First Brisket


 
D

Den L

New member
Well, I have my first brisket in the books. My brisket was just about 9.5lbs. I asked the butcher for a brisket closer to 10 lbs so he gets one around 11.5 and cuts off nearly two pounds. Next time I'll take what they have. I put the rub on the brisket the around 5pm the night before. I used

4 tsp kosher salt
3 tbsp freshly ground pepper
1 tbsp white sugar
1 tbsp onion powder
2 tsp mustard powder
2 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp cayenne powder

The brisket was a little bit hot, so next time I'll pass on the cayenne powder. I fired up my 18.5 wsm at 3:45am using a piece of pecan and a couple pieces of cherry wood. I put the brisket on at 4am and smoked it around 250. I didn't touch it until my maverick read about 193 which was about 6pm. I probed the larger part of the brisket and it was soft. However, we were starving so I pulled it, covered it in foil and let it sit for 20 mins. I wanted to let it sit for an hour or so, but my family was not willing to wait.

The thinner part of the brisket was somewhat moist and when i cut it, but was kind of dry when we put it on the plate. It wasn't super tough, but it did require a decent pull for it to come apart. I only sliced up what we ate that night and put the rest back in the foil. After dinner I sliced up the rest and it was super juicy. The thicker part of the brisket had more fat so I'm wondering if that was why it was moist or the fact that it sat an additional 45 mins or so. I vacuum sealed the rest and will have that another day. Overall I think it came out ok. Had good favor, but was just a bit spicy. Here are some pics

Ready to go on the smoker


After resting 20 mins in foil


Sliced up and ready to go.


 
Brisket looks great! You might have slightly undercooked it, but the pictures look fine. It looks a lot better than the last one I did where I undercooked the heck out of it. A long rest will help with moisture retention so you are absolutely correct about the part you rested. The flat will dry out pretty quickly after being sliced so it's best to slice as you serve it or at least leave the slices bunched together to keep pieces from drying out if that makes sense. Awesome crust and smoke ring!
 
Yee-hah...a teaspoon of cayenne goes a long way! Bark & smoke ring look great, though. If that was your first brisket, you're off to a great start!
 
That is a good looking brisket - per your above noted "problems", just keep in mind when slicing, cut against the grain (you can cut a small part of the corner off of flat prior to cooking, as a way of noting which direction the grain runs) and you also might want to cut on the bias to see if that helps w/tenderness as well - not sure if you did either of those, but a friendly reminder never hurts just in case. Also, some of the store bot chili powder mixes will have a variety of ingredients and can include some with substantial heat, so that combined w/cayenne can really send the heat up quickly.

Brisket tripped me up plenty (and still can), and seeing as that is your 1st try, I'm sure you're on your way to some delicious brisket cooks in no time - keep the pics coming!
 
Thanks guys. The next time I might start it earlier so I'm not not pressed for time. I forgot which way the grain went. Thanks for the tip.
 
Man Den my first few briskets were horrible. Yours looks great! I did my first couple on an offset smoker and they were not edible. My path took me to lower and slower cooks. I think you nailed it. Nice job!
 
Thanks for the compliments. I'll still a newbie when it comes to BBQ. This was my 5th time using the wsm. I've only smoked two pork shoulders and two sets of St. Louis ribs. The brisket was definitely much harder to smoke than the shoulder or ribs. I still have a lot to learn. What type of wood do most of you prefer to use for brisket?
 
Den. That is a great first time brisket. Well done. I always find oak/cherry works great with large cuts of beef.
 
That looks great, I just did my first one on smoke day, but just a flat. I think if you're not pleased with the end results you have the right idea allow yourself plenty of time. One thing that my forum friends really emphasized was letting it rest for at least an hour and two if you can. Also I kept it simple just SPOG for seasoning and go by probe feel after it hits 190-195 which I did and at 203 it was like butter. Came out great.
 
Thanks guys. I decided the next one will be an overnight cook. I'll probably put it on around 10:00. Once it get the temp dialed in, I'll go to bed. That way it will definitely have time to rest in cooler. I just need to convince my wife we need to smoke another brisket soon lol.
 
That sure was better than my first brisket. Or #2 or #3. Jealous, here. Love that bark & smoke ring.
 
Hy, if you don't mind asking here....yesterday I had my second attempt on brisket and a first fail. Brisket was 10LB, only a simple salt&black pepper rub. Altogether smoke time was 16 hours on around 220F - no foil, but it got stuck on 150F and moved only up to 153 and no more. At hour 16 I wrapped in plastic wrap and aluminium fooil and put it in the oven on around 190F for some 5 more hours. Then in the cooler. I will unwrap inthe afternoon and see. Thermometer was Maverick and working OK. I wonder if my temperature was too low? Smoker is ProQ Excel water smoker, water was in the pan I am really confused since I never had a fail before.....LOL. :confused:
 
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