# Going to try my first brisket today



## Faarg (Jun 9, 2018)

With some urging from my wife, who loves  brisket, I've decided to take brisket with my second smoke. I'm going to try a whole brisket and make burnt ends with the point. 

Any suggestions or tips? I'll post some photos of how it goes.


----------



## SmokinAl (Jun 9, 2018)

Briskets can be tough to cook right!
There are plenty of threads on here on how to cook them.
Good luck!
Al


----------



## gmc2003 (Jun 9, 2018)

Good luck they can be finicky. Let us know how it turns out.

Chris


----------



## lancep (Jun 9, 2018)

The secret to brisket is patience. You have to let it cook until it’s done! You can do all the fancy crap you want but if you get impatient and pull it before it’s ready it’s not going to matter one bit. If it’s not probing tender in EVERY part, it is not done. People get worried @202*  that it’s going to dry out, it won’t. I’ve taken briskets north of 210 and they were tender and juicy as can be.


----------



## dcecil (Jun 9, 2018)

You got this, check in if you have any questions.  Enjoy your cook.


----------



## jbellard (Jun 9, 2018)

As others have said, be patient and be sure that the flat is probe tender all over otherwise you will love the point and be back on here saying that the point was great but the flat was dry and tough.  You want that fat in the flat to basically melt.  That’s when you’ll love the end product.


----------



## E's Smokin (Jun 9, 2018)

Good luck Faarg, I'll be watching this thread, I plan on doing a brisket in the near future


----------



## Faarg (Jun 9, 2018)

30 minutes in and all appears to be going well so far. Working on getting the temperature set but I've been between 220 and 235 the whole time.


----------



## Faarg (Jun 9, 2018)

Holly2015 said:


> To help regulate temperatures a water pan does wonders. Put it in the smoker to warm up for 30 to 60 minutes before the meat goes in. Thermal mass is your friend. I'd also put the meat in the middle and the thermometer above the meat.



Thanks for the tip. I moved the brisket to the middle and the thermometer to the top rack. 3 hours in and holding steady at 225.

So far, so good.


----------



## Faarg (Jun 9, 2018)

7 hours into the cook and an IT of 159. Smoker has been holding a consistent temp of 225.


----------



## mike243 (Jun 10, 2018)

Looking good,only thing I see is with your smoke tube getting drowned by grease and water and maybe hindering smoke I'd drop it down under some thing that will block stuff falling on it


----------



## Faarg (Jun 10, 2018)

Finally pulled it off after 18.5 hours. IT right at 200 and soft like butter. It's now in the cooler for 2 hours.


----------



## dcecil (Jun 10, 2018)

Congrats, you made it bubba.  Can’t wait to see this thing sliced up.  Looks real good so far


----------



## lancep (Jun 10, 2018)

dcecil said:


> Congrats, you made it bubba.  Can’t wait to see this thing sliced up.  Looks real good so far


Me either


----------



## SmokinAl (Jun 10, 2018)

Do you have any sliced shots, cause that brisket looks amazing!
Especially for your first try!
Al


----------



## Faarg (Jun 10, 2018)

The taste and texture was amazing. But I had a tough time carving slices. The meat kept falling apart as I cut it. I think that part of the problem was not having the right knife for the job. But not bad for my first attempt.


----------



## dcecil (Jun 10, 2018)

Did you go with or against the grain when you sliced


----------



## Faarg (Jun 10, 2018)

I cut against the grain.


----------



## dcecil (Jun 10, 2018)

Faarg said:


> I cut against the grain.


I think this looks like a success.  Great Job on your First one.  :)


----------



## DaveWNY (Jun 11, 2018)

Just something that I have found of note.... If wondering what knife to use for slicing, and if you make jerky and don't have a real meat slicer, Cabelas has their version of a Jerky slicer which is a cutting board in a steel guide that comes with a knife. The knife out of the box is not bad but once hit with a fine stone was really sharp and would work perfectly on this brisket. I think the blade was 10 or 11 inches. Just trying to help on this one...

The end product looks great!!!


----------



## Faarg (Jun 13, 2018)

And I'm hooked!  My wife was at the local Costco Business Center today and I asked her to pick up another brisket.  13-pound prime this time around.  My goal is to get the brisket in the smoker by 8 pm on Friday night and look at taking her off hopefully a little bit after noon.  I've definitely learned a few tricks and will try to put them in play this time around.

1) My Amaz-n tube wasn't burning the first 4 hours last time -- that won't happen again;
2) I'm going to start off on a middle shelf rather than the top shelf;
3) I'm going to put a pan under the brisket to catch some of the droppings that I wasted on my last cook;
4) I'm going to trust my Themopro and avoid the temptation to double check the temperature at 200 degrees and let the brisket run up to closer to 203 degrees before checking it;
5) I have better knives to cut off the fat during the prep stage and to slice it after it has cooled down after the smoke;
6) I am going to try some Montreal Steak seasoning on top of the rub and cut some cross hatches in the fat layer so that the rub and smoke can penetrate better; and
7) I now actually truly understand where the point and flat meet so I can better separate them and do burnt ends.

I'm sure that there were plenty of other things that could have been done better but this is my focus on this time around.


----------



## RiversideSm0ker (Jun 13, 2018)

Faarg that is an awesome piece of beef. What a great job you did with that. I'm now just chomping at the bit for the 4th. That's when I will be making my next brisket. Enjoy those leftovers. They are the best kind. 

George


----------



## E's Smokin (Jun 14, 2018)

That looks soooo good


----------



## tallbm (Jun 15, 2018)

Faarg said:


> And I'm hooked!  My wife was at the local Costco Business Center today and I asked her to pick up another brisket.  13-pound prime this time around.  My goal is to get the brisket in the smoker by 8 pm on Friday night and look at taking her off hopefully a little bit after noon.  I've definitely learned a few tricks and will try to put them in play this time around.
> 
> 1) My Amaz-n tube wasn't burning the first 4 hours last time -- that won't happen again;
> 2) I'm going to start off on a middle shelf rather than the top shelf;
> ...



Sounds like a good plan for improvement.  I'm looking forward to see how it comes out and what the next iteration of improvements looks like.  Brisket is seriously one of those cuts that teaches you something all the time and seems to always have room for improvement in the process :)


----------



## SmokinAl (Jun 15, 2018)

Well I think congratulations are in order!
For your first attempt at a brisket you did a fantastic job.
It looks tender & juicy & perfectly cooked.
Nicely done & congrats on making the carousel!
Al


----------



## radio (Jun 16, 2018)

Congrats on a great job on your first brisket!  Carousel worthy for sure!


----------



## Suam461 (Jun 16, 2018)

That slice shot is a thing of beauty! Can't wait to try a brisket, it's one of my favorites.


----------



## Faarg (Jun 16, 2018)

And attempt #2 was a success.  I added a lot more smoke this time but didn't get as good of a smoke ring.  But the crowning achievement was getting the point properly separated and making burnt ends.  I've never had them before and they were amazing!


----------



## Ishi (Jun 17, 2018)

For your first Brisket you nailed it. Looks very juicy Like!


----------



## nyupstater (Jun 18, 2018)

Faarg said:


> View attachment 366906
> 
> 
> 
> ...


What smoker is that your using?


----------



## Faarg (Jun 18, 2018)

nyupstater said:


> What smoker is that your using?



I'm using a Masterbuilt propane smoker.


----------



## blathnac (Jun 19, 2018)

Brisket looks great.  Put a pan of Dutch's wicked baked beans under it to catch the drippings like you said on plan bullet point #4


----------

