Smoking a Brisket

[Gonzo]

I've smoked plenty of back ribs, pork shoulders, chicken thighs, with pretty good results. I've never smoked a brisket, but with this weekend's weather outlook am going to give it a shot. I'm doing my own research, but I'll gladly accept any wisdom from others who know what they're doing on this front.... best smoker temp, advice on timing, meat temp, etc.

TIA

 

[BWRhasnoAC]

For something that big I like to go colder and slowly adjust so you don't cook too fast. 190 to 205 is the hottest I let it get. I also like to use a mop on my brisket. Shouldn't need smoke more than a couple hours. Depending on size and temp cook 8 to 10 hours. There's a million ways to barbecue though.

 

[CloneGuy8]

Ive never done one either, but I know Franklins has a youtube video on doing one. Cant go wrong with Franklins

 

[dmclone]

Here are the notes I had for my first Brisket

Heavy duty foil

2 Tablespoons kosher salt
1 Tablespoon turbinado sugar
2 teaspoons paprika
1 teaspoon granulated garlic
1 teaspoon oregano leaves (dried)
1 teaspoons coarse black pepper (use fresh cracked pepper)
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

Set up thermometer
Probe 1-Food-100-200
Probe 2-BBQ 215-235



Pull meat out of fridge to get it to room temperature
Start smoker-225
Open bottom vent up half way (gives AMNS air)
Start AMNS pellets
Trim fat off brisket
Create rub
Put on rub
Put AMNS into smoker and partially cover it with tin foil pan
Set up thermometer
Turn on alarm
Put brisket in smoker
Leave brisket in until 160. Double foil and put back in smoker
When brisket hits 195-200(toothpick test) internal, shut off heat and pull it out
Wrap in a blanket(leave foil on) and put it in a cooler for an hour or two

It turned out good but a couple of observations I made.

Damn it was expensive.
As usual, it took a lot longer than I expected. I don't remember the time, just that it was very long.
This was done with electric smoker

 

[discydisc]

I've smoked plenty of back ribs, pork shoulders, chicken thighs, with pretty good results. I've never smoked a brisket, but with this weekend's weather outlook am going to give it a shot. I'm doing my own research, but I'll gladly accept any wisdom from others who know what they're doing on this front.... best smoker temp, advice on timing, meat temp, etc.

TIA

Are you doing a full brisket or just a flat?
What is your smoker set up?
I like just using salt and pepper for a rub, getting a good well marbled brisket is half the battle. I agree with starting low, the longer you can keep it in the smoke the better your bark will be. Use a water pan in the smoker. and plan on letting it rest wrapped up in a towel and cooler for at least an hour.

 

[iahawks]

Trim some of the fat off. I like to keep about a 1/4 inch of fat on the flat part. Any large pieces of fat I trim off.

Get your smoker between 225-275. I use charcoal with post oak and hickory.

Season the brisket with 50/50 kosher salt and pepper. Do a heavy coating.

Put the brisket on the smoker and let it smoke until it hits about 160-170 internal in the thickest part of the flat.

Wrap in non wax butcher paper. I use the pink kind. You can also wrap in foil if that is all you have.

Cook the brisket in the wrapping until it is probe tender. This usually happens around 205-210 degrees internal. But don't go based off of temp, go based off of tenderness. The probe should glide through the meat with little to no resistance.

Let it rest at least 30 minutes before slicing. I usually wrap mine in a towel and put it in an ice chest for a few hours depending on how long we want to wait to eat. I've let them rest this way for up to 6 hours before and they are still great.

Slice it against the grain in thin slices about as thick as a pencil.

Enjoy!

 

[BillBrasky4Cy]

I've only smoked a couple but my biggest piece of advice is done freak out when you hit the stall. This can lest a few hours so just be patient and don't make a bunch of adjustments.

 

[Gonzo]

Are you doing a full brisket or just a flat?
What is your smoker set up?
I like just using salt and pepper for a rub, getting a good well marbled brisket is half the battle. I agree with starting low, the longer you can keep it in the smoke the better your bark will be. Use a water pan in the smoker. and plan on letting it rest wrapped up in a towel and cooler for at least an hour.

Just the flat.

I have an old school charcoal barrel grill with the offset smoker box. BUT, I've found that I'm not a fan of using the offset box for smoking, have had much better results putting the heat/smoke source under the main hood off to one side with the meat off to the other side under the pipe. I find this also makes it easier to regulate the temp in there over the course of several hours.

Salt/pepper is all I ever use when grilling beef/steaks.

For pork I let it take smoke for 2-3 hours, sounds like that's the same deal with brisket? Would you recommend wrapping in foil for the rest of the cook time after that?

 

[NorthCyd]

Amazingribs.com

Go to this website

 

[Gonzo]

Trim some of the fat off. I like to keep about a 1/4 inch of fat on the flat part. Any large pieces of fat I trim off.

Get your smoker between 225-275. I use charcoal with post oak and hickory.

Season the brisket with 50/50 kosher salt and pepper. Do a heavy coating.

Put the brisket on the smoker and let it smoke until it hits about 160-170 internal in the thickest part of the flat.

Wrap in non wax butcher paper. I use the pink kind. You can also wrap in foil if that is all you have.

Cook the brisket in the wrapping until it is probe tender. This usually happens around 205-210 degrees internal. But don't go based off of temp, go based off of tenderness. The probe should glide through the meat with little to no resistance.

Let it rest at least 30 minutes before slicing. I usually wrap mine in a towel and put it in an ice chest for a few hours depending on how long we want to wait to eat. I've let them rest this way for up to 6 hours before and they are still great.

Slice it against the grain in thin slices about as thick as a pencil.

Enjoy!

For pork shoulder I've always used foil for the wrap to finish cooking after the smoke. Never tried butcher paper. Interesting.

 

[discydisc]

For pork shoulder I've always used foil for the wrap to finish cooking after the smoke. Never tried butcher paper. Interesting.

Butcher's paper will help maintain the barks texture if wrapping. I would not trim much fat if any at all if you are just doing the flat as it is quite a bit leaner and most likely already trimmed. I would wrap around 160-165 degrees, just try and keep the cooking environment as humid as possible.

 

[StratCY]

Franklin's Youtube Video


Three parts, well worth the watch. I watched these for smoking a pork butt and it turned out fantastic, I plan on doing a brisket using this method in the future.

 

[ISUTex]

I've smoked plenty of back ribs, pork shoulders, chicken thighs, with pretty good results. I've never smoked a brisket, but with this weekend's weather outlook am going to give it a shot. I'm doing my own research, but I'll gladly accept any wisdom from others who know what they're doing on this front.... best smoker temp, advice on timing, meat temp, etc.

TIA

low and slow. I've used this recipe before and it was awesome. Make sure you have a lot of time to spend on brisket. https://houseofnasheats.com/texas-smoked-brisket/

 

[Nader_uggghhh]

Trim some of the fat off. I like to keep about a 1/4 inch of fat on the flat part. Any large pieces of fat I trim off.

Get your smoker between 225-275. I use charcoal with post oak and hickory.

Season the brisket with 50/50 kosher salt and pepper. Do a heavy coating.

Put the brisket on the smoker and let it smoke until it hits about 160-170 internal in the thickest part of the flat.

Wrap in non wax butcher paper. I use the pink kind. You can also wrap in foil if that is all you have.

Cook the brisket in the wrapping until it is probe tender. This usually happens around 205-210 degrees internal. But don't go based off of temp, go based off of tenderness. The probe should glide through the meat with little to no resistance.

Let it rest at least 30 minutes before slicing. I usually wrap mine in a towel and put it in an ice chest for a few hours depending on how long we want to wait to eat. I've let them rest this way for up to 6 hours before and they are still great.

Slice it against the grain in thin slices about as thick as a pencil.

Enjoy!

I do this exact thing but my finish temp is usually 195-205. I'll start checking around 195 but I can almost always gauge doneness by how easy the probe goes in. I'll echo the towel trick too. It's always easier to shoot for earlier than later.

 

[Farnsworth]

We had a great long thread about this about half a year ago that had a ton of great information. Too bad CF's search function sucks so bad and your post history doesn't go back to far.

I'll try to find it again later and link it.

 

[CubsClones1]

Some really really good things already pointed out but I'd like to reiterate, trim excess fat, which if you're just doing a flat it shouldn't be too much. I also never use foil because it retains too much moisture and causes the bark on the outside to get soft/mushy. Butchers paper is the way to go and keeps that bark that you put so much time and effort into getting that candy flavor! Good luck!

 

[JP4CY]

I've smoked plenty of back ribs, pork shoulders, chicken thighs, with pretty good results. I've never smoked a brisket, but with this weekend's weather outlook am going to give it a shot. I'm doing my own research, but I'll gladly accept any wisdom from others who know what they're doing on this front.... best smoker temp, advice on timing, meat temp, etc.

TIA

I inject and rub the night before, then saran over night. You can buy this at Scheels or TNT:

Once the stall at 170ish happens I tightly wrap in pink butcher paper and wait till 205.

 

[BillBrasky4Cy]

Just the flat.

I have an old school charcoal barrel grill with the offset smoker box. BUT, I've found that I'm not a fan of using the offset box for smoking, have had much better results putting the heat/smoke source under the main hood off to one side with the meat off to the other side under the pipe. I find this also makes it easier to regulate the temp in there over the course of several hours.

Salt/pepper is all I ever use when grilling beef/steaks.

For pork I let it take smoke for 2-3 hours, sounds like that's the same deal with brisket? Would you recommend wrapping in foil for the rest of the cook time after that?

No, you want it to cook slow so the fat renders down, otherwise the brisket will be tough. If you want to go the foil route wait until you hit the stall and after a couple hours if it's still parked at the same temp then you can wrap it.

 

[discydisc]

If I have enough time I will always go for a full brisket over the flat as brisket freezes and reheats really well if you have leftovers. Leftover brisket, chopped and mixed into mac and cheese is really ******* good, can also use in casseroles, chili, etc...

 

[BillBrasky4Cy]

If I have enough time I will always go for a full brisket over the flat as brisket freezes and reheats really well if you have leftovers. Leftover brisket, chopped and mixed into mac and cheese is really ******* good, can also use in casseroles, chili, etc...

I agree but it took me a long time to finally pull the trigger on a whole brisket. That is a pretty expensive mistake if ti turns out crappy.