Chuck Simon
TVWBB Pro
Brisket is something I have been wanting to do, but have been fearful of it. I am afraid of ruining such an expensive cut of beef. I ruined some ribs once and that was only a $20 mistake. Brisket is at least double that price. Now that I have the 18.5" smoker, I decided I now have enough space to try my hand at making a brisket. I had made a small flat, but it didn't come out as well as I had hoped. I was ready to try again. We were out running errands on Saturday afternoon. We happened to be by Caputo's. I ran in there to see if they had any decent looking briskets. Going through the ones in the cooler, I found one that was mis-priced. All of the other ones were marked at $8.99/lb, but this one was $5.99/lb. That was my sign to buy it and go for it.

Not wanting to mess it up, I did some research on the Internet. It turns out everyone does brisket their own way. Before I confused myself, I stopped researching and made a last minute decision to jump right in and do an overnight brisket. I took what I had read and did my own thing. I first injected the brisket with beef broth and then rubbed it down with some home made rub. I used the same rub that I use on everything else I make. LOL!

I was able to get it on the smoker around 11:20 PM. For this one, I used cherry wood. Once I was able to keep the smoker temp pretty steady, I decided to go to bed. That was around 12:30. Around 3:45 AM, Ella had came and woke us up because she heard a weird noise. I assured her it was our hedgehog April running on her wheel. Since I was already up, I went down and checked on the brisket. The smoker temp had dropped to 180, and the brisket's internal temp was 150. I opened up the air vents to get some more Oxygen flowing to raise the temperature in the smoker, Once it hit 220, I went back to bed. I woke up again around 7:45 to find the smoker temp had dropped to 180 again and the brisket temp was 154. It was obvious the brisket had hit the stall. By this time, the brisket had been on the smoker for about 8 hours and 25 minutes. I checked the fuel and it was a little low. I added more charcoal and brought the smoker temp up to about 250 to make up some time. The brisket temp started to rise. It hit 175 and stalled again. I decided to go ahead and wrap it in foil to power past this stall. It wasn't long before the internal temp started to rise. After 13 hours on the smoker, the brisket hit 203 and it was finally time to pull it off. At this point, even though the internal temp hit its target, it does not mean it was done just yet. I checked the brisket for tenderness and it was definitely tender.

I wrapped it in more foil and let it rest for about 30 minutes before slicing.

Plated with home made BBQ sauce, home made beans, and home made bacon potato salad.

The brisket cut like butter and was fork tender. It was delicious! I was proud of myself for getting over my fear of ruining brisket and actually making a decent one. Thanks for looking!!!
Chuck AKA Crabby

Not wanting to mess it up, I did some research on the Internet. It turns out everyone does brisket their own way. Before I confused myself, I stopped researching and made a last minute decision to jump right in and do an overnight brisket. I took what I had read and did my own thing. I first injected the brisket with beef broth and then rubbed it down with some home made rub. I used the same rub that I use on everything else I make. LOL!

I was able to get it on the smoker around 11:20 PM. For this one, I used cherry wood. Once I was able to keep the smoker temp pretty steady, I decided to go to bed. That was around 12:30. Around 3:45 AM, Ella had came and woke us up because she heard a weird noise. I assured her it was our hedgehog April running on her wheel. Since I was already up, I went down and checked on the brisket. The smoker temp had dropped to 180, and the brisket's internal temp was 150. I opened up the air vents to get some more Oxygen flowing to raise the temperature in the smoker, Once it hit 220, I went back to bed. I woke up again around 7:45 to find the smoker temp had dropped to 180 again and the brisket temp was 154. It was obvious the brisket had hit the stall. By this time, the brisket had been on the smoker for about 8 hours and 25 minutes. I checked the fuel and it was a little low. I added more charcoal and brought the smoker temp up to about 250 to make up some time. The brisket temp started to rise. It hit 175 and stalled again. I decided to go ahead and wrap it in foil to power past this stall. It wasn't long before the internal temp started to rise. After 13 hours on the smoker, the brisket hit 203 and it was finally time to pull it off. At this point, even though the internal temp hit its target, it does not mean it was done just yet. I checked the brisket for tenderness and it was definitely tender.

I wrapped it in more foil and let it rest for about 30 minutes before slicing.

Plated with home made BBQ sauce, home made beans, and home made bacon potato salad.

The brisket cut like butter and was fork tender. It was delicious! I was proud of myself for getting over my fear of ruining brisket and actually making a decent one. Thanks for looking!!!
Chuck AKA Crabby