First Brisket

[Swindon_Ed]

Hello all,

After all the rain over the last couple of weeks down here i thought enough was enough i'm going to light the smoker and cook.

So today i picked up my first full Brisket from the butchers and will be putting it in the smoker later tonight. I took a couple of pictures with me and it looks right to me but would like to know if there is something else i should be asking for. It came in at about 8.5lbs but i took a bit off for me to make corned beef with later.

So here's the Brisket



And here is a picture of the Brisket with my rub on it.



I'll be putting it on at 12 tonight and got a mix of hickory and oak waiting.

I'll keep posting updates, already looking forward to dinner tomorrow.

[All Weather Griller]

Looking good Ed. You posting updates at the end with before and after pics?

[Swindon_Ed]

Yes and I'm gonna have a go at removing the point from the flat to make burnt ends with as well.

[Swindon_Ed]

... bit late just put it on.

Oh well, i'll have a look at the temp's when i get up and maybe it'll be some Brisket sandwiches for breakfast.

[Swindon_Ed]

No i got it from Berry's as they've been my normal butcher for years and i used to go to school with one of the guy's there so i get a bit of a discount which is nice.

[All Weather Griller]

What temps are you cooking this at Ed?

Have you split the point from the flat to begin with? I know the big restaurants and teams do this in the states (Oklahomas Joes cook their points for 16 hours+). I think I will start this practice later this year when I have the capacity.

The last Brisket I did that was that size took about 14.5 hours to get to 200*f internal, you may recover from putting on late (Depending on when you aim to eat).

I am jealous of what you're waking up to though.

[clairbare]

I know I am sounding very naive but after you have put it on, do you get any sleep? what happens if you need to add more charcoal? How will you know if the temp drops?

[All Weather Griller]

Lol Al.

Clare, generally after a few cooks you get to know how your rig works. For example Al will know how his UDS will perform using logs as opposed to charcoal and which brand is better etc. He'll know he can leave his meat beast for x amount of hours without needing to tend etc.

We get the same with excels and WSM's or even cabinet smokers. It doesn't always follow that each cooker of he same kind will behave the same. I've said it before and I'll say it again. Your smoker will behave like an old vintage car, you will learn their little nuances.

Another method that many use including me is to have a remote digi probe like the Maverick ET-73 (Supersceded by the newer ET-732) which allows us to monito the cooking and chamber temps remote I.e from the bed and to set alarms for when temps move out of a specific range say below 200*f or above 270*f for the cook chamber.

At comps somebody should be awake by the cooker all night for the fire risk, but this obviously not the case at home. So when I cook a brisket at home I fire up the smoker about 21:00ish once I'm happy with the temps I put my cuts on about 22:30 ish and then hit the sack anytime after 23:59ish i can leave my WSM will one load of lump for a good 10 hours at 230*f without touching it, so in answer to your question Yes you can get some sleep. Although your first few cooks will be with one eye open. Lol

[Swindon_Ed]

I am awake, I've been checking the temp's throught the night.

Al's right in saying about me using a Maverick remote thermomiter so I've been able to sleep althought i did have to bring the temp's down at about 3am as the smoker was going to hot for my target of 225f. Managed to catch it at 250f and get it back down.

I've not needed to refuel yet still going fine at 225f (clay saucer has been awesome).

Brisket just got to 180f internal so have now wrapped in foil and added a cup of beer to it to keep it moist.

I've got the brisket in whole at the moment and only taking temp's from the flat, will be seperating the point once the flat is done and then putting it back on later to make my burnt ends (Had burnt ends at Blue Smoke BBQ NY and they were brilliant so want to see if i can recreate these.

[Swindon_Ed]

One thing though is the Brisket has sat at 180 now for the last hour and a bit, should i try kicking the temp up in the smoker to get it moving or is it just patience?