Basic Brisket Smoke

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Woo-whoo!! Thanks for that advice! I reset my patience meter and put my faith in God and my smoker! After a few hours the temp started climbing again, and the smaller of the cuts hit 183 at 3:30 in the morning! After an hour rest I cut into it it was fabulous! So tender and flavorful. I'm hooked now.
 
Well, I think I'm set. I have yet to smoke a brisket, but after reading all 202 posts of this thread I am feeling ready to tackle it. I am planning on doing the smoke next weekend. Did anyone thinks that this thread would still be inspiring and educating folks two years since it's beginning? I now feel empowered to go for it. Thanks to everyone who contributed to this thread and all the good knowledge and advice.

Here's to good smoking.
 
Getting ready Monday to do my first Brisket....Have read a lot of info!   Think I'll be fine!...Will do plenty of QVIEW! Supposed to be 70 for the high so no problems for the temps...Will be burning Cherry and Hickory for smoke....Will be using a store bought rub...a favorite of mine and will be spritzing with the old Apple juice/apple Cider/brown sugar spritz...and foiling once I hit 170...wanting to raise it to 200 foiled (Wife's the boss on this!) then an hour  over heat unfoiled to firm up. Will  be eating pulled on french hard rolls with slaw and Montgomery Inn Sauce (Love the stuff!)

Our Slaw is made with Hellmans full fat Mayo...Cabbage...Shredded Carrot's s to taste...Sugar and salt to taste...with a tad of white vinegar....It used to be on the Hellmans jar but not sure anymore? Beats any Cole slaw I ever ate!!!...Will look for the recipe to post!

Ernie
 
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Did my first brisket today, very disappointed. The cut was the flat only, just under 4 lbs and very lean. Stalled at 150 for an hour or so and didn't reach 165 till 7 hours in. Foiled till 190 then rested for 30 mins. Think the cut was my problem(I hope). Tough and dry. Rub was good and moped with Apple juice and apple cider vinegar. Should have started out with a pork butt. I'm a novice here, have a brinkman stand up type, used lump coal. Had a beer beef broth mix in my drip pan.
 
I've been trolling this forum for the past few years and had to weigh in.  I've done two briskets about two years apart because the first was horrible (never use smoked paprika in the smoker, it gets funky all over the food) and the last one was flavorful but very chewy and stringy.  It cooked for 3 hrs in the smoke and then 4 in the oven and was just horrible.  I'm going to try one more time this weekend.  I'm planning on going overnight so I don't have a timing problem.  If it spends 10+ hrs in the smoker (only adding smoke wood for the first few hours and then nothing but hickory lump to keep the heat for the next 7+) what kinda problems will I get into?  
 
That chew / stringy texture you got was because you needed to let it go through plateau stage.  The first brisket I did, I freaked out because the thermometer started going down after about 4 hours!  I thought I did something wrong.  This forum tought me that you have to be very patient and wait it out.  It took 13 hours for my smaller brisket to finally reach 190 - and it was worth the wait.  It was perfect!
 
I've been trolling this forum for the past few years and had to weigh in.  I've done two briskets about two years apart because the first was horrible (never use smoked paprika in the smoker, it gets funky all over the food) and the last one was flavorful but very chewy and stringy.  It cooked for 3 hrs in the smoke and then 4 in the oven and was just horrible.  I'm going to try one more time this weekend.  I'm planning on going overnight so I don't have a timing problem.  If it spends 10+ hrs in the smoker (only adding smoke wood for the first few hours and then nothing but hickory lump to keep the heat for the next 7+) what kinda problems will I get into?  

You need to invest in a meat thermometer. It'll take all of the guessing out of the question.
 
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Thanks to the PM's and the posts here, I think I'm ready to give this a shot. I've got the brisket rubbed and it has been sitting since yesterday evening, I'm going to load my WSM with lots of KF bricketts/ hardwood lump charcoal/ pecan smoking wood and light it off around 11 pm PST, get the meat on the grill right at midnight. If all goes according to plan when i wake up around 6 ( I will definitely take a quick peak on my wireless thermo throughout the night) I should be able to foil for a few hours. After some time in the foil I'll unwrap it and put it back in the smoker to firm up the bark for about 1 hour. I'm figuring on about 12 hrs total time in the smoker.

How can i cambro it and keep the bark from softening? I don't want to serve until 6 pm but I have learned to start cooking brisket well ahead of time so it is ready before the guests are.

This has gotta work! I will not accept defeat!! I host two parties a year and do about 40lbs of Butt, BB ribs, chix and tri-tip each time but the brisket just seems to kick my ***. I'd like to add brisket to the menu but it must meet my high expectations of great `Que before I serve it to my friends and family
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Here's to the best of success to you and your smoke tonight. Please post your full journey with Qview. I want to see the results.
 
So I got through it and quite successfully but not without a few problems.   First of all - no Queview, sorry forgot to take pix as I went..... just not something I'm used to. Now on to how things went down:

--On Thursday night rubbed the 9# beast with Olive oil, equal amts CBP/Salt/Brn Sugar and then a mixture of cayenne, onion pwdr, garlic pwdr and grnd mustard

-- Took it out of reefer at 900 pm friday, loaded the 22.5 WSM with 1 sm chimney of Royal Oak mesquite lump ( I personally don't like RO but I'm trying to burn down my supply), 1 lg chimney KF brickettes and set fire to a large chimney of Best of the West Mesquite lump and then dumped into the WSM about 1030 PM with vents open 100%-- anybody see a problem here yet!! 

--  At 1100 PM the fire was still climbing thru 350 and I shut the vents down all the way.  At 1130 the temp was dropping thru 280 and it seemed a good time to put the beast on.  I put a medium sized foil pan on the lower grill to catch dripin`s and open the vents to 50%, throw in 6 lumps of dry pecan and mesquite and observe.  After loading the beast grill temp was 234 and meat temp was 68.  

-- At 0000 the grill was HOT at 270 so I shut the vents to 25%, went to bed and hoped for the best. 

--0300 - grill temp is 289 meat is 178 -- Not happy.  toss in 1/2 the amount of smoking wood, contemplate foiling, say screw it, close vents to 15% and go back to bed. 

--0600 - grill is 270 meat is 207.......boy oh boy won't those numbers jump you out of bed!!!!!!  I do a tenderness poke test with a Homedics pen themo and get different readings that range between 196 - 203 and most of the roast is tender but I think I can leave it for a little while.

-- check temps and tenderness every 1/2 hour and pull it off at 0730.  Quadruple wrap in foil, wrap with a towel and into the faux cambro it goes.  

--Slicing at 500 PM and it is fall apart tender and slightly juicy.  I made a side sauce of tomato sauce, fat and brown bits from the dripin`s 1/2 hand full of the leftover rub, butter,  beef broth and wooster.  Everybody was happy and I was ecstatic since I now seem to have beat the beast known as BRISKET!!  

Thanks to all who have passed on their lore within these electronic pages and to those who messaged me.  I couldn't have gotten here without you.  

Can't wait to try it again next week!!!!!!!!! 
 
didn't see it anywhere.

butcher paper instead of foil is the HOLY GRAIL of Brisket!

Also, no trimming!

Rub with Koscher/canning salt and pepper.

Smoker temp=215*. I usually start mine at about this temp and my smoker tends to climb in temp, by the time it's done it's usually hovering around 265*. No idea why it does it, I don't try to combat it. It does it slowly, so I just let it do it's thing. just none of that up and down yo-yoing!!

Smoke yer brisket to about 150* with that big ole fat cap on top!!

Wrap in butcher paper.

I take to an internal temp of about 180*. 

Then I start the probe test every 1/2 hour or so. You can use a toothpick, metal chopstick, skewer, temp probe. When that brisket is done, it'll feel like that probe is sticking a warm stick of butter been on the counter. NOT like sticking it in one been in the fridge!!

Pull from smoker, throw in cooler. Go to bed, sleep well, 4-5 or 6, 7 hours.

Take out of cooler, still warm. I have a couple Yeti's but they're in my boat. That smoking cooler is an old cheap one on them roller wheels, works just fine for this.

Don't worry about that point separating from the flat, turning the point five ways to sundown. Just slice that brisket shortways starting at the thin end of the flat all the way to the end of the flat & point!!

If folks don't want all that goody fat goodness, they don't have to eat it. If you got some really picking folks you can always trim it for them.

Sauce=that's just coverup for bad brisket!!!
 
Sounds like you worked your way through it and wound up with some great BBQ. Congrats. The more you smoke the easier it gets. Try to figure out what works for you, I am not saying my method is the only way, Just works for me. I have tried all kinds of rubs, sauces, inject, not inject, different woods and temps. When I started over 40 years ago there was not all this info available at your finger tips. Lots of trial and error, and figuring out what flavors me and my family like.

Gary S
 
Smoking a 4 1/2lb brisket today. Rubbed it with S&P, garlic and onion powder yesterday afternoon.

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I'm doing a second rub of BS and ground mustard (70/30). This is an experiment I'm trying in the hopes of getting some more bark on there. My last brisket was the same size and turned out tender, moist and tasty but the bark was a bit "meh". Today is all about bark.

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Now back in the fridge, loosely covered, for an hour or so then on the Q. I'm still just smoking on a gas grill with smoker boxes. Everything I've done has come out very good. I'm kind of waiting for my "luck bubble" to burst but fingers crossed. More Qview to come.
 
Smocan,  you might want to just let it sit out for a bit before putting on the smoker.

Gary S
 
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