Help/recommendations for my first brisket

[DrewM]

Hello, I will be doing my first brisket on my SmokeFire EX6 this week/weekend. I purchased a 3.81 pound flat to get my feet wet with doing brisket as I didn't want to buy a bigger piece of meat and potentially screw it up.

I've read differing methods in terms of when to pull/wrap, what to wrap it in (paper vs foil), what to put in with it while wrapping and finally what the final temp should be when pulling. The majority of what I've read says 203-205 but a buddy of mine says he waits until the internal temp is 215-220.

Any tips/recipes are welcomed and much appreciated. Thank you.

 

[Jim C in Denver]

Brisket Flat - Central Texas Style Butcher Paper - The Virtual Weber Bullet

Central Texas-style beef brisket flat cooked with pink butcher paper in the Weber Smokey Mountain Cooker.

www.virtualweberbullet.com

Whole Brisket - Central Texas Style Butcher Paper - The Virtual Weber Bullet

Adapting Central Texas whole beef brisket cooked with pink butcher paper to the Weber Smokey Mountain Cooker. Inspired by Franklin Barbecue in Austin, TX.

www.virtualweberbullet.com

 

[KEhrl]

215 to 220 will make the meat dry out, especally for a flat. I go to 203. I second Jim C’s post to go pink butcher paper / texas style. Good luck, post pics!

Cheers,
Kyle

 

[DrewM]

Thank you.

 

[K Kruger]

Internal temp might correlate with “done” but it is not causative. Depending on numerous factors, done can be at a wide range of internal temps - which is why I rarely bother checking internal temp for barbecue. Learn what done feels like.
lgnore the unfortunately oft-repeated internal temps and you’ll be a better barbecue cook.

 

[MartinB]

You really can't screw up o a large piece of meat.

You can screw up a smaller one a lot easier.

Don't ever buy a brisket flat they charge you like 6 to $8 a pound for it usually ridiculous.
Buy whole thing for $3/lb
Freeze whatever you don't eat in a couple of days.

Personally I find temperatures correlate fairly well with doneness.
Not an absolute but a good indicator of when to check

 

[Lew Newby]

I'm not near the cook that Mr. Kruger is but if I took a flat to 215 I'd bet money that it comes out dry and overcooked. I use internal temp as an indicator of when to start checking for done. I had a Brisket come off at 192 and it was great. I took a flat off at 202 and it was overdone. Don't bet the farm on temp. To me Flats are harder than packers to get just right. I inject Flats with Beef Broth just to have a cushion on moisture at finish. Have fun.