1st brisket help

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bassinhunter

Newbie
Original poster
Mar 31, 2012
6
10
so im new to the forum just bought a mes 40" ad the amazin smoke generator. ive got my 1st brisket thawed and ready to go. its a mall 5lb brisket. i know the big packers are better but thats what was in the freezer. ok so i need some help. what flavor pellets, how long, do i mop? how often and with what? i just want this sucker to come out good cuz i think the wifey and daughter are rooting against me! HELP PLEASE
 
Packer better than small flat...I don't know about that.  a small flat is very good.

I wouldn't mop until the bark it set.  You can test by scraping with a finger nail.  If it scrapes off it's not set.  It it doesn't it is.  Once set mop away ....say once every hour. Don't open the smoker too much.  Do a search for a beer mop.  I like Shiner Bock myself but sometimes I don't even use a mop.

I like Mesquite with beef if you have it.  If not Hickory is awfully good.  Personnal preferences will prevail.

Bottom line: don't rush.  Let it take it's time and get nice and tender.  Your patience will be rewarded.
 
With a flat that small keep your temps low and foil early, or it will dry out on you, I would foil at 150 to 155 instead of 165. I personally don't mop my brisket, but that's up to you - just remember every time you open the smoker you add approx. 10 minutes to the smoke so 6x = 1 hour!

For brisket I like to keep the rub simple salt, pepper, garlic powder, paprika, and a little cayanne if you want some extra heat. I rub the brisket with worshtershire sauce then apply rub.

Good luck! and don't forget the Qview!
 
Flats are very difficult to keep moist, I would recommend smoking in a pan with beef broth, worsty, etc. and basting every hour.

You could even cover with a few strips of bacon to help add some fat.

          
goodluck.gif
 and remember the Qview
 
So I made the brisket last night and it came out awesome.  I have some photos to share of the finished product.  Let me first start out by explaining what I did and you guys can help me out with what I did wrong and what I did right.  First I started off with a small brisket probably 4-5 lbs.  Not sure if it was a flat or what that means but the meat was what I had in the freezer from my familys raised beef not grocery store stuff.  I probably should have marinated it or left the rub on for a couple days but I'm working on my patience lol.  I rubbed the meat with a rub called "Bud's tasty meat rub" its a restaurant rub that I was lucky enough to get a 10lb sack of free.  I rubbed the meat and put it in the smoker directly on the rack.  Well I thought I'd started the smoker but an hour after I though it was running come to find out I didn't set the time on the MES 40 so the heat never started (newbie mistake)  So I started the smoker set the temp at 245 and started the Amazin Smoke Generator.  I had trouble keeping it lit so I bagged the Amazin Smoker and just loaded pellets to my smoke chamber on the MES.  I smoked it for about 4 hours fat side up with a mix of different wood pellets.  I pretty much had to add pellets about every hour which wasn't bad considering it was only 1 cup.  After four hours I flipped the brisket fat side down for an hour.  I checked the internal temp and it was about 150 to 160 degrees.  I was worried about drying the brisket out so I then put the brisket in a pan with beef broth and smoked for an additional two hours until the internal temperature reached 178.  I then took it out foiled it by itself and placed it in a cooler for about 30 minutes.  Ok maybe 15 minutes but the clock read 2 am by this time and I couldn't wait to try some.  I just a small piece off the end and it was magic.  Being that it was two am  I just sliced the brisket and put it in some tupperware so we could eat it for dinner today.  I'm pretty excited about how good the brisket came out.  It wasn't falling apart but it wasn't tough as a boot either.  I was fully expecting to ruin the first brisket.  Ok now if anyone has some good insight on what i did wrong and what I accidentally did right I'm all ears.  This was my first time smoking anything so I'm eager to learn from some of you that know your craft.  I also think i got lucky in the fact that this was a very fatty brisket and it may have kept the meat from drying out.

Thanks,

Rob

f4c352a8_brisket.png


d7c94605_brisket-1.png
 
Looks like you got the Point end of the brisket, it has lots of fat in it so it stays very moist.

The flat is very different.

You did a great job  
2thumbs.gif
 
Looks like a great smoke - congrats

Please do us a favor and update your profile with your location 

Thanks
 
Looks like you got the Point end of the brisket, it has lots of fat in it so it stays very moist.

The flat is very different.

You did a great job  
2thumbs.gif
 Yep...Looks like a Point with a nice Fat cap so you started with a great cut and got a good result. All else you did sounds good...JJ
 
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