- Jun 12, 2016
- 52
- 15
I got into smoking meat back in March. And since then I've smoked a lot of meat with varying rates of success. Lately the results have been very good.
I've really been wanting to smoke a whole packer brisket, so I decided to give it a try this weekend. As a sort of challenge, I made a commitment to have one ready for my son's Auburn football game party, beginning at 6:00 CST Saturday evening. Counting my wife and I, there will be 9 adults at the party.
After reading a lot of commentary on brisket (from Myron Mixon, Meathead Goldwyn, Jeff Phillips, and others), I understand that it's good to buy a high-quality brisket. So I went to a very nice local butcher who has a clean shop and a passion for smoking meat. He took me back into the cooler and showed me all his briskets. He showed me the difference in Choice and Select briskets (the difference in fat marbling was evident). He also had some Certified Angus Beef (CAB) Choice briskets, and the marbling on them was the best (he didn't have any Prime briskets in stock). The butcher said many of his competition BBQ customers like to cook CAB briskets for competitions, but he also said he personally likes the non-CAB briskets. He didn't push the CAB, but I decided to buy a CAB Choice because it had great fat marbling and easily passed the "bend test".
It weighed 14.4 lbs.
Last night I trimmed it, injected it with beef broth, put it in a turkey brine bag, and added some homemade onion soup marinade. It'll stay in the fridge for 24 hours before I take it out, add some rub, and put it on the smoker.
Pics and the details of the smoke are forthcoming in subsequent posts.
When it's all done I'm gonna face the music and post pics/results - no matter how bad they are. Wish me luck, and please feel free to chime in and tell me if I'm doing anything wrong.
I've really been wanting to smoke a whole packer brisket, so I decided to give it a try this weekend. As a sort of challenge, I made a commitment to have one ready for my son's Auburn football game party, beginning at 6:00 CST Saturday evening. Counting my wife and I, there will be 9 adults at the party.
After reading a lot of commentary on brisket (from Myron Mixon, Meathead Goldwyn, Jeff Phillips, and others), I understand that it's good to buy a high-quality brisket. So I went to a very nice local butcher who has a clean shop and a passion for smoking meat. He took me back into the cooler and showed me all his briskets. He showed me the difference in Choice and Select briskets (the difference in fat marbling was evident). He also had some Certified Angus Beef (CAB) Choice briskets, and the marbling on them was the best (he didn't have any Prime briskets in stock). The butcher said many of his competition BBQ customers like to cook CAB briskets for competitions, but he also said he personally likes the non-CAB briskets. He didn't push the CAB, but I decided to buy a CAB Choice because it had great fat marbling and easily passed the "bend test".
It weighed 14.4 lbs.
Last night I trimmed it, injected it with beef broth, put it in a turkey brine bag, and added some homemade onion soup marinade. It'll stay in the fridge for 24 hours before I take it out, add some rub, and put it on the smoker.
Pics and the details of the smoke are forthcoming in subsequent posts.
When it's all done I'm gonna face the music and post pics/results - no matter how bad they are. Wish me luck, and please feel free to chime in and tell me if I'm doing anything wrong.
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