Did my first brisket yesterday!


 
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Jay Buthman

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I feel like the ugly stepchild here, but I really like talking and listening to you people here on this board! Here is my confession. I did my first brisket yesterday on my ECB. Trying to maintain 2 kids and a wife on 1 salary and a free ECB, what can I say? Anyhow, What a great cook I had. Woke up at 4 a.m. and got the chimney going. Had the brisket go one about 5 a.m. Don't know the exact weight of the brisket, but it was a Cryovac from SAMS CLUB. Just used a St. Louis style rub (also from SAMS) that I had in the cabinet that said it was for ribs and chicken. Cooked with the fat side down for the entire cook. At the 5 hour mark, began spritzing with apple juice. Tried using the thermometer for a while and finally went the "Jim Minion Method" of fork tender. Total cook time was 11 hours, foiled for another hour with the fat side up. Turned out awesome. Had a good 1/4"-3/8" smoke ring. Used Kingsford Mesquite Charcoal, a cherry pellet packet (thanks again Candy), and threw in some extra mesquite chips about half way thru. Wish I had some pictures. I thought my wife was going to call the police when I told her I was taking photos of my meat. She will never understand. Thanks for letting me tag along on the message board! I owe my success to all of you.
 
Jay, sell a kid or thw wife so you can buy the WSM...don't worry, they'll understand!!!
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Good job on the brisket..they are tough to get the hang of!!
 
Jay,

Glad to here it went so well. Got a friend from Texas who moved up here to Illinios and just had to have some brisket, so he did the same as you, ECB, Sam's brisket and was pretty happy w/ results. A well studied chef can go a long way.

A little suggestion for you to fund your hobby. A couple years ago, I asked everyone who normally gives me presents at Xmas or birthday or father's day or whatever, to contribute cash to the Joe's fund instead. Sort of a grown up piggy bank. First purchase was some new PING golf clubs, then I got into smoking and the fund has evolved into Joe's smoking fund. New smokers, competition fees, EZUp canopies, bbq meat, sauce, rubs, knives. Start giving out samples of really good Q and folks are more than happy to fuel the passion.
 
Jay great job! The ECB makes the cook harder but you pulled off, doesn't get better than that.
Jim
 
Is it possible to over smoke a brisket? The reason I am asking, I did the turkey thing last week and agree with what has been said on this forum before, the smoke flavor increased over night. For the brisket, I had Mesquite Charcoal, cherry pellets, and more mesquite chips. Tasted great last night, will see if the smoke flavor increased over night.
 
Joe, welcome to the board! Yes, you can indeed easily oversmoke a brisket. I'd leave out the mesquite chips. I know Texans like mesquite on brisket, but mesquite overpowers brisket a bit to my taste. Next time you do it, try using regular Kingsford and just some pellets OR some chips wrapped up tight in foil with a tiny hole poked in the foil. Doesn't take much on beef. Pecan is great on beef, as is most any fruit wood.

Keri C, smokin' on Tulsa Time
 
Thanks Keri, I take your suggestions as if they were chisled into stone tablets. I have read so many of your posts I feel like I am related to you or something! Thanks again for steering a newbie in the right direction.
 
Thanks for the vote of confidence Chris. I modified the ECB before my first cook to increase the airflow and also control it.
 
Jay, you make me blush! Don't take what I say as gospel by any means. I've just taken what other folks have taught me over the years, converted into what works for me, and recycled it back out into the world.

Good brisket results on an ECB - sounds like you've got this thing in the bag already! And don't feel bad - Robert rolls his eyes when I take "food p0rn" pictures at home too. Took him a while to figure out why sometimes his dinner was garnished so prettily, and sometimes not.
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Keri C
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>I thought my wife was going to call the police when I told her I was taking photos of my meat. She will never understand. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
Jay, My wife doesn't understand why I take pictures of my meat either!? So where are the pics??? We wanna see!
 
My first brisket I used hickory, with the minion method. Definitely too strong on the smoke. I was trying to figure out why it seemed so strong vs. pork butt. One difference is that when you pull the pork, the bark is mixed with the meat and doesn't seem as intense. On a brisket, you're getting the full flavor from the smoke ring.
 
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