Masterbuilt Analog & 3 part brisket

[murph13]

Hi,



I will be attempting my fist try at smoking a brisket for Easter this weekend. I have a Masterbuilt 30 Analog smoker.



My sister bought a 17lb brisket & had the butcher cut it into 3 pieces (I'm not sure why & I haven't seen it yet).



My questions are:



1) should I rotate them in the smoker as I'm cooking?



2) How do I go about checking temp, etc. ...each piece or just the largest?



3) If all pieces are approx 5.5lbs, do I use that weight to gauge the approx length to cook? If I wrap in foil at 165degrees, will they cook faster?? (trying to figure out when I should start them when she want to eat at 1pm)





Any tips, tricks, hints etc. will be greatly appreciated!!





Thank you in advance!!

 

[bbqwillie]

Don't know what your experience level is but you have sure picked a doozie for a first attempt at brisket. Just hope that one of the pieces is the point. Do it by itself and leave the flats until nest weekend.

 

[smokesontuesday]

Here's hoping he removed the point and that's one piece then split the flat in half for the other two pieces (assuming it was a full packer). Don't know that I've ever seen a trimmed flat that weighed 17 pounds but anything is possible. I wouldn't bet you're lucky enough that this is the case though so I'll just work off the assumption he cut it into thirds.

1) I wouldn't worry about rotating them. 

2) Knowing what the pieces are exactly would be helpful but I'm betting you'll end up with a piece that is 90/10 flat, one that's 60/40 flat/point, and one that's about 30/70 flat/point. Since you have a vertical cabinet I'd put the the 30/70 piece on the top rack, 90/10 piece on the middle rack, and the 60/40 piece on third (bottom) rack. If you're like most of us and only have a dual temp probe I'd measure the piece that is 90/10 flat because it is the one most likely to overcook on you. Once it is at 195 you can check the temps on the other pieces.

3) Use weight as a loose cook time guide but every piece of meat is different. I've broken briskets down and seen two halves of the same flat take 2-3 hours difference in time to be done while sitting next to each other in the same smoker. You'll want to cook to an IT somewhere between 195 and 210 degrees. Start probing with a skewer around 195 and when it feels like butter to the probe it's done. If it were me I would start it about 5 or 6 this evening and plan on a 11-15 hour cook at ~225. If you want to foil in the smoker that can help cut down cook time but someone who does that regularly will have to help you out there on how much exactly. I don't normally foil because we like bark.  You can always wrap them in foil then in a towel and stick them in a cooler to keep them hot for about 6 hours after the cook.