tomorrow. Thanks for your posts, it really has helped me out.

Erik
 
Great pics, I think your on the right track. I'm just about to throw on a 9 1/2 lb'er "Choice" full packer from Smart and Final, for a midnight cook. Going to get an early start on it tonight. Using Oak wood for the smoke. Going to smoke this puppy to 165F, the foil, with apple juice spray, and take it off at 205F, and let it rest for 3-4 hrs. I want it to be close to falling apart. Thanks for the pics.
 
Michael, I'll be doing something very similar to yours. Remember though, don't fall in love with the desire temps., you're going to have to feel and do the fork test to exactly know when to pull it out. What dry rub are you using?

Erik
 
Meat on, Man, does it smell so good outside. Just getting started. Going the easy way out on the rub. Using Steve Raichlen's "All-Purpose" BBQ Rub, got it real cheap, close out price at Bed bath and Beyond this spring, for $2.49 for a can, normally $12.99 at BBQ Galore. It's good stuff. I'll post pics in a new thread, in a day or two.
 
Wrap-up and final PICTURES In the pictures you'll see I didn't scrape back the fat, figured since it was just us we'd just cut it off as we ate.

Maybe some people just aren't meant to make great brisket. On a scale of 1 - 10 I give this brisket a 6. Best thing about the brisket was the rub, loved the Wild Willy's rub . . . and I'm glad I backed the Cayenne off a bit.

The brisket was dry around the outside, thought I'd have a better smoke ring, good smoke flavor though. Even though I didn't think it was that great, SO liked it and her son and a friend ate about 1 lb each. The friend asked if I was a chef, had a good laugh about that one.

Here are my thoughts:
1) Should have pulled her when I did that turn. Instead, I kept her on almost another 2 hours. What threw me was my probe was at 181. Much like my steaks and tris, I need to learn to "feel" when she's done and use a probe as a backup.

2) Fat down vs. up. I think if there's a next time brisket for me, I'll do fat side down. I'll take the fat I trim and lay it on the non-fat side to get the benefits of the fatty juices. If you look closely at the pictures of the slices you can see little cracks. I believe these were caused due to the non-fat side drying out from being near the heat source.

3) Cold weather did not seem to have any affect on my smoke. I thought I would have to open my vents more and struggle to get my temp up. Thought I'd go through more fuel, not the case. In fact, I just glanced at my ET-73 remote monitor and lid temp is sitting at 228 after 21 hours. Pretty amazing stuff.

I'm open to any and all suggestions, I'd really like to get a brisket right, maybe next time. Maybe a high temp. cook next time.

Again, thanks to everyone for all their advice and tips.
 
Since we will not be eating until 7 pm tomorrow and I'll be foiling at 165, I am thinking I should start a tad later. I just put some kosher salt on the brisket right now, waiting for it to draw out some moisture so I can add the rub. I will be giving the savory rub a try from the beef section in this forum. I will probably be throwing it on the smoker at around 10-11pm tonight.

Michael, where are you located? Will you be sleeping tonight?

Larry, never give up. Next time try foiling it in the low 160's and give that a whirl. I, too have been disappointed with cooking an entire packer without foiling until fork tender. After foiling it at 165, I probably won't go back. By the way, the pictures look great. How big is that plate you have the brisket on? For some reason the brisket looks small, did you cut it? Mine can't even fit on an entire cookie sheet.

Erik
 
Larryr, I think you did a great job on your brisket. The Brisket is the hardest BBQ meat to do right. It took me a couple briskets, to get it right. My 1st few, were just "ok". You learn a lot from doing them. I learned with the wsm, fat side down, for the whole entire cook. This works best for me. I always say, once you master a Brisket, you can call your self a "Pitmaster".

Erik G, I'm located near Lake Arrowhead, CA. Foggy, cold. some sleet. Not stopping me from midnight brisket. WMS is stable, going to sleep soon, restful through the night, with remote probe, waking me up at 165F. Foiling, and going back to sleep. works every time.
 
Hey Erik, thanks for the words of encouragement, not giving up, just a bit disappointed. Hope this doesn't sound too cocky but, I'm so used to everything turning out great, even my first Turkey on the WSM was terrific . . . and then there's my briskets. Briskets are another story. Maybe a different method is for me.

It's actually a very large platter not a plate. I use it for everything from chicken to tris etc. A couple of bucks at Walmart.

Good luck on your smoke tonight. What a great price on these briskets huh? I'd love to hear how your's turns out.
 
Larry, I'll definitely let you know how it comes out. Unfortunately, I have a Nikon F100 slr film camera, so I can't take pictures. You don't sound cocky at all, I think most people on this site have the same attitude, the secret is the smoker.

Erik
 
I don't know why I continuously have fast cooks, but yet again I face the same problem. I put in the brisket at 11:30 pm. After 3 hours and a half, I have an internal temp. of 154 inside the flat. I lit 12 coals using the minion method and tried to control the temp. going up. I closed all bottom vents at 200 degrees and after about 45 minutes, it remained at 200. I slightly opened (about a fifth of the way) two dampers. After checking the temps. after another 30 minutes, it jumped to 250 degrees so I closed all the vents. After 3 hours of smoking, the temp. is still at 250 at the lid. I really need to get a temp. probe at the grate to see exactly what the temps. are. Keep in mind this is a 13.80 lb packer and I am using a clayer saucer as a heat sink.

Erik
 
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