New smoker, first brisket and ribs


 
K. Smith

K. Smith

TVWBB Member
I posted previously about getting a 22" smoker. Turn out there's a hardward store locally that stocks both sizes of the Weber smoker. After looking at them, went with the 18.5" as there are only two of us and when we entertain, we usually don't have huge groups. Turns out it was plenty big enough.

Bought a 11.92 pound choice packer brisket and St. Louis style ribs. Removed about 3.5 pounds of fat from brisket. Applied rubs to both brisket and ribs around 2:30 p.m. For the brisket, used rub similiar to Pecan Lodge in Dallas (tried to replicate after watching and re-watching Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives). For the ribs, used a Cook's Illustrated rub that we use for pulled pork.

Started the cooker last night and put the brisket on at 12:30 a.m. Didn't look at it until 6:15 this morning. Brisket was on the lower grill and at 10:30 a.m. added the ribs on the top rack.

At about 8:15 this morning a storm whipped up and lasted for about 20 minutes. Didn't seem to make any difference to the cooker although it was windy and the rain was really coming down.

Brisket came off at 204 degrees at 1:30 p.m. and went into the cooler wrapped in foil. It was so tender it was falling apart as I tried to lift it off the lower grill. Ribs came off at 3:00.

Both were excellent, although the brisket was so tender it was hard to slice. Smoke ring was great on the ribs and good on the brisket.

Served it with homemade BBQ sauce the recipe for which we put together after watching Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives (again) for Pecan Lodge sauce. Came out really close to it, although we made a substitution (used pureed tomatoes instead of ketchup) which we're sure made a difference.

I kept the cooker log from the site and read the recipes and forums at length. Thanks for everyone's help as I'm sure that's why it worked so well. :)

(Can't figure out how to post pictures, but both looked good!)
 
Glad you had success with your first cook. It does sound like you trimmed your brisket pretty lean but obviously it turned out well. I honestly don't think there is a wrong answer for the WSM, it all depends on how much you cook at any given time. :wsm:
 
Sounds like a very successful feet-wetting exercise.

Couple of things to think about for next time.

First, you might try leaving a good layer of fat remaining on the underside of the brisket flat when you trim. It will help to keep the flat moist and it will also help to insulate the flat. You can very easily remove it right before slicing. Just turn the brisket over and slice it off. Also, start using your handheld thermometer to check the tenderness of the brisket. The probe should slide into the flat just like going into softened butter. Use that as your gauge instead of absolute temperature. Once the flat gets to about 180, I stop looking at the numbers and just go by feel. It will let you know when it's done.

Second, I wouldn't let a rub sit on the meat for 10 hours. Given enough salt and time, you might actually start pulling too much moisture out of the meat.

Just some ideas...

Russ
 
Congrats on your first cook. Smart keeping a log, too. If you're like me you'll forget what you did right or wrong.
 
Greg Powers said:
Just an FYI, if you let the brisket cool a little it will be slice easier without falling apart
Click to expand...

I sliced it right out of the cooler, which may have been the problem. This morning I sliced up the rest to freeze and it was very easy to slice. And, it tasted better than it did yesterday.
 
Russ Sylvester said:
Couple of things to think about for next time.

First, you might try leaving a good layer of fat remaining on the underside of the brisket flat when you trim. It will help to keep the flat moist and it will also help to insulate the flat. You can very easily remove it right before slicing. Just turn the brisket over and slice it off. Also, start using your handheld thermometer to check the tenderness of the brisket. The probe should slide into the flat just like going into softened butter. Use that as your gauge instead of absolute temperature. Once the flat gets to about 180, I stop looking at the numbers and just go by feel. It will let you know when it's done.

Second, I wouldn't let a rub sit on the meat for 10 hours. Given enough salt and time, you might actually start pulling too much moisture out of the meat.
Click to expand...

I left a good layer of fat on it. I've never seen a brisket with as much fat on it (and lots of hard fat) as this one had. I weighed the fat after trimming because I've never trimmed off so much before.

Never thought about the rub pulling out too much moisture as we've always rubbed pork butts and let them sit overnight. Next time I'll rub it right before putting it on and see if there's a difference.

The handheld did slide in, but probably more like semi-melted butter. I had the Polder in it while cooking, but double checked with a handheld probe as I think my handheld stays calibrated better.

Thanks for the comments!
 
Sounds like you had a huge success, but I wished you had some pics to show. Try using photobucket, once you figure it out it's pretty easy. So, whatcha smokin' next?
 
Okay, let's see if this works for the pictures.

P3310165_zps1043c25d.jpg


P3310162-Copy_zps61db8ba8.jpg


Tonight we'll throw on a pork butt and on Saturday we make bacon.
 
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