In three weeks I'm doing a midnight brisket on the 22.5. Probably 40 pounds of brisket.
Last summer I did a 14 pounder on the 18.5. Here are my notes from that success:
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I got a fourteen pound, whole brisket, with good fat cap.
1) Trimmed some of the fat -- probably not enough, but who cares? Scored the fat in a criss-cross pattern, almost down to the meat. Soaked it in water for about 30 minutes to draw out some of the salt. My meat is kosher, so it's naturally salty from the butchering process.
2) Marinated for 24 hours in a really big Ziploc bag in refrigerator with: 1/3 Guiness Stout, 1/3 Red Wine Vinegar, 1/3 Apple Juice, with minced garlic, chopped sun-dried tomatoes and chopped scallions
3) Poured off marinade -- kept it! -- and cut the brisket in half (the flat separate from the tip) because it wouldn't fit on one of the grates of the 18.5. I patted the brisket dry, and rubbed the brisket all over with a coffee rub (coffee/chili/brown sugar/black pepper, a few other things, from www.fireandflavor.com ). Made cuts in the fat all over the brisket, and put garlic slices in the cuts. Kept in refrigerator for at least 6 hours.
4) Midnight: Fired up the smoker using the Minion Method with Kingsford charcoal. I filled the water pan, put 6 large chunks of Mesquite in the coals.
5) 12:30 AM Put brisket directly on the grates, fat cap up. Played with air vents to keep smoker as close to 225 - 250 as possible.
6) 3:30 AM put more water in the pan, lightly stirred the coals.
7) 6:30 AM Turned the brisket over, stirred coals, added water, dripped apple juice over the brisket. Brisket temperature was about 140 degrees.
8) 11:00 AM Turned the brisket over again, stirred coals, dripped on more apple juice and covered the brisket with BBQ sauce. Brisket temp was about 160 degrees.
9) 12:30 PM Put each brisket half in a foil pan, poured in a good amount of the reserved marinade (about 1/2 inch), wrapped/covered the brisket and pan in foil. Put it on a gas grill, indirect medium heat, with another chunck of mesquite. Rotated the pan after 45 minutes. [NOTE: I put the foil pans on top of bricks on the grill. I really didn't want them to get any direct heat from the burners]
10) 2:00 PM. Wrapped the foil pans in more foil, and in a towel. Put them in a big cooler to keep it warm and moist until serving. Brisket was about 180 degrees when I put it in the cooler.
11) 5:00 PM -- Sliced the brisket and poured the foil pan juices over it. It was still very hot.
Ate! Yumm! The flat and the tip had a great char. Sliced easily. There is a thick layer of fat between the top and bottom of the tip. Cut the top of the flat off from the fat between the bottom, and removed the fat.
Interestingly, each of the three pieces (flat, top of tip, bottom of tip) had slightly different flavors from the smoke. All were good. Maybe next time I'll switch the halves during the smoking from one grate to the other, for more consistency. The sliced brisket was very tender. We didn't need a knife to eat it.
I made a side dish that a lot of people put right on their brisket or on their sandwiches. I sliced 6 pounds of onions and mixed them with a bunch of sliced mushrooms, and marinated them in olive oil and some whiskey, with a little bit of steak seasoning (garlic, pepper, salt, etc...) and BBQ sauce. I carmelized them in a pan on my side burner.
The 14 pounds of brisket disappeared, with no leftovers. Most of the onion side was also devoured. I think we had about 18 adults and 7 kids. All of the juices were sopped up with dinner rolls.
This was awesome. The suggestions I got on this board were extremely helpful. Thank you.
Last summer I did a 14 pounder on the 18.5. Here are my notes from that success:
======
I got a fourteen pound, whole brisket, with good fat cap.
1) Trimmed some of the fat -- probably not enough, but who cares? Scored the fat in a criss-cross pattern, almost down to the meat. Soaked it in water for about 30 minutes to draw out some of the salt. My meat is kosher, so it's naturally salty from the butchering process.
2) Marinated for 24 hours in a really big Ziploc bag in refrigerator with: 1/3 Guiness Stout, 1/3 Red Wine Vinegar, 1/3 Apple Juice, with minced garlic, chopped sun-dried tomatoes and chopped scallions
3) Poured off marinade -- kept it! -- and cut the brisket in half (the flat separate from the tip) because it wouldn't fit on one of the grates of the 18.5. I patted the brisket dry, and rubbed the brisket all over with a coffee rub (coffee/chili/brown sugar/black pepper, a few other things, from www.fireandflavor.com ). Made cuts in the fat all over the brisket, and put garlic slices in the cuts. Kept in refrigerator for at least 6 hours.
4) Midnight: Fired up the smoker using the Minion Method with Kingsford charcoal. I filled the water pan, put 6 large chunks of Mesquite in the coals.
5) 12:30 AM Put brisket directly on the grates, fat cap up. Played with air vents to keep smoker as close to 225 - 250 as possible.
6) 3:30 AM put more water in the pan, lightly stirred the coals.
7) 6:30 AM Turned the brisket over, stirred coals, added water, dripped apple juice over the brisket. Brisket temperature was about 140 degrees.
8) 11:00 AM Turned the brisket over again, stirred coals, dripped on more apple juice and covered the brisket with BBQ sauce. Brisket temp was about 160 degrees.
9) 12:30 PM Put each brisket half in a foil pan, poured in a good amount of the reserved marinade (about 1/2 inch), wrapped/covered the brisket and pan in foil. Put it on a gas grill, indirect medium heat, with another chunck of mesquite. Rotated the pan after 45 minutes. [NOTE: I put the foil pans on top of bricks on the grill. I really didn't want them to get any direct heat from the burners]
10) 2:00 PM. Wrapped the foil pans in more foil, and in a towel. Put them in a big cooler to keep it warm and moist until serving. Brisket was about 180 degrees when I put it in the cooler.
11) 5:00 PM -- Sliced the brisket and poured the foil pan juices over it. It was still very hot.
Ate! Yumm! The flat and the tip had a great char. Sliced easily. There is a thick layer of fat between the top and bottom of the tip. Cut the top of the flat off from the fat between the bottom, and removed the fat.
Interestingly, each of the three pieces (flat, top of tip, bottom of tip) had slightly different flavors from the smoke. All were good. Maybe next time I'll switch the halves during the smoking from one grate to the other, for more consistency. The sliced brisket was very tender. We didn't need a knife to eat it.
I made a side dish that a lot of people put right on their brisket or on their sandwiches. I sliced 6 pounds of onions and mixed them with a bunch of sliced mushrooms, and marinated them in olive oil and some whiskey, with a little bit of steak seasoning (garlic, pepper, salt, etc...) and BBQ sauce. I carmelized them in a pan on my side burner.
The 14 pounds of brisket disappeared, with no leftovers. Most of the onion side was also devoured. I think we had about 18 adults and 7 kids. All of the juices were sopped up with dinner rolls.
This was awesome. The suggestions I got on this board were extremely helpful. Thank you.