Cooking a large thin brisket, should I fold it in half? Follow along for the ride.

[kilohertz]

Good day all,

Another beautiful sunny day here, perfect for smoking a brisket so I pulled out another brisket from my neighbor and although it's 4 lbs it big and thinish. I made the last one as is and it didn't take long to cook, this time I'm thinking of folding it in half to get a "normal" thickness. There is no fat cap but I have nice slices of pork fat from the butcher which I'm planning to put on top during the cook.

Appreciate any thoughts or guidance on this plan, smoker is warming, I'll start the pellets going soon. This will be my first brisket on my highly modified MES30 digital with PID and mailbox.

Would you put the pellet tray in the smoker or in the mailbox?

Thanks all.

Cheers

 

[SmokinAl]

It looks to me like you could roll & tie it. Roll it with the grain so it will be against the grain when sliced. I have done this before & it turned out good.
Al

 

[JLeonard]

No advice…. But share the cook.

Jim

 

[SmokinEdge]

It looks to me like you could roll & tie it. Roll it with the grain so it will be against the grain when sliced. I have done this before & it turned out good.
Al

I agree, this would be a fun one to layer with fat and anything else and roll then tie. That would be a fun cook.

 

[Redicans]

It looks to me like you could roll & tie it. Roll it with the grain so it will be against the grain when sliced. I have done this before & it turned out good.
Al

That is a cool idea! Never thought about that. That sounds like it would be amazing.

 

[babydocsmoker]

Wonder if you could roll something in the center too. A thicker roll would mean more surface area for smoke exposure...

 

[SmokinEdge]

Wonder if you could roll something in the center too. A thicker roll would mean more surface area for smoke exposure...

Fat and maybe herbs or veggies. That’s my thoughts.

 

[kilohertz]

Thanks guys,

Well I tried rolling it and it ended up a really large diameter and I thought it would take to long to cook thru by dinner time. I ended up folding it in half as pictured and it looks good. I let it go for 3 hours to get some color and crust and I just put the layers of fat on it, meat temp is 160*, I started the smoker at 230* then after an hour bumped it to 275* to help the crust, and I just dropped it back to 240 to see how it goes with the fat on it.

More to come.

Cheers

 

[SmokinEdge]

Looks to be delicious for sure. Get it probe tender and should be good eats.

 

[kilohertz]

Just made Grandma Nora's baked bean recipe and added it to the smoker. Also took a pic of my tool box (maillbox) mod to get a little more airflow thru the smoker and not draw too much air thru the tool box, works great!

Cheers

 

[kilohertz]

Grandma Nora's bean recipe, just rough measures, I never measure anything.

2 cans baked beans, any variety, I use Heinz or Bush
about 2 TBSP molasses
about 3 TBSP BBQ sauce, your choice
about 2 TBSP brown sugar
about 1 -2 TBSP yellow mustard
whole medium yellow/spanish onion rough chopped
Stir everything together and put on the smoker for about 4 hours until bubbling, stir a few times throughout.

cheers

 

[tallbm]

kilohertz wish I caught this earlier. As you are seeing you will be fine folding it and I also second putting fat on top.

I have folded many a piece of my trimmed flat meat and put it in the pan under my briskets along with the excess fat.
These days I am smoking my briskets fat side down BUT taking the extra good fat and laying it on top of the brisket (meat side is now top) so I have like a fat sandwiched brisket being cooked.

The fat on top has cured ANY issue of having a random "too crispy" spot I would sometimes find when slicing and I am having more flavorful and amazing briskets than ever.

Also the beef fat turns into this amazing, smoked, crispy-ish, beef cracklin that is good to nibble on. My buddy basically only wants to eat the beef cracklins and not the brisket now hahahaha :D

This will turn out well for you and is already showing proof of that :D

 

[kilohertz]

Here we are after six hours it’s hit 185. I am wrapping it in foil and since it took me so long to figure out how to post on my phone, the meat temperature is now 190.

Lookin yummy.

Stay tuned.

 

[kilohertz]

Pulled at 206 and rested for 30 minutes, then sliced and it wasn’t awesome, but it was good, a touch dry, towards the center was better. Overall was pleased and the pork fat will be awesome for ??? It looks amazing.

Just finished dinner, brisket, beans and tomato basil and onion with balsamic vinegar and olive oil, my son and I were very happy with the meal.

Thanks again for the guidance.

Cheers

 

[02ebz06]

Nicely done, tasty lookin' meal.