First Brisket


 
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Larry Wolfe

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I did my first brisket last weekend. It was a full 11 pounder. I used the minion method and a full brinkmann pan of water. I started at 4a.m. and by 5 a.m. I had a dome temp of 250* and a top grate temp of 235. Stirred the coals around noon, still had a half a pan of water and the temp was holding perfect. I did not open the lid one time during the cook. I pulled it off the smoker at 4 p.m. (180*) wrapped it in foil and towels and put it in the cooler for 2 hours. I sliced it and it was AMAZING!!! I have smoked butts, ribs, turkeys, chicken, etc. and this was by far one of the most tender, juicy pieces of meat I have ever cooked!!

I do have a question though. Is it normal for a brisket to cook that fast??? Right at an hour per pound?? Should I expect my next one to take longer?
 
My first cook was a brisket and it took FOREVER, though it was freezing cold out (night before the super bowl). Definitely 1.5 hrs/lb or more. The most recent brisket I did cooked fast as lightning, but the outside temps were warmer and the maverick and I both fell asleep, so the WSM temps ran a bit high, too. Still a damned tender piece of meat at the end, tho!
 
Two things you'll read again and again concerning briskets: Every one is different. And it's done when it's done-- which sometimes can actually mean sooner than later.
 
I'm doing my 1st Brisket this weekend...Did a couple pork butts a few weeks ago (about 12 lbs total), and they turned out very well after about 16.5 hours or so...

I got a whole, uncut 14.5lb brisket that I would like to have ready for lunch (or maybe late lunch) on Saturday...

I was planning on starting it about 6:00PM Friday night, and figured if it ran fast, it might be done 8:00-10:00am 'ish on Saturday, and I could Foil it for a couple of hours and have round Noon. Even if it ran long... say 18 hours... that would be noon, I could still foil for 2 hrs and eat by 2:00-2:30...and for some reason it went longer than 18 hours, then I guess we just eat it for dinner instead of lunch.

Does this sound reasonable, or am I way off...

Wade
 
Sounds like you'll do fine with that schedule, Wade. They're right - every brisket is different. Seems to me like it's the fat content within the meat as much as anything that changes your timing. I've done a lot of briskets over the years - I've had 12-lb briskets that cooked to a tender juicy perfection in just under 8 hours, and I've have a little 11-lb brisket that cooked...and cooked... and cooked... and was FINALLY done at about the 20 hour mark. Don't go by time. You can go somewhat by temperature in the flat - 188 to 190 is good, usually. If you can poke a thermo probe into the lean area and it just slides right in, and you can't tell if you're hitting lean or a fat pocket, then you have a very nicely done brisket. Stick it with a fork and twist, and when it twists easily, you're done.

To go a step further, I like to trim out the hard fat between the point and the flat, and more or less go ahead and separate those two muscles (except for the very edge of the brisket) before the cook. You can then lift up the point, trim out a little fat from the top of the flat if you wish, apply your rub to the surfaces, and lay the point back down on top of the flat for cooking. Just be careful when/if you flip it. This makes slicing and serving the flat much easier, plus when you pull the brisket, it's a snap to trim the last inch of so of meat holding the flat and point together so you can toss the point back on the smoker to render for a while longer.

I would also suggest that, when you take the brisket out of the smoker but before you wrap it for its rest, go ahead and scrape off most of the surface fat and resprinkle with your rub. THEN wrap it up for its rest. Works very nicely. Not sure if I picked that up from Jim Minion, Stogie, Paul Kirk, or who... someone of that caliber, anyway, who I figured would probably know whereof he spoke.

Ah jist LUV to talk about briskets! /infopop/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif

Keri C, smokin' on Tulsa Time
 
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