Freedom Brisket!!

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grillin_all_day

Smoking Fanatic
Original poster
SMF Premier Member
Jun 5, 2008
511
46
Barksdale Air Force Base, LA
I was planning on a nice quiet 4th of July at home having a few refreshing brews while tending the pit.  However a co-worker is leaving and a last second going away was set.  Since I was already planning on doing a brisket, I got nominated to provide the main course. Picked up a 13.5 lb packer and rubbed it down w/ kosher salt, course black pepper, garlic and onion powder and chili powder and put it to bed for the night.  I'll be smoking it w/ oak between 250-275.

Here it is all trimmed up.  Got a little heavy handed w/ a few of the cuts on the fat cap, the new knives I bought are extremely sharp!


Here it is all rubbed up waiting to take a nap


Finally I decided to do some beans.  Had a few cans of Bush's original beans, but no bacon! No worries, threw in some leftover rub I had, put in a little more brown sugar and sauteed some onions, red and yellow peppers.  They've got some pretty good flavor that will only be enhanced by smoke.

 
Well it's been in the pit now for a little over 4 hrs.  Gave it it's first mop and stuck the probe in.  It was reading 167 in the thickest part of the flat (reading 163 now) and thought that can't be right after only 4 hrs, right? I calibrated the therm last night and it was dead on.  So I grabbed my backup old school probe and sure enough it was dead on.  Probed the point and it was reading 153.  Probed another part of the flat towards the end before closing it back up and it was reading 195!  Well I discovered that the exhaust side was running WAY hotter than the firebox side which I found weird because it's usually the opposite on my pit.  No worries though, just turned the brisket around and now have the flat towards the firebox and the point by the exhaust.  Pit temps have been holding steady between 225-250 so that might also explain why it hit temps so quickly.  I've been burning a nice clean, steady fire.  I was really considering pulling this thing at 160 and putting it in a foil pan w/ some of my mop but since I'm already past that I might take it to 170-175, foil it then and take it to 195-200 for slices and a little pulled.
 
Over 6 hrs in now and hit 175 so I decided to put it in a foil pan but not wrap the top. Tried to put my jerky rack in and it wouldn't fit so it went in fat side down with a little of my mop that consists of beef broth, butter, worcestershire sauce, beer, garlic and onion powder.  I lost a couple of degrees during the transfer as I also had to add another stick of wood so it's back down to 169 currently.  It's looking good so far, hoping for a little more bark though.

 
Its looking good, sounds like you built a reputation as the office barbecue!
 
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Its looking good, sounds like you built a reputation as the office barbecue!
Thanks! You could say I have.  You should have seen their reaction when I told them I spent $1900 on a Lang 48 Patio.  I was asked why I would spend that much on a smoker and I said because I can, and why not? Haha
 
 
Now that is something I want to see!
It's being built as we speak. Have another 3 weeks to go until it's finished.

On a side note, went to go throw the beans on the little upper rack that I have on the wrangler and the damn pan is too big and the lid won't close!  No room on the bottom rack so I can't wait to get that 48 and avoid problems like this in the future.  Good thing the brisket only has 1 more degree to go before I take it out and let it rest for a few hours.  Won't be able to get as much smoke as I would have liked on the beans but they'll still be pretty tasty.
 
Just pulled it off at 196 and WOW.  I left it partially tented w/ foil after I needed to speed up my cook to let it rest before the party but man I was not expecting bark like this!  When I was transferring it from the pan to foil to rest in the cooler (pan wouldn't fit in the cooler) it just about fell apart!  I cannot wait to slice into this thing in a few hours!

 
Waiting for sliced pics!

popcorn.gif
 
 
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