# 5 lb brisket flat in WSM with lots of photos & Q-View!!!



## dward51 (Feb 17, 2013)

Well the wife brought home a 5 pound trimmed brisked flat the other day.  They had it marked down 50% as the sell by date was the next day.  Not the brisket cut I would have preferred, but hey I have to give her an A+ for the effort and the value (I would have preferred a full brisket). 

It was already trimmed to about 1/8" to 1/4" fat on the cap side and squared off into a rectangle so not much meat prep involved.  Figured I would slather it with the Worcestershire and beef bouillon paste and them hit it with some rub.  So I set the cryovac package out on the counter and prepped the WSM.

Plan "A" was to see if I could use my new AMNPS pellet tray in the WSM. Found out a WSM is not the best environment for a pellet tray, especially with a BBQ Guru power draft.  Since you have all the vents closed down and the fan from the power draft is the only air source, and at the start of a smoke when the coals are fresh there is really no run time for the fan, there is little air flow.  The AMNPS does not stay lit in this setup.  So it was worth a tray (in all fairness I doubted it would work and this is not why I bought the tray, but though I would try it.  The tray works just fine, just not in a WSM which really does not need it anyway).

So back to reality, took out the tray and tossed in 3 hunks of hickory on the lit coals and let the pit settle back down to around 205*. Meanwhile, back inside the kitchen, it's meat prep time.....

Opened the cabinet to grab the Worcestershire and ??????  It's not there!!!!!   For some reason that is the one thing I did not check inventory of yesterday when I made plans to smoke the brisket today.  I was certain I had about 1/2 a bottle, but nope.  None!!!!  Ok, plan "B" time.  Grabbed some Moore's marinade out of the fridge and mixed the bouillon with that to make a thin paste.  Slathered this all over the brisket and then patted in the dry rub.

Started prepping the WSM around 8:30, but lost a lot of time fiddling with the AMNPS tray. So by 10AM the WSM was stable at 215* (I wanted to go 205 as this is a thin brisket flat and it will cook rather quickly, but I had the clay pot base in instead of a water pan due to trying the AMNPS tray first so it's a little harder to keep the temps down that low with that setup).  The thin blue hickory smoke is visible in the sunlight. 

OK, no hating on the coating outside my WSM, that's my eco-friendly insulating blanket of dust for cold weather smoking (it was 23* here this morning) - really looks bad in this photo but does not look that bad in real life.













100_2937.JPG



__ dward51
__ Feb 17, 2013






Mangled a large foil pan to act as a drip pan and heat shield for the two ends and put the brisket on the smoker fat side down.  1/2 pan was to small and the large chaffing insert was to big, so bend and crunch the large one to fit.

And off we go......         (will update through the day)













100_2936.JPG



__ dward51
__ Feb 17, 2013






Now that the WSM is set up and running, it's back inside for a bite of breakfast.  Made what I call "Dave McMuffins" which is my takeoff on the sausage McMuffin. Instead of using the whole muffin at a time, I use both halves to make two of them (it's too thick with muffin on top AND bottom).  Construction is high fiber multi-grain muffin half, slice of cheese, sausage, one egg scrambled and folded over, and a slice of cheese on top.  Throw in a yogurt cup and a big cup of fresh coffee to complete the picture. Mmmmmm......













100_2939.JPG



__ dward51
__ Feb 17, 2013






I'm going to leave the brisket alone (no peaking, no photos, etc...) for 3 hours then put the meat probe in (I forgot to put it in when I put the meat on, but it's not big deal).  Plan is to get the brisket to around 165 and then foil with about 3/4 cup of beef broth (I'm generally following the Chris Lilly plan here).  Then take the foiled brisket up to 195 to 200* and let rest in cooler.   I want to keep the WSM temp around 205, but it is holding at 215* right now (hard to get it to 205 with a clay saucer base and the Guru is not even running with it at 215* and 2 1/2 hours into the smoke).  Being a fairly thin brisket it will get to 165 fairly quickly and slowing this down will give it a little more time to take on smoke before foiling.  Then after foiling it will still need time for the collagen to break down as it approaches the final temp.


----------



## pgsmoker64 (Feb 17, 2013)

Lookin good so far DW!

Keep on posting that q-view!

Great lookin TBS....

Bill


----------



## dward51 (Feb 17, 2013)

12:45PM update

Well this is not what I want to see right now.  Clay pot base is not going to work when trying to keep temps between 205 and 215 (prefer 205* on this particular piece of meat as it's not that thick and I'm trying to slow the smoke down).













100_2940.JPG



__ dward51
__ Feb 17, 2013






No problem.  Time to pull the clay pot base out and put in the foiled water pan with about 1.5 gallons of hot tap water.  This will make it a much more managable smoke in the temp range I want for this cut of meat. 

Also figured since I had to open the WSM, might as well flip the meat over (fat side now up), put the meat probe in and get a quick update photo.

10 minutes after the change, the pit is stable at 205* and the meat temp is 139. Guru is now puffing briefly every 30 seconds or so where it was not running at all with the clay pot base.  Much better control of temps with this setup.  So water is the preferred heat sink for this range of temps in a WSM.













100_2942.JPG



__ dward51
__ Feb 17, 2013






Next update will come when the meat hits 165 and I foil it with beef broth for the rest of the cook (no longer a smoke at that point since the meat is encased in foil).  Will finish it on the WSM though, but at that point there would be no reason not to use the electric oven (except this is SMOKING meats forum, not BAKING meats forum).


----------



## dward51 (Feb 17, 2013)

2:45PM update.

WSM is rock solid at 205* (I love water pans!!!  And the BBQ Guru!!!) and the meat is at 154* internal.  Sorry no photos as I'm not cracking the pit open until it's time to foil  Looks like putting the water pan in was a good decision.

Back porch is starting to smell real good too!!!

Time to take a shower and get the smoke out of my hair from all that messing with the pellet tray and the WSM in the early stages.  I need to head to the store and get some Worcestershire sauce as I also want to make "French Onion Soup Stuffed Mushrooms" to go with this brisket.  Will post the recipe and photos for that as well (probably start another thread but will also link here).













French Onion Soup mushrooms.jpg



__ dward51
__ Feb 17, 2013


----------



## pgsmoker64 (Feb 17, 2013)

Brisket is looking great DW!

Burnt Ends today?


----------



## dward51 (Feb 17, 2013)

Nope, no burnt ends today. It's a flat and that portion of the brisket was absent from this cut. 

Like I said, I would have preferred the full brisket but the wife brought this one home (and no way I'm ever going to say anything but "great job honey").   I'm actually not sure exactly what cut it is.  It was marked as a trimmed brisket, but it's cut into a rectangle shape and it's about 2" thick.  It has the diagonal grain like a brisket flat thought, but the fat cap looked more like the cap on a packer and not a flat (that's why I'm not 100% sure about the cut).

I'm hoping by running at 205* for a little longer time I can keep it moist and give it a little longer for the collagen to break down after I foil it.  Also let it stay in the band where it accepts smoke a little longer because once I foil it at 165* it will not be in the smoke anymore.  Foiling with beef bouillon "juice" for the rest of the ride above 165* and during the final rest in a cooler will hopefully insure it's moist and tender.


----------



## dward51 (Feb 17, 2013)

6:45PM update

Brisket stalled at 159*.  Thought it would never get to 165* but it finally did. Opened the WSM and I was greeted with this lovely view!













100_2944.JPG



__ dward51
__ Feb 17, 2013






Foiled the brisket  and after making a sort of tub shape out of the foil, coated the brisket in 1 cup of beef broth.   Then wrapped it back up and back into the smoker it went to finish at around 200*.   Since the WSM had been running since about 8:45AM I also surveyed the charcoal status.  Had about 1/3 a ring left, so I figured I might as well put some more in.  I did not start with a full ring as I "thought" this 5 pound brisket would not take this long (it showed me I was wrong).  Not worried about the fumes from unlit charcoal as the brisket is buttoned up and should not be able to take on any more smoke flavor at this point.  So I just shook the fire ring to clear the ash and put in about another 1/2 ring of fresh unlit.  Should be more than enough to complete this cook.

Reset the Guru to 235* on the pit and 200* on the meat and back to waiting I go.....  (It's taking so long, I bumped the temp up now that the brisket is foiled)

Note:  The camera perspective in this photo makes the brisket look much smaller than it really is.













100_2945.JPG



__ dward51
__ Feb 17, 2013


















100_2946.JPG



__ dward51
__ Feb 17, 2013


----------



## mikeintx (Feb 17, 2013)

Looks nice! I have a brisket going as well, been on for about 3 hours now. It's a small one, but it'll still need another 2-3 hours before foiling. Now, let's talk about that recipe for [color= rgb(24, 24, 24)]French Onion Soup Stuffed Mushrooms - those look delicious![/color]


----------



## pgsmoker64 (Feb 17, 2013)

That is a great pic of the brisket DW!

Sometimes it's really hard to keep from pulling it off and eating it right there sometimes, huh?

Keep it coming my friend.

Bill


----------



## dward51 (Feb 17, 2013)

9:30PM update

Distractions, distractions, and distractions....

Well it's now 9:30 and for the past 1 1/2 hours I've been on the phone with a buddy I have not seen in a while who moved to Costa Rica.  Next thing I know I look at the clock and realize the brisket should be about done.  Of course I was sitting at the other end of the house while talking on the phone and had not heard the Guru "meat done" alarm go off.  I had intended on pulling the meat at around 200* and oh my..... meat is now at 210*.

Quick grab the green meat cooler (it's a mid-size Coleman with a green top that is perfect for hold 4 foiled pork shoulders, hence the name the "meat cooler").  Now to let it rest.  Might be hard to wait as that meat smelled wonderful and from the ease with which the foiled brisket bent in my hands when I took it off, it should be super tender.

No photos for now as it would just be another photo of the foiled brisket like the one previously posted.  Will post Q-view when we open that tomb of lovely silver goodness....

Also never made it to the store for the other ingredients I needed for the Onion Soup mushrooms.  I will post the recipe and link it in a little while, but I will not be making it tonight.  Like I said, distractions, distractions, distractions.....


----------



## dward51 (Feb 17, 2013)

*Update - French Onion Soup Stuffed Mushrooms recipe has been posted.*

As per requests, I have posted the French Onion Soup Stuffed Mushrooms recipe in a separete thread under the Veggies area.  Here is a link to that full recipe.

*http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/136657/french-onion-soup-mushrooms*


----------



## dward51 (Feb 18, 2013)

As promised, here is the final Q-view shots of the finished brisket.  It only got to rest 45 minutes, but it was enough. Had a great hickory flavor to the bark and was very moist and tender.  Tasted great tonight and will make great sandwiches tomorrow.  Thanks for viewing.....













100_2947.JPG



__ dward51
__ Feb 18, 2013


















100_2948.JPG



__ dward51
__ Feb 18, 2013


















100_2949.JPG



__ dward51
__ Feb 18, 2013


















100_2950.JPG



__ dward51
__ Feb 18, 2013


----------



## pgsmoker64 (Feb 18, 2013)

Looks nice and juicy to me Dave!!!

Great job - how did it taste?


----------



## hambone1950 (Feb 18, 2013)

Looks awesome. Thanks for a very detailed and informative post. :grilling_smilie:


----------

