first brisket: hoping for a winner


 
J

john enea

TVWBB Fan
don't ask me why it took so long to try a brisket. I cooked almost everything else. San Jose cash and carry had brisket on sale, so i thought I would give it a shot ( I'm always amazed at not only the wide variety of meets they have, but the amount of Angus beef they carry). so i picked up a 12 pounder ( I know that is a small one, but it's only me I'm cooking for). I'm going to try a high heat after reading all the brisket posts. I tried to pick one that was as equal thickness after reading thread on the thin brisket and I think I got one. I'd post a picture but I have yet to figure out how to do it

I haven't decided on a rub yet, but I think for my first try I'll keep it pretty simple. It seems pretty straight forward smoking a brisket, but I want to know if there are anythigns I need to be aware of, any tricks to it and any other advice you would be willing to share.

thanks!
 
John, 12lbs is my preferred size for a brisket. If you're doing high heat you already know its well documented here only thing I'd add (or reinforce) would be be go by "tenderness" vs. temp when determining when she's done. Other than that, high heat is a pretty straight forward cook.

Have you thought about what you're going to do with the point yet?
 
glad to hear you've smoked many other things, meaning your probably in great shape and plenty ready for one. perhaps you could post detailed post of your results and your opinion of high heat (for me at least) etc. I'de love to hear from someone whos never done it before (like me).
 
John...I...like you, finally took the "high heat brisket plunge" back in Sept. I was cooking for a small gathering of 10...and changed my mind around 10:00 pm the night before to do so. I started a 12lbs brisket around 6:30 am the next day and it turned out perfect!!! The key I found was getting the temp up around 3:50 before the meat hit the WSM...good luck
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Sure did. I removed from the flat when she was fork tender, put the point back on the cooker whole for a couple hours, removed and chopped the point, sauced w/SBR, Honey and Chipotle powder and back on smoker for another hour. DELICIOUS. You can flip through the pictures (once you click on the picture below) and she the point removed etc.

 
Tim, your not hijacking, your adding info that I need to know
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is it possible to cut off to much of the fat cap?

so I'm trimming the fat cap and realize that this 12 pounder has the point removed. is this normal?
 
John, I go fat side down so I leave all the fat on to protect the bottom of the roast. If I trim anything (and rarely do anymore) it's a bit of the hard fat on the side. Other than that I just rub and throw her on. BTW, I noticed the brisket cook these burnt ends came from was a high heat cook . . . for what it's worth.

EDIT: So you're saying you only have the flat? Yea, they can be purchased that way, a bit on the large side for a flat (at least out here) but they can be purchased that way. What did the label say? Also, are you able to post a picture of it?
 
The label says boneless beef brisket.

I'd post a pict, but it looks like I don't have administrator permission to add attachments.
 
so I foiled around 2 hours 20 minutes and pulled after 4 hours 10 minutes.

A few observations
1) the Brisket was moist and had a real nice texture.

2) there was no bark or crust. the rub was like a paste. maybe from how it was cooked? It went 2 hour 20 minutes at temps averaging about 335.

3) the outside temp was around low 50's the entire cook, even at 6:30 pm. in the beginning it was holding at the ideal cook temp range of where I wanted to cook at. But once I foiled it seems like the lump had a mind of it's own. I worked hard to keep the temp under 370. with a foiled saucer in the WSM, with all the vents open it hit 415! with all the vents closed but the top, it hovered right around 375. never have I seen that. Opening the door to look, the entire ring was a bright orange. looked pretty cool though.


while i would not rate this as a success, especially for a first try, I have an idea of what is possible. again the brisket was nice and moist, but the outside really needs some work. Any suggestions on how to fix the bark/paste issue would be great.

thX

john
 
Never had my rub turn to paste (how much did you apply?) but you are correct, your not going to get that nice bark on a high heat cook. Here are a couple of pictures of how my high heat briskets turn out compared to my low and slow. Can you tell which is which? Something else to consider in reflecting on your cook, what's the number 1 complaint people have when doing a brisket, "it was dry." You've got that one licked!! So when are you doing your next one, got to get back on that horse lol.


 
Larry, my high heat looked very similar to yours, so I guess I'm not that far off. BAsed on your comments, I might have put a little to much rub on . Next time I'll try less.
 
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