My brisket turned out great.

[Brian Lee]

I did my first brisket yesterday on my 18.5" WSM. It came out pretty good.

An 8 pound packer from Restaurant Depot:

Trimmed and rubbed with salt, pepper, paprika, garlic and mustard:

Cooked at 250F with water in the bowl and tin foil pan in the lower grate to catch drippings. After 5 hours I foiled ("Texas crutch") at 170F, pulled 2 hours later at 208F:

Rested 30 minutes. Here's the money shot of the sliced flat:

And here are some burnt ends:

I don't have any plating picks but the side dishes were cole slaw, baked beans, white rice, raw onions and corn on the cob. A very tasty dinner! I was very happy with how it turned out as my sister said it was very moist and tender. She's a tough critic so that made me feel good. This is a great forum to learn new things as I was able to draw upon everyone's past experiences.

 

[Bob Ivey]

Brian, it looks great. The smoke ring is great. You did good.

 

[JimmyE]

Excellent job on that briskie!

 

[Frank H]

Nice job. Boy , that's everything you look for in a brisket.

 

[Boston Jeff]

Brian that looks awesome , very nice smoke ring . Looks like good eating .

 

[Brian Lee]

Thanks for the compliments. This was my first brisket attempt, so I wanted it to keep it simple by cooking a small packer and applying a basic rub. There wasn't any wind outside, so the cooker consistently stayed at 250F the entire cook. And using a full water bowl also contributed to the steady temps. I was lucky the packer fit on my grate. I brought a measuring tape with me to Restaurant Depot so was able to measure which size packer would fit on my grill grate. And if it was too long then I was planning to prop it up with an adjustable roasting rack. The downside with a small packer is the flat isn't very thick, so I wrapped the end in foil for the first two hours of cooking to minimize dryness.

 

[Bill Schultz]

Nicely done, tell me again, you wrapped the flat for the first two hours?

 

[Nate C]

Brisket looks phenomenal...

 

[Tony R]

It's a beautiful sight!!

 

[Brian Lee]

Nicely done, tell me again, you wrapped the flat for the first two hours?

No, I didn't wrap the entire flat for the first 2 hours. Just loosely wrapped a small strip of foil around the edge of the flat. Covered about 2 inches. The corner still barked up nicely.

 

[Bob Bass]

Brian...

Very Excellent ! Bet it was a yummy as it looks !

Sounds like not only did you have a Very Successful 1st Brisket cook, but you also a Very Enjoyable 1st Brisket cook !!!

Bob

 

[Brian Lee]

Yes, "enjoyable" is a very good description. No stress involved as I wanted to keep it simple and cook during the daytime so I was able to monitor everything. I even when out for a 1 hour bike ride during the first few hours. I think the biggest worry was not knowing how it would turn out. But brisket is relatively cheap ($2.85/lb) so I wouldn't feel too bad if I messed it up.

 

[Robert McGee]

Brian;
It looks like you hit a home run on that brisket. Looks absolutely YUMMY! You did GOOD!!

Dale53