Help with first brisket, please!


 
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Tony Weisse

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Just applied rub to my first ever brisket which I plan on cooking tomorrow. It was 12 pounds gross weight, about 10.5 after trimming. My wife thinks it looks like something Fred Flinstone might cook!

I am concerned about the shape of this thing. It's about 3.5 inches thick on one end tapering down to about an inch on the other. Do I have to be concerned about uneven cooking? Where do I stick the temperature probe? Oh man, suddenly I'm getting real nervous.

Since this is my very first ever brisket and only my second run with the WSM I was wondering about any final words of advice or encouragement.

Thanks!
 
Tony, first of all, don't panic. What's the worst that can happen /infopop/emoticons/icon_eek.gif Anyway, just put a probe if you have one in the mibble of the flat section about half way down the side. Don't put it in from the top, put it in from the side. It shouldn't matter too much about the thickness. Just monitor the temp and take it off around 185 to 195. If you want it really falling apart more you can go as high as 205. Did you trim this brisket or is it already trimmed?
 
I trimmed it, but it was pretty tough. I'm sure that a good butcher would have given me a leaner piece of meat than the one that's going in the WSM tommorow morning!
 
Yeah, he would have, but he would have probably charged you extra for it. I can buy trimmed brisket flats for $2.49 a lb here but I can get an untrimmed brisket for .99. I don't mind doing the trimming myself, since you really can't screw it up. Just cut the fat back to about 1/4 inch and rub it up. Again, don't sweat the thickness of the meat too much, just watch the internal temp and keep the cooker temp steady. I'm working on a pork shoulder as I write this. It's about 8 lbs and It's been in for 7 1/2 hours. The internal temp right now is 180. I figure a couple more hours, maybe more and it should hit 190 - 195. I'll take it off then. This is my first pork shoulder so I understand your trepidation. Don't worry about it. The WSM does a grea job, just trust it and have patience.
 
Well, rapid change of plans means I'm doing an all-nighter with my first brisket. The thing was so big it hardly fit on top grate! Yowza!
 
I'm doing my third brisket as I'm writing this. This one is about 8.5 lbs. trimmed. It's my first whole brisket, (flat and point) and also the first time I'm following Chris' Midnight Brisket recipe. I can imagine your difficulty getting it on the grate. Mine just fit across. Fired up the bullet via Minion Method using 20 coals into a full ring of charcoal. Filled the water pan with cool water. Using Jack Daniels oak and a little mesquite. Man, it smells good!!! I closed the vents down to 25% when the grate temp hit 190*. I'm targeting a grate temp of 215. Brisket has been on 30 minutes and I'm at 221 at the grate. I'll give it a little more time before I adjust further. The wood is burning and has not reduced to coals yet. I'll keep the ET-73 under my pillow to alert me to any drastic temp changes. Hopefully my wife won't kill me when it goes off! My first two attempts were OK but not great. Temp control was a problem, went too high and could not bring it down to a manageable level. I'm paying closer attention and have learned that it's easier to bring the temp up than to drive it down. Good luck with your brisket! Let us know how it turns out.
 
Hey Tony, let us know how it turned out. I finished my pork shoulder last night about 10:00 PM. It was just about 1 1/2 hrs per lbs. I took 3 readings with my polder and got a range of temps from 187 to 193. I took it off and wrapped it in foil and let it rest for about an hour. I pulled it apart and it was absoultly fabulous!! There was a great dark crust on the outside and the meat was extemely moist. I figure I got about 4 lbs of pulled pork after picking through and taking out the bone, excess fat, etc. Good luck with that brisket. I can say now after doing brisket and pork shoulder that the pork is more forgiving.
 
I've never done a brisket, But I will soon. What I want to know is. Why is brisket so difficult to cook? If you can manage to keep the temps low enough and keep a fairly consistant temp till it hits the 185f mark for internal temp why is it so difficult to cook?
Bare with me as I've never cooked one. But I was just wondering about this. Fill me in on anything if I'm missing something. Maybe you'll save me from ruining my first one when I decide to do one. I want to now but time is the problem. Were always so busy on the weekend's lately and I work during the week. I'll get to it though.
 
Right now I about 13 hours into the cook. Dome temp has been pretty steady at 250. Internal temp of the beef is at 176. The "beast" has shrunk enough now that it at least fits on the grill. Had to sort of squeeze the end together to get the cover on last night.

Dennis, I don't think that the brisket has been all that much harder to do than anything else. It's just one big honkin' piece of meat! Whe you going to fire up your WSM?
 
I like to smoke a brisket on the bottom grate and a pork butt on the top. Both take around the same time to cook. I let the pork butt get to 190 deg. Take it off. Put the brisket and butt in separate foil and let rest for 1 to 2 hrs if I can wait that long to cool down.

Pork Eat World
 
I'm about to try my third brisket and have not had much luck so far. It always seems toug. In the midnight cook it says to go to an internal temp of 185 but in the oven finished it says 205.

can you help me understand the right temp. I'll be doing a 6 lb and I'm not sure whihc method yet.

Phil
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>I've never done a brisket, But I will soon. What I want to know is. Why is brisket so difficult to cook? If you can manage to keep the temps low enough and keep a fairly consistant temp till it hits the 185f mark for internal temp why is it so difficult to cook? <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>Here is my take on why brisket is tough to get right. First of all the connective tissue in the meat is very tough and the flat really doesn't contain that much fat. So, the trick is to break down the connective tissue without drying out the meat. From my experience there is a very fine line between getting it perfect and having it a little too tough or dry. But that's just my opinion..........I could be wrong. /infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif
 
Dennis....

Brisket is tough to do because it can dry out on you. The point is the only part that contains INTERNAL fat, so it won't be hard to cook....similar to a butt The flat, only has that EXTERNAL fat cap so the underside can dry very easily. Also, the flat is normally done much earlier than the point...especially if there is a huge difference in thickness between the two. Remember, THICKNESS becomes very important on brisket timing. So, many times you need to cook the point more and cut the flat off.

Also, for competition cooking...which I know most don't do...it is extrememly difficult to get just right. I think these opinions carry over into the backyard realm. It is unfortunate because I think it "scares" too many folks from trying to cook one.

Phil.......

You really don't even need a thermo for brisket! Just stick your probe into the flat and check for resistance. That simple! Doesn't matter what the temp is. That is a much more accurate way to gauge doneness than any thermo. Matter of fact, use a fork, stick it in deep and give it a good twist....the easier it is to twist, the more tender it is...REGARDLESS of the temp.

This is also a great way to test a pork butt WITHOUT a thermo.

I know we all like these thermo's, but once you get several cooks under your belt, they are really only needed for temp control in the cooker.
 
Thanks to all for your help so far. This is a great group.

The brisket has been on 15 hours now. Pushed dome temp up a bit (to 255) because of time constraints and internal temp is now right at 183.

The last time I mopped the whole thing went kind of "wunka, wunka, wunka". Sort of like a big pot of jello. Is that a sign that it's getting close?
 
Thanks Jim & Kevin for the info. I understand a little better now. Sounds like you have to be very carefull to not let it dry out. Meaning check consistancy of meat and not relying on internal temps alone. I do understand that temps are just a guidline.
I also noticed after my first pork shoulder that a thermo is not really needed to check doneness of meat. You can tell by how it feels when you penetrate the meat. If it goes in like a hot knife thru butter it's pretty well done. Correct?

I think I'll try some spare ribs tomorrow on the WSM to break it in. Wanted to tonight but I don't have time anymore. I just hope nothing comes up tomorrow. I want to use my new WSM SO BAD!

Is it true that the WSM's can run a bit hotter the first few cooks cause the walls are clean and glossy? And after a few cooks it gets sooted up and the temps will actually decrease?

Looking forward to hearing how that brisket comes out tony.
 
Dennis,

My first run was with a pork shoulder last week. My WSM did not seem to run hot and temps were very easy to control. I only adjusted vents for sun changes since winds were very steady that day.

Actually, that may be one of the big advantages of an overnight cook. No sun to cause temperature changes and the winds here tend to die down at night. Steady weather conditions make for steady temperatures.

Good luck! You're going to have fun.

Tony
 
Yeah looks like I'm going to the grocery store tonight to pick up a pack of spare ribs to do tomorrow.

So anyway how did that brisket ever turn out?
 
When I made my first brisket, I only could find a flat. It had some fat on it, but I was afraid it wasn't enough so I took Chris' advice in his brisket page. He said that you can put bacon on top of it for some extra fat. I used this method and it worked well. I'm not sure if it helped, but the brisket came out great. It also provided some tasty bacon midway through the cook. If you are worried about a dry brisket, take out some bacon insurance. Emmmm, bacon fat...
 
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