Paul Dalbey
New member
Hey all,
After a couple pulled porks and a bunch of delicious wings, I decided to make the leap and try my first full brisket. (I did a flat a few weeks ago that turned out pretty decent, but not exactly stunning.)
I went with the Franklin theory of minimalism - kosher salt, course black pepper (roughly 50/50) and a dash of granulated garlic (because I absolutely love garlic on pretty much anything!!).
Started out with a 11.5-pound brisket and trimmed down to probably around 10 pounds. Set the WSM22 to around 250º on a pile of KBB with hickory and pecan and let 'er run all day. I had a bit of problem getting the WSM up to a good temp, partially because it was fairly windy and overcast but more because (I think) I didn't clean out the ashes from the bottom of my previous smoke. Oops, won't make that mistake again. In the end though, it mostly ran between 240-260º all day, so that was close enough for me.
Brisket went down about 6:15 am, and I let it run undisturbed until 2:00 pm. At that time, the bark was pretty well set and color looked good so I wrapped it in a couple sheets of butcher paper and put it back on the smoker. Stuck the thermometer in and it was about 165º at the time. The temperature eventually raised pretty quickly to 185º but then hit a high stall. I figured I would just let it run until it got to 200º since I wasn't in any great hurry.
All went went until about 4:00 when a light rain came through the area and cooled things down. The WSM temp fell to about 215, so I went to go restoke the fire and found the charcoal almost completely consumed. By this point, the IT had stalled at 185º for over an hour, and I figured the smoking had done all it was going to do so I took the wrapped brisket out and threw it in the oven at 275º. It needed about another hour but it finally got to 200. Took the brisket out, opened the wrap to let it breathe for about 10 minutes, then lightly re-wrapped and put it in a cooler for about 75 minutes.
Here is my relative timeline -
0:00 (6:15 am) - brisket goes down
7:45 (2:00 pm) - wrap in butcher paper (IT 165º)
10:15 (4:30 pm) - put in oven at 275º (IT 185º)
11:15 (5:30 pm) - remove from oven (IT 200º)
11:30 (5:45 pm) - place in cooler
13:00 (7:00 pm) - slice and eat
The final product was delicious! Some folks might have found it just a touch overdone on the flat, but it was still very tender and moist to my taste. I was really quite proud of my effort for a first full brisket. I was nervous beforehand, but now a bit more confident - still very cautious about my next one, but not as nervous!!
I am still very, very new though and am hoping for advice on what else I can do to make it even better. Anyone have anything I either did that I shouldn't have or didn't do that I should have?
After a couple pulled porks and a bunch of delicious wings, I decided to make the leap and try my first full brisket. (I did a flat a few weeks ago that turned out pretty decent, but not exactly stunning.)
I went with the Franklin theory of minimalism - kosher salt, course black pepper (roughly 50/50) and a dash of granulated garlic (because I absolutely love garlic on pretty much anything!!).
Started out with a 11.5-pound brisket and trimmed down to probably around 10 pounds. Set the WSM22 to around 250º on a pile of KBB with hickory and pecan and let 'er run all day. I had a bit of problem getting the WSM up to a good temp, partially because it was fairly windy and overcast but more because (I think) I didn't clean out the ashes from the bottom of my previous smoke. Oops, won't make that mistake again. In the end though, it mostly ran between 240-260º all day, so that was close enough for me.
Brisket went down about 6:15 am, and I let it run undisturbed until 2:00 pm. At that time, the bark was pretty well set and color looked good so I wrapped it in a couple sheets of butcher paper and put it back on the smoker. Stuck the thermometer in and it was about 165º at the time. The temperature eventually raised pretty quickly to 185º but then hit a high stall. I figured I would just let it run until it got to 200º since I wasn't in any great hurry.
All went went until about 4:00 when a light rain came through the area and cooled things down. The WSM temp fell to about 215, so I went to go restoke the fire and found the charcoal almost completely consumed. By this point, the IT had stalled at 185º for over an hour, and I figured the smoking had done all it was going to do so I took the wrapped brisket out and threw it in the oven at 275º. It needed about another hour but it finally got to 200. Took the brisket out, opened the wrap to let it breathe for about 10 minutes, then lightly re-wrapped and put it in a cooler for about 75 minutes.
Here is my relative timeline -
0:00 (6:15 am) - brisket goes down
7:45 (2:00 pm) - wrap in butcher paper (IT 165º)
10:15 (4:30 pm) - put in oven at 275º (IT 185º)
11:15 (5:30 pm) - remove from oven (IT 200º)
11:30 (5:45 pm) - place in cooler
13:00 (7:00 pm) - slice and eat
The final product was delicious! Some folks might have found it just a touch overdone on the flat, but it was still very tender and moist to my taste. I was really quite proud of my effort for a first full brisket. I was nervous beforehand, but now a bit more confident - still very cautious about my next one, but not as nervous!!
I am still very, very new though and am hoping for advice on what else I can do to make it even better. Anyone have anything I either did that I shouldn't have or didn't do that I should have?
