First Smoke This Weekend!


 
M

Maury McCown

New member
Just got my 18.5 WSM, and we're going to fire it up this weekend.

My wife and I are both brisket lovers, so we're going to try the high-heat brisket first, following the steps and using the rub recipe on the main site.

I have the WSM, my chimney starter, my long gloves, Kingsford Briquettes, my Maverick ET732, apple and hickory smoke wood, Thermapen, and all day tomorrow. I'll be hitting the store today to pick up the brisket and seasonings.

I have to admit, I'm a bit nervous about it, so everyone keep your fingers crossed for me!
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Sounds like you have everything you need and have done a good bit of research. I'm sure your cook will turn out well. Just follow the site's directions like you said and you'll be good. This place is a wealth of information.
 
Made a run by Walmart, and this is what I picked up:

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It's labeled "Beef Trimmed Brisket." I didn't see anything labeled "packer brisket" or anything, so I hope this will work!
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Got it started at 11:30 this morn with some minor hiccups. The high heat recipe said to fill the charcoal chamber to the top, and then the chimney charcoal and wood would go on top of that -- but then the water bowl wouldn't fit without resting right on top of the coals. Maybe it's the 18.5's larger bowl? I had an extra aluminum pan, so I put it on the lower rack, and it seems to be catching the majority of the drips. Temps are holding right around 335°, and it's starting to smell GREAT!

Not use if I got the 732 inserted as best as I could, but it's reading the internal temp getting closer and closer to 170° as hour 2 hits us -- so that sounds about on target. I'll check with my Thermapen to verify.

So far so good, outside of the water bowl/charcoal height mishap!
 
SUCCESS!!
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By and large, my wife and I were fully pleased with our first smoke. It was hard to judge tenderness by feeling/not feeling resistance to a probe, but I did the best I could. We got it *slightly* dry at 5.5 hours, total, but not too bad. I tried cutting along the grain, but it shredded more then sliced "pretty," so I guess you're supposed to cut perpendicular to the grain?

The default rub in the recipe was GREAT! Had a bit of kick to it for me, but nothing too hot at all -- my wife REALLY loved it. We have plenty left over to make some chipped beef sandwiches tomorrow after church.

Fat side up:
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Pretty side up:
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Plated with sides from our local BBQ joint (yes, w cheated on that part):
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Looks great, Maury. Glad the HH method worked out OK.

Yes, cut brisket perpendicular to the grain for prettier slices.
 
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