First Smoke Yesterday, help with brisket

[davidb]

Hey there, while I may be new to smoking, I can say the research I did just prior and during my first smoke on this website helped me greatly.

I got a wild hair yesterday morning and decide I was going to buy a smoker and some meat. After visiting 5 stores, I finally found an acceptable first smoker. I bought the Perfect Flame Propane unit from Lowe's. Went to Publix and bought some meat and spices.

I made a dry rub for a small (3.5 lb) brisket and 3 racks of baby back's, rubbed 'em, wrapped 'em and stuck in the fridge.

Assembly was very easy so I seasoned the smoker while the rub set in.

Later around 3PM I put the meat on and started it up. Found that the temp gauge was way off, so I got an oven rack gauge to help with that. It took about 2 hours for me to get the temp steady at 225. About 7 PM I took off the ribs and man were they good, I was very happy with my first attempt.

As for the Brisket, I took it off about 11:30 when the internal temp was just over 185. I wrapped it in foil, then put in the fridge for tonight. I'm very curious to see how that turns out (I do wish I had longer for the rub to set in). I've never smoked or cut a brisket before, so any suggestions on how to cut it will be greatly appreciated. Mainly, I think I remember which way the grain was running, but i 'm not positive. Does anybody know how I can tell now that it's shrunk and covered with bark?

Thanks and I love this forum,

David B.

 

[countrysmoked]

I ussualy start at the tip end and slice small slices back from that this will get you going across the grain from the start. You will be able to tell once you cut into the meat which way the grain goes. Hope you enjoy it.

 

[erain]

like countrysmoked says start at the point of the flat, cut 90 degrees from the point going directly across the grain. have seen toothpicks inserted into the brisket when raw as a reminder when done which way the grain runs. here is a you tube video showing how. the slicing starts at about the 3 min 30 sec spot.




also david, not sure if that 182 degrees will give you the perfect brisket your looking for. my guess it will be a little tough. dont worry still good eating though. for the tenderest brisket take them up to 200 deg internal, + - 5 deg, and then ck your temp probe. when you can insert it and it feels like going into warm butter, then its done. so even though you take it to a certain temp, the next one you do exact same way may not turn out tender unless you ck with the probe. take to the temp and continue til that probe slides in with hardly any resistance. note on the video how when they strech the slice it stays together but the muscle fibres separate.

share some pics of your smoke with us.

also ck this link
http://www.recipezaar.com/The-Beefie...-Method-207187

 

[ronp]

Nice video Erain.

 

[grothe]

Welcome to SMF David....glad ya joined us!

 

[jjrokkett]

Welcome aboard David!