Brisket - attempt number one!

[theburnschap]

Decided that we would have brisket this week when the in laws came for Sunday lunch.

I got a 2 1/2 pound bit of brisket, didn't add too much in the way of seasoning, black pepper, salt, garlic powder, onion powder and a bit of sweet paprika. Added last night as a rub at 11.30pm as I started up the Q. Did think it might dry out so placed an entire pack of bacon over the top of it all and placed it all on a bed of foil (I suppose a makeshift foil tray)

Got it nicely up to temp at 1am, and had it all in at 1.30am. Used the minion method and added a handful of hickory chips then off to bed.

Checked it at 4am, holding temp nicely.

Then checked it again at 6am - no probs at all. Added another handful of hickory chips.

Hit 172 degrees at 9am, so foiled it until 11am, then a rest in the prepped cool box wrapped in a towel.

Really soft texture - although I think I maybe added a bit too much chips as the smoked taste was maybe a bit too much.

Overall though a really cool experience, and I'll definitely do this again soon.

[RobinC]

Glad you enjoyed it. I'm thinking of trying brisket again soon - it's never been something I particularly like but lots of people rave about it. That seems an very long cook time for 2.5 Llbs. Was the brisket rolled? Did you purposely wait for the cooker to get up to temp? I never bother once the minion is lit the food goes on.

[jotch]

That does sound like quite a long time...I cooked a 13lb brisket over the weekend and that took from 9pm Friday to 1pm Saturday without foiling - and on the lower grate of my WSM.

[theburnschap]

I kept thinking the same when i tried it, but tried to do it through checking the temps rather than going by just time.

I might of course have to invest in a decent thermometer though and think that this probably influenced the time i used. BUT the temp did stall at roughly the temp i thought it would.....

[jotch]

I guess it just takes time for the connective tissue to breakdown - foiling would then keep the meat moist on these smaller joints.

[JEC]

That's the problem with the major cuts be it brisket or shoulder each one is different and you can often get caught out as it's only a small joint etc... Temperature is one part of the fineness test the other is feeling no resistance when poking it with a skewer, that said for this size joint I would have expected a lot shorter cooking time, especially when foiling bur that's BBQing for you

[theburnschap]

Maybe I ended up with a poor quality bit of meat that took a bit more time to cook, I don't know.

Maybe I did overdo it though, so another go over this weekend I think. Although I haven't done ribs for a while.....