1st brisket smoke ever

I got my pellet grill yesterday (so excited) and I am in the process of smoking my first brisket ever this morning. I hope it turns out great!! I may have some questions as I go along. It was 11.5 pounds untrimmed. I left it untrimmed, covered the meat with Worcestershire sauce and Texas bbq rub, put it on the grill fat cap down and turned it to hi smoke (which is 220 on this grill). in 6 hours or so, when it looks good, I am going to wrap it, then keep cooking till internal meat temp is about 200 - 215 degrees. Sound about right?

I was curious what you do with left over brisket (this will serve way more than we will eat tonight)? What is the best way to package it for later? and what is the best way to reheat brisket when you eat it a day or two later?

I'm a newbie, so any advice is appreciated.

Congrats on your new pellet machine, you will love it!

Personally, I would start at a lower temp (170-180 range) for a while to get more smoke ring/flavor -- you will find that there is more smoke at lower temperatures. For instance 2 hours at low temp will get you a lot more smokey goodness than 6 hours at 220, in my experience. BUT, you may be perfectly pleased with what you have started.

I usually wrap when my internal meat temp is 145-150, and don't look at the time at all. Your mileage may vary.

I would search for Big Poppa's brisket tips so that you don't rely purely on temperature for done-ness. The real test is feel, and final temp can vary quite a lot between different pieces of meat. In particular, I have seen Prime and Wagyu briskets finish completely in 6 hours (which is when you plan to wrap!). I typically start checking for doneness around 190 internal temp. Rarely have I seen a brisket make it to 105 without being finished to my liking. After that, they start crumbling when you cut them, but you may prefer that texture. The beauty of all this is that you learn what you like over time and adjust your methods accordingly.

Hope this helps and is not too late...
Paul

It turned out pretty good for the first time. pretty tender and good flavor. 10 hours total cook time. I think I will trim it first next time though so that the smoke gets to more of the meat. There was way to much messy fat to clean off after it was finished. Thanks for the advice Paul.

careful of the lower temps there is a fine line between searching for a smoke ring and drying the brisket out

Big Poppa said:

careful of the lower temps there is a fine line between searching for a smoke ring and drying the brisket out

Click to expand...

Agreed. I usually do one or two hours SMOKE mode on MAK then bump it up... Costco Prime briskets are my current go-to, and they just do not ever seem to dry out!

Way to go, Amoses! It sounds like you had a fairly successful first brisket, and that doesn't happen all too often.

amose said:

when it looks good, I am going to wrap it, then keep cooking till internal meat temp is about 200 - 215 degrees. Sound about right?

Click to expand...

Even though this brisket is done, I'll give my 2¢ (and you can keep the change ).

I agree with what paul (sptucker) said, "The real test is feel, and final temp can vary quite a lot between different pieces of meat."

That is so true and it's the same with pork shoulders. There are too many variables with each piece of meat: the age and breed of the animal, the diet it was fed, etc. The connective tissues will break down when they have fully denatured, and not when a thermometer says so.


The feel test works because the principle is simple:

► When you stick the probe into the meat, if it meets resistance then the connective tissues aren't yet broken down and are pushing back on the probe.

► If it slides in with ease, then the connective tissues have broken down and it's done and tender.


Hope this makes sense.

Thanks everybody. I really appreciate it!!

Congrats on your first brisket!

As for left overs, if I have left over brisket it always seems to make its way into a pot of chili.

Welcome to the forum!
Glad you enjoyed your first brisket!
I agree about trimming the fat. I like to retain SOME fat but most of it goes. Be nice to see the experts here post a trimmed photo of the brisket before applying their rub to give us brisket beginners an idea of how much to trim.
Curious what the consensus is regarding separating the flat and the point? Pros/Cons? There is often a lot of fat between these pieces that is otherwise hard to trim.
Next brisket cook be sure to take a picture to post!
I'm cooking one this weekend. It is very difficult for me to find good brisket, though I think I found the holy meat grail near me. In fact the deliver and service local restaurants with access to all sorts of stuff I can never find at the supermarkets. Whole wagyu tenderloins for instance.
TD

at home I cook a minimally trimmed whole brisket and use butcher paper...in comps I separate ad use more rub and foil

Thanks! I don't have any butcher paper on hand, do they sell that at Amazon?

Looking to cook my fourth brisket soon. Had to abort on plans to cook today due to a last minute invite to play cards last night so I ended up sleeping in instead of rising early. That lead to some research on Brisket cooking. Saw a LOT of websites and videos today. Think I learned a lot. Tried to gather some consensus material.

My packer brisket CAB (Meyer Natural Angus) is in the fridge and I read that letting it rest or wet age in its packaging will be helpful to improve tenderness. It weighs about 12.5 pounds. I imagine trimmed I will have about 9-10 pounds meat probably 7 pounds flat and 3 pounds point roughly. That sound about right? Trimming it up the night before and hitting it with a BPS Cattleprod injection and some light salting, with final rub BPS Cash Cow applied (maybe a couple of other rubs thrown in too such as Happy Ending or Money or Little Louies Garlic Salt with Black Pepper) while smoker is heating.

I'm planning to separate the point and the flat prior to cooking to shorten the cooking time AND to get more rub flavoring and improved smoke ring into it. I intend to do burnt ends with the entire point.

About how long should I expect each part to take to hit final temp range 195-205º with and without foiling cooking at 250 vs 275 with flat and point separated?

TD