Birthday Brisket!

[jirodriguez]

I decided that turning 38 was a good enough excuse to cook myself a brisket - course any excuse would have sufficed really... heh-heh. So I invited some friends and family over later today for a BBQ. Rubbed the brisket yesterday around 3:00 in the afternoon, then wrapped in saran wrap and foil and put back in fridge for a while.

Got the smoker set up for a minion with a mix of hickory and mesquite.

Pulled the brisket out of the fridge about an hour before I was going to put it on.

Still think the night pictures of fire are cool, course that could just be because I was tired and it was 12:30 AM... lol. 

Put the brisket into the smoke at 1:00 AM, stayed up for another hour to  make sure everything was stable and running then went to bed.

Woke up at 5:00 AM to let the dogs out and check on the smoker. Was running true and steady at 200° right where I left it. Went back to bed for another 3 hrs. of snooze time, woke up and the smoker had dropped 20° to 180°, so I opened all the bottom vents and stirred the coals. Once it got back up to 200° I closed the vents to 3/4 closed and it has been running steady since. Currently the brisket is at 167° internal temp. and I am planning on putting it in the foil pan with the drippings at 170°.

I will post more pics later on when I foil it. Thanks for looking :)

 

[werdwolf]

It's not the middle of the night and I think those fire pics are cool too.  Finished product should be great.

And, Happy Birthday.

 

[rdknb]

happy birthday and yep cool fire pics

 

[mballi3011]

Well Happy Birthday and yes the night fire pics are really cool too. Now the brisket looks good so enjoy and good eating to you and yours.

 

[deannc]

Agree the night fires are cool, great pictures.  And HAPPY Birthday!  

 

[jirodriguez]

So finally got to pull the brisket off at 1:30...... goood stuff! And some liquid gold in the pan

Here are a couple of shots showing the removal of the point from the flat. I know this is a tough one to try to explain to people, so I figured some pictures might help.

Chopped up the point for burnt ends and decided some chopped up hot links would be good as well.

Here is the sliced brisket..... fork tender and tastey!

The pan juices were so intense I had to expand them with some chicken broth and water, made almost a full quart of very meaty tasting ajus!

And last but not least, the burnt ends and hot links..... mmm, mmm, good!

Thanks for looking!