# 1st Q-View - Basic Brisket



## rocknbbq (Oct 29, 2013)

This is my first Q-View. Doing a Brisket Flat. Believe me I tried to find a packer, but after checking every store I ended up at SAMs and had to settle. I will try to get burnt-ends off the flat.    Oh well, still an intro nevertheless.

Tying to do a basic brisket, salt and pepper with a little sugar, cayenne, onion, garlic, ancho powder. Not going to crutch this, although the 1st attempt was crutched and it turned out beautiful. I want to try and develop a bark on this one. Turns out the wife and me like the burnt ends and Caramelized crust meat more than the center cuts.

Instead of the crutch, I will use plenty of water in the smoke chamber, and inject with the juice from the previous brisket which was strained, de-fatted, and frozen. After reading many posts, I'm hoping that a high humidity in the cooker gets me past the stall faster.

Here is the Brisket Flatmbefore prepping. 9.3lbs.













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Cleaned and trimmed. Ready for Rub.













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Rubbed and ready to chill for about 6 hours. Basic Rub SPOG, a little Ancho and Cayenne for heat. I use some Soy sauce before slathering with Olive Oil. I minimized the salt in the Rub and in the Beef Stock for injection. Gotta be real careful not to "stack" my salts up. Been there already, not tasty.

Gonna start this cook at about 11pm. Looking forward to an early Sunday dinner. Brisket, smashed potatoes, fresh cut corn. Yum!













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Here are some pics of the equipment. Medina River Large backyard. The name  "large" is deceiving b/c it is only large compared to the "small" one. 
	

	
	
		
		



		
			






     It is 16x32 so not too bad. Can do 2 full picnic hams easily.

Oh BTW not to "rub it in" but the temp this past weekend was about 70-75f. Clear blue skies.













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Details for those interested in SFB mods. Thanks to SnakePilot for the Nomex gasket part numbers. Also showing expanded steel firebox.













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Inside cook grill removed showing the stack extended down to grill and my homemade flue for the firebox. It was originally a aluminum pan, so I could bend it easily and get what I wanted. It works, so it stays. You may also be able to see the silicon that I used for a gasket around the smoke chamber. It works ok - but I am going to scrape it off eventually and use the rest of the nomex gasket I have.













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The grill still gets used for reverse sear, and it has a nice rotisserie. I don't miss it much now though. You can see the Offset in the distance.













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Here we are setup to cook. Note the water pan right over the flue for the firebox. Also the ET-732 Temp probe. Wood charcoal loaded to the max gives me about 6-7 hours of stable temps. I need tips on keeping temps stable as the initial load dies  and new coals need to be added. After teh initial load fades, I seem to be doing that about once every hour. Any advice (other than going gas) would be appreciated.













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Temp is at 225f and Thin Blue Smoke is a lock. Its hickory. Time for the meat!













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Oh yeah - I found a way to block off that top vent as it creates a backflow. Smoke and heat pour out of that tope vent. I jammed a piece of tinfoil in there and closed the vent tightly on it. There is a mod that I have not done yet to make another metal vent so I can adjust them individually. Just haven't done it yet.













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Yep - going well. At 150 here and I am going to avoid the crutch.













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Smokin at night requires some amenities! Those are golf balls as I practice chipping in the daylight.













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Daytime brings mankinds best invention. You guess which. Although you can see by the temps I am just about to wrap that Brisket and rest it for a while.













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Oh the irony. I love to use this for resting.













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Ready for slicing. Looks great, smells great. The moment of truth. I am so anxious at this point that I cannot wait to cut into it and taste.













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Here is the sliced meat. It was outstanding. I will use the crutch from now on as it is a time-saver.













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Oh yeah. I cut the ends of the flat off as they did get a little dry. Will try to revive them with some jus and BBQ. I will call them the burnt ends, but I am not hopefull about them.













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Well most of the brisket is gone, but the burnt ends were salty and dry. Won't try that again with a flat.

I am eating a sandwich now as I type. Love it!

Thanks to all who contribute to this site. I have learned a great deal in a short time, and the food has been excellent.

Warmest Regards,

John

RocknBBQ


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## kc5tpy (Oct 29, 2013)

Hello RocknBBQ.  Looks good from here.  Great meal had by all.  Good job.  Kep Smokin!

Danny


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## seenred (Oct 29, 2013)

That looks delicious!  Great post, John...excellent qview!  Nicely done!
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





Red


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## disco (Oct 29, 2013)

That, sir, is a fine looking brisket. I love the step by step and pictures.

Great post.







Disco


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## gleemerritt3 (Oct 30, 2013)

THAT LOOKS AWESOME!! I love the step by step and the pics! I smoked my 1st brisket a couple weeks ago, 6lb flat took me 9 hours.:drool:


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## turnandburn (Oct 30, 2013)

John, it Looks great! And im also glad you found out that burnt ends don't come from a flat...at all. Lol. That's just asking for dry brisket.. smoke on my friend. ;-)


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## so ms smoker (Oct 30, 2013)

Nice looking brisket. Well done! Great Q-view too. I really like the charcoal basket. I believe that is the best upgrade you can do to an SFB smoker.
 

   Mike


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## redheelerdog (Nov 3, 2013)

Looks awesome John - really nice smoke ring on that brisky. Makes me hungry!


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