Brisket in a MES

[msujohn]

I would like to smoke a 12 - 15 pound brisket. But, looking at how big they are, how do you put them in your MES? Do you cut the point from the flat? It doesn't look like I have enough space unless I do this. What am I missing?

 

[pineywoods]

Many people do separate the point from the flat to get them in. I've also seen where a few have just cut them in half to get them in. I guess whatever works but the point and flat seems the best way to go. Don't forget the Qview!

 

[fourthwind]

I smoke Briskets all the time in my 30" MES. In order to do this I trim the Brisket with the following method

http://www.azbbqa.com/articles/brisket-trim.htm

It will seperate the point from the flat. At this point the two pieces should be small enough to go into any smoker. I count on 48 hours for mine. 24 hours smothered and wrapped with my Beef rub in the fridge, and 16 to 20 hours on the low and slow smoke till the middle of the meat hits 185 to 190 for slicing and 200 to 205 for pulling. I smoke at 225 for the first few hours then take it down to 190 for the night, then I bump it up to 225 to finish the next day. I rest wrapped in foil and towels for 1 to 2 hours. Average smoke time for me with this method has been 19 hours. Well worth it.

One final piece of advice is to not use too much wood. I usually keep thin blue going for the first couple hours, then stop. Basically till the meat hits 140 which happens in the first couple hours. The MES is very efficiant in smoke and you can over do it. If you want a good Brisket rub recipe let me know and I will PM it to you.

Good luck!

 

[scubadoo97]

I've done a 13 lb packer brisket in the 30" MES without cutting it. It was a big concern of mine before getting the MES. 14" grates are just too small. I bent the brisket and tented it on the shelf till it fit. As the moisture and fat melted down the brisket shrunk and flattened out and fit the shelf with no problem. Just another way of doing it. I've also seperated the point from the flat but the flat is still too long to fit the shelf so bending it is still my standard method. It doesn't take long before it lays flat and who cares if part of the brisket is not in contact with the shelf. Still cooks the same.

 

[fire it up]

Amen to that.
If laying on the racks was the only way to go then folks wouldn't use rib racks and smoke perfectly fine looking ribs on their sides.

 

[fourthwind]

This was an 18 pounder before trimming...