Two Briskets for the weekend Qview

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arnie

Smoking Fanatic
Original poster
Feb 20, 2010
648
14
West Liberty, Iowa
I picked up 2 packers at Wal-Mart 13.2 lbs and 14.6 lbs for $1.98/lb. there’s a little more of a fat cap on these than the ones I get from my butcher, but the price was right and I didn’t have time to order them.

This isn’t the first time I’ve done a packer, but it will be the first time I’ve done 2 at the same time.

 
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Heavy on the fat cap

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I don’t normally trim my packers at all, I usually score the fat cap, rub, and let them set in the fridge over night. Since the fat cap was a bit thicker than what I’m used to I thought I’d experiment a bit and trim them down. I want enough fat to render through the brisket, but I don’t want so much it prevents the smoke and rub for getting into the meat.

 

I probably took 5-6 lbs of fat off of the 2 packers before I rubbed them with Jeff’s Naked Rib Rub.

 

I massaged the rub in very well. I folded them over, put them in 2 ½ gallon Ziploc bags and tucked them in to the refrigerator for the night.   

 

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By the time I rolled the AmeriQue outside its 9:00 PM, 20⁰, and it is trying to sleet.   

At 10:00 PM I bundle up and make a check on the smoker. At least he spitting sleet has stopped, but the wind is really starting to blow. The inside of the AmeriQue is 222and the packers are 64. This is where the Cookshack really pays off, its bedtime.

At 5:30 AM I’m up and reluctantly ready to check on my briskets. It has warmed up to 21and the wind is really blowing. I bundled up and outside I went. As I went around the corner of the garage I could smell the briskets, with the wind that kind of surprised me. All is well! The AmeriQue is 225and the packers are 178.  After slaving all night I am relieved.

At 7:30 AM the temperature dropped a bit to 17and the wind is a killer, but the AmeriQue is 225and the packers are 187. I have to run into town to meet my sister for breakfast.

I got back from town around 10:30. The AmeriQue is 225and the packers are 197.  It’s still only 21⁰ out, but at least the wind has let up a bit

6c19363e_2packersreadytocomeout.jpg
 


I preheated the roaster to 140and put the packers in it with 2 cups of beef broth when they came out of the smokers at 11:30.     

I let them rest a couple of hours while I got a couple of other things ready to smoke.  

Surprisingly I was able to slice all of it. They both are very tender and moist with almost no fat remaining.

 

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 Thanks for looking
 
Last edited:
Looks like a great smoke especially in that weather. Great work
 
Nice looking briskets, Arnie! 
 
Almost 30# of brisket and it's gone! Sheesh.  
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Yeah, and it was a relatively small gathering of friends. I was beginning to think we would have to offer wheelbarrow service to the curb.  

It was a good time!

Thanks for the comments
 
looks great! 

i have a question about smoking a whole packer....some posts i've seen people separate the point and flat...and others dont.  do you separate after you smoke it? or just dont separate at all?
 
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Your brisket looks awesome there Arnie. I really like the brisket with all the fat left. I trim very little maybe just the really thick and hard part of the cap. Then just slice into it and put alot of rub inot the cuts and it will melt and flow right into the meat.
 
looks great! 

i have a question about smoking a whole packer....some posts i've seen people separate the point and flat...and others dont.  do you separate after you smoke it? or just dont separate at all?
I usually do not separate the point from the flat until I am ready to carve.

This time I opened them up and trimmed some of the fat between them and rubbed both sides
 
New guy here soaking up info like a sponge....question on the 'resting' in a roaster. Is that something you normally do or just something to keep them warm before guests arrived? and by a roaster you're referring to something like a Nesco turkey roaster kind of thing?
 
Normally I would preheat a cooler, double foil the brisket, wrap a towel around it tuck it into the cooler and add a few extra towels to fill in the empty spaces. This will give the brisket time to rest and further breakdown the remaining collagen while keeping it above 140⁰ for several hours. Unfortunately the Colman I grabbed had seen better days and I did not have time to clean and preheat another one so I opted for the electric turkey roaster. That was the first time I had done that.  


New guy here soaking up info like a sponge....question on the 'resting' in a roaster. Is that something you normally do or just something to keep them warm before guests arrived? and by a roaster you're referring to something like a Nesco turkey roaster kind of thing?
 
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