what not to do while smoking a brisket

[Lokaybinnity]

I'm going to smoke a brisket for the first time this weekend. can you guys give me some pointers on the dos and don'ts of smoking a brisket. There are so many recipes out there I've looked at and i dont want to mess this thing up.  I've smoked tons of meat, fish, cheese, and poultry just never a brisket any pointers will be appreciated. thanks

[jrebel]

Pretty hard to mess up.  Depending on your brisket size, trim the fat (not required but helps with some who are offended by huge amounts of fat after the fact), Rub with yellow mustard (don't worry, it wont taste like mustard at all after its done cooking), Season heavily with your choice of beef / brisket rub, put on the smoker fat side up and smoke to a temp of 205 ish depending on what you intend to do with it.  If you go to 210+ it will pull about easier for sandwiches.  205 for me is the happy medium from fall apart and still stupid tender to eat. 

Most important is letting it rest after the cooking process.  I have been known to wrap it 2-3 times in tin foil and stick in a cooler full of towels for insulation and let it rest for 4-6 hours.  It still comes out with temps upwards of 160 and is amazing.  If you don't let it rest, it will dry out as you cut it . 

Another must is burnt ends.  Hot cast iron pan and chunks of the point chopped up and finished. 

Good luck and let us know how it turned out.

[MtnMuley]

Plan on 14 hours for a decent sized brisket. I trim the fatty side even, leaving as thick of layer as I can as well as trimming the top well and squaring it up. Remember you'll get a stall around 160 for usually a couple hours. A meat probe is a necessity in my opinion. Make sure to pull it at exactly 203 degrees, wrap and get into an insulated cooler to rest 1 to 2 hours. Also, when you wrap it during the cooking process, make sure to use butcher paper. It's a lot better than foil. It's your choice fat side up or down, but I start with fat side up and after wrapping, flip it fat side down. Lastly. When you cut it up, make sure to cut across the grains, not with. The flat is usually 90% out from the rest. Good luck.

[Lokaybinnity]

thanks guys it is a big brisket. biggest piece of meat I've ever cooked i planed on going low and slow overnight.  thanks for the mustered remender i used to do my smoked porkchops that way. all my coolers with be being used up is there another way of letting it rest. and is there ant benefit to basting every now and than with au jus. thanks   

[huntnnw]

Start it earlier than you think it may be done . You can always let it rest longer if it’s early versus it being late and rushing it

[Angry Perch]

Plan on 14 hours for a decent sized brisket. I trim the fatty side even, leaving as thick of layer as I can as well as trimming the top well and squaring it up. Remember you'll get a stall around 160 for usually a couple hours. A meat probe is a necessity in my opinion. Make sure to pull it at exactly 203 degrees, wrap and get into an insulated cooler to rest 1 to 2 hours. Also, when you wrap it during the cooking process, make sure to use butcher paper. It's a lot better than foil. It's your choice fat side up or down, but I start with fat side up and after wrapping, flip it fat side down. Lastly. When you cut it up, make sure to cut across the grains, not with. The flat is usually 90% out from the rest. Good luck.

Just be sure it's peach paper, and not the shiny, waxy stuff.

[brew]

Go on YouTube and search Myron Mixon brisket-its a seminar he was giving at Sam's bbq in Oregon.  He shows everything from trimming to injecting...I've followed this and comes out perfect every time

[jrebel]

thanks guys it is a big brisket. biggest piece of meat I've ever cooked i planed on going low and slow overnight.  thanks for the mustered remender i used to do my smoked porkchops that way. all my coolers with be being used up is there another way of letting it rest. and is there ant benefit to basting every now and than with au jus. thanks

I don't baste mine.  I shut the smoker and let it do it's thing.  Opening and closing the smoker throughout the cook will lead to longer cook times.  It should have enough fat to baste itself.....that's why I cook mine fat side up for the entire cook.  I have been known to finish mine on a higher temp while caramelizing a bbq sauce....usually the last 30 ish minutes.   

I have injected them before and you definitely could inject it with cold au jus prior to putting on the smoker.  I also know a lot of people that will brine their brisket for 1-4 days prior to cooking.  I have never brined a brisket that I imagine it would be amazing. 

As for the resting.....use a cardboard box and fill it with towels.  It won't hold the head as well, but it will work fine.  I would only let it rest for 1-2 hours as to not loose too much of the temp. 

Start it earlier than you think it may be done . You can always let it rest longer if it’s early versus it being late and rushing it

This is an excellent point.   

[Lokaybinnity]

awsome thanks

[jrebel]

Interesting that people mention wrapping their brisket.  I have never wrapped mine while cooking and it always turns out amazing......at what temp are you wrapping them???  I would assume 160 when the meat stops taking on smoke?? 

[Woodchuck]

[mcrawfordaf]

I'm going to smoke a brisket for the first time this weekend. can you guys give me some pointers on the dos and don'ts of smoking a brisket. There are so many recipes out there I've looked at and i dont want to mess this thing up.  I've smoked tons of meat, fish, cheese, and poultry just never a brisket any pointers will be appreciated. thanks

THE best brisket and everything you need to know about cooking it here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VmTzdMHu5KU & https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pGZ39yYxeBk

[Stein]

You might get more consensus if you asked what caliber is best for hunting.

Don't under cook it and don't over cook it.  It takes practice to tell when it's done, I do the poke with a bamboo skewer method.  I also wrap and finish it in the oven to save on pellets.  I haven't found temps to be the best way to tell it's done, depending on the fat and where you take the temp it can vary a fair bit from brisket to brisket.

I generally follow Harry Soo's advice, you can find him on YouTube and he has several (many) brisket videos to watch.

[Fidelk]

You didn't mention how you are going to smoke it. I use a Weber Smokey Mountain which keeps the temp between 220-250 with minimal fuss......just adding charcoal. I prefer mesquite chunks of wood to generate smoke. As a comparison, I smoke pork shoulder for pulled pork and have established the following times for a consistent good result. Those are 8 hours uncovered (keep the smoke going for 5-6 hours).......2 hours still on heat, wrapped in peach colored butcher paper (non-coated, as per AP) AND also covered with heavy duty foil (do not allow the meat to be in contact with foil and heat) and then rest covered for 1 hour.....8-2-1.

I haven't done a brisket recently but the above numbers will work for the covered (2 hours on heat) phase and the 1 hour of covered rest. So the only number that needs to be adjusted for brisket is that 8 hours uncovered. I'd planned to nail down my numbers starting with the same 8-2-1 process and if that wasn't quite right, going to 10-2-1 the next time. Again, this is for a charcoal smoker. Read up on "the stall" as mentioned above......this is an evaporative cooling phase that can last 2-4 hours in which nothing much happens. The physics of that process can be googled. Pull it during the stall and you're chewing on a boot.

Sorry, I don't have exact numbers for brisket......but I doubt that you will need more than 10 hours uncovered if you wrap for 2 hours, wrapping speeds up that final push. Good luck,

[Lokaybinnity]

ill be using my pitboss pellet smoker the temp can get as low as 165 or as high as 450 and it is pretty consitant.