# The secret to good brisket



## LexB89

Hi guy's,

I'm looking at doing brisket.

From what I have read about brisket is that it just requires a basic rub with no basting or wrapping in foil.

Is it something that is good with an injection marinade?

If not wrapping I assume you should leave the majority of the fat on.

Any thoughts?

Any tips would be great.


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## SmokinAl

I think your best bet would be to search brisket with our search feature. I inject mine with a combo of beef broth & garlic & onion powder. Or I strain French onion soup & inject that. I would trim off the hard fat on the side & leve the soft fat cut down to about 1/4”. Then if you have two racks just put the trimmed fat on the rack above the brisket & as it renders it will baste the brisket.  Here is a photo of my setup.








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					www.smokingmeatforums.com
				



Hope this helps, Al


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## leol2

Aaron Franklin has a youtube video on this. He tells you step by step what to do to get a world class brisket


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## AirForceDan

I threw a 6lb brisket (after trimming the fat), on the ECB morning at 5AM. I liberally salted it with coarse salt yesterday, then rubbed down with 2tbsp coarse black pepper, tbsp sugar, tsp garlic, tsp ancho chili powder and a tsp of chipotle chili powder. I followed a recipe for the rub, but I feel like there’s too much pepper. We’ll see. The brisket’s been on the smoker for 7 hours, at 225 degrees.  Currently, the temp is 183, I’m gonna let it smoke until it hits 203, then transfer it to a towel lined cooler. I’ve read several articles that state 203 is the magic number. Hoping for the best, as this is also my first brisket.


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## LexB89

Al that brisket looks amazing!

And the trimmed fat above the brisket is a great idea!

I'll have a search and see what's about.

Let me know how you get on Dan.


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## 912smoker

AirForceDan said:


> I threw a 6lb brisket (after trimming the fat), on the ECB morning at 5AM. I liberally salted it with coarse salt yesterday, then rubbed down with 2tbsp coarse black pepper, tbsp sugar, tsp garlic, tsp ancho chili powder and a tsp of chipotle chili powder. I followed a recipe for the rub, but I feel like there’s too much pepper. We’ll see. The brisket’s been on the smoker for 7 hours, at 225 degrees.  Currently, the temp is 183, I’m gonna let it smoke until it hits 203, then transfer it to a towel lined cooler. I’ve read several articles that state 203 is the magic number. Hoping for the best, as this is also my first brisket.


Sounds like a plan. 203 should be fine but all briskets are different.  Just be sure it's probe tender all over. And at least a 1 hr rest. The longer the better  for those juices to settle in !


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## LexB89

I just read basic brisket by disco.

That's a really good post.


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## Chasdev

Buy Franklin's excellent book.
It should be required reading for anyone interested in BBQ cooking.
He leaves out some very important details (such as how he places all his briskets cooked for the public in a holding oven which steams and holds the temps at 160 overnight before serving, and which insures extra tenderness).
That and he spends a minimum of $100 per brisket and only buys the VERY best quality briskets available.
You can cook a pretty good select grade brisket with some tinkering and injecting but if you start with top shelf meat, you don't need to fuss with it much.
All in all I learned more about smoking and smokers from his book than anything else I've read anytime, anywhere.


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## LexB89

I've added the meat smoking manifesto to the amazon basket!


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## kilo charlie

Aaron Franklin "The Brisket"

Aaron Franklin Brisket "The Cook"

Aaron Franklin "The Pay Off"

These 3 videos are worth the watch for anyone doing brisket.


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## Chasdev

Agree, after reading the book, the videos were a useful addition.
That's where I picked up on how he does not use a fire grate in his cookers, the sticks are placed on end and tilted in the firebox to slow and control the spread of flame.
I also learned he uses a miter saw to section his splits into chunks.


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## WaterinHoleBrew

Al’s method is great, I have used it and had awesome brisket!  

Also, here’s a post by a forum member that has smoked a lot of briskets!  Interesting read!






						How Long to Cook Brisket    Or    Misconception of the 1 to 1.5 hours per pound rule
					

It has been a long time since I posted this, we have a lot of Newbies and Folks Confused and Scared of Briskets This should help and useful     How Long to Cook Brisket                                                                                                                   Or...




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## yankee2bbq

LexB89 said:


> Hi guy's,
> 
> I'm looking at doing brisket.
> 
> From what I have read about brisket is that it just requires a basic rub with no basting or wrapping in foil.
> 
> Is it something that is good with an injection marinade?
> 
> If not wrapping I assume you should leave the majority of the fat on.
> 
> Any thoughts?
> 
> Any tips would be great.


I was intimidated by brisket.  It’s a large piece of meat...two different cuts of meat in one: the flat and point. Then to top it off, you had to know how to properly trim, separate the point from the flat and finally properly slicing the brisket across the grain.  But, you know what, I did it. And my brisket I did turned out great.  It was just salt and pepper. No wrap. And you know what helped me, I asked questions like you, read threads on SMF and finally watched YouTube videos on smoking brisket. 
With that being said, 

 SmokinAl
 has a great brisket recipe. I followed his recipe and it turned out great too. 
You can do it!


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## tallbm

LexB89 said:


> Hi guy's,
> 
> I'm looking at doing brisket.
> 
> From what I have read about brisket is that it just requires a basic rub with no basting or wrapping in foil.
> 
> Is it something that is good with an injection marinade?
> 
> If not wrapping I assume you should leave the majority of the fat on.
> 
> Any thoughts?
> 
> Any tips would be great.



Hi there and welcome!

Ok here are the main brisket tips that you have to nail and everything else is just preference and icing on the cake :)


Brisket is only done when it is tender, never by time or temp.  It is tender when you can stab ALL OVER with a kabob skewer and it goes in like butter ALL OVER.   Any spots with resistance means you gotta let it cook longer until it is tender ALL OVER.


 Temp will tell you when to check for tenderness.  I check at an Internal Temp (IT) 200F and if not tender I check again in 1-2 degree increments until tender.  Also, place the probe in the thickest yet center most spot of the FLAT muscle.  Probe placement is super difficult to get correct in a brisket so I use 3 probes aiming for the same area and go by the lowest reading one.


 Briskets (and pork butts and ribs) DON'T care what temp you smoke them at as long as you aren't burning the meat.  So feel free to crank the heat up, or don't worry if you have temp swings that go hotter, it won't care.  Personally smoking a brisket at any smoker temp below 275F is just prolonging the cook.  Save the time, crank the heat up :)


Time management, time management, time management!!!!!  The #1 reason it seems people mess up a brisket is because they don't plan the timing properly and they pull the brisket too early.
At a smoker temp of 275F with a brisket unwrapped the whole time I get a little over an hour a pound. So if I have a 12 pound brisket it usually takes me about 13'ish hours before it's tender and ready.
IMPORTANT: Add 4 more hours to your estimated cooking time. So a 12 pound brisket would take me 13'ish hours, I put that brisket on 17 hours before I plan to eat (13est time + 4 hrs buffer). If you finish early fantastic you tightly double wrap the brisket in foil then tightly wrap with 3 bath towels and set on the table and it will be steaming hot 4-5hrs later... every time!
If you don't finish 4 hours early well you have 4 hours of buffer to get it done before people come after you with forks and knives due to hunger and the food being late :)


 Trim like Aaron Franklin mentions.  Hell I don't even worry about cutting down the fat on the top, its rarely over 1/2 thick and I don't like trying to get down to 1/4 inch.  Also don't worry about any fat or silver skin on the bottom of the brisket it renders or crisps away so save the time trimming that stuff.


 Don't foil wrap a brisket too early or it will taste like oven pot roast beef.  I tell people all the time not to foil wrap a brisket until it at least hits 170-180F Internal Temp.  This will guarantee you don't get roast beef flavor... keep in mind though that this is after the stall has happened and most people try to foil wrap to speed up the stall.  I don't ever foil wrap period because I find unwrapped to have superior flavor to anything foil wrapped period.
If you are going to foil wrap to cut down the stall I would say wait until it's stalled a couple of hours and then wrap so you can hedge your to not get roast beef flavors.

So take those 6 things into consideration and you will have a successful brisket smoke.
From there you can figure out if you want to inject. How you want to season. How you do/don't want to wrap. If you want to with higher temps. Changes to how you trim, etc. etc. etc.

I hope this info helps!  :)


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## AirForceDan

tallbm said:


> Hi there and welcome!
> 
> Ok here are the main brisket tips that you have to nail and everything else is just preference and icing on the cake :)
> 
> 
> Brisket is only done when it is tender, never by time or temp.  It is tender when you can stab ALL OVER with a kabob skewer and it goes in like butter ALL OVER.   Any spots with resistance means you gotta let it cook longer until it is tender ALL OVER.
> 
> 
> Temp will tell you when to check for tenderness.  I check at an Internal Temp (IT) 200F and if not tender I check again in 1-2 degree increments until tender.  Also, place the probe in the thickest yet center most spot of the FLAT muscle.  Probe placement is super difficult to get correct in a brisket so I use 3 probes aiming for the same area and go by the lowest reading one.
> 
> 
> Briskets (and pork butts and ribs) DON'T care what temp you smoke them at as long as you aren't burning the meat.  So feel free to crank the heat up, or don't worry if you have temp swings that go hotter, it won't care.  Personally smoking a brisket at any smoker temp below 275F is just prolonging the cook.  Save the time, crank the heat up :)
> 
> 
> Time management, time management, time management!!!!!  The #1 reason it seems people mess up a brisket is because they don't plan the timing properly and they pull the brisket too early.
> At a smoker temp of 275F with a brisket unwrapped the whole time I get a little over an hour a pound. So if I have a 12 pound brisket it usually takes me about 13'ish hours before it's tender and ready.
> IMPORTANT: Add 4 more hours to your estimated cooking time. So a 12 pound brisket would take me 13'ish hours, I put that brisket on 17 hours before I plan to eat (13est time + 4 hrs buffer). If you finish early fantastic you tightly double wrap the brisket in foil then tightly wrap with 3 bath towels and set on the table and it will be steaming hot 4-5hrs later... every time!
> If you don't finish 4 hours early well you have 4 hours of buffer to get it done before people come after you with forks and knives due to hunger and the food being late :)
> 
> 
> Trim like Aaron Franklin mentions.  Hell I don't even worry about cutting down the fat on the top, its rarely over 1/2 thick and I don't like trying to get down to 1/4 inch.  Also don't worry about any fat or silver skin on the bottom of the brisket it renders or crisps away so save the time trimming that stuff.
> 
> 
> Don't foil wrap a brisket too early or it will taste like oven pot roast beef.  I tell people all the time not to foil wrap a brisket until it at least hits 170-180F Internal Temp.  This will guarantee you don't get roast beef flavor... keep in mind though that this is after the stall has happened and most people try to foil wrap to speed up the stall.  I don't ever foil wrap period because I find unwrapped to have superior flavor to anything foil wrapped period.
> If you are going to foil wrap to cut down the stall I would say wait until it's stalled a couple of hours and then wrap so you can hedge your to not get roast beef flavors.
> 
> So take those 6 things into consideration and you will have a successful brisket smoke.
> From there you can figure out if you want to inject. How you want to season. How you do/don't want to wrap. If you want to with higher temps. Changes to how you trim, etc. etc. etc.
> 
> I hope this info helps!  :)


Tallbm hit the nail on the head. I wrapped at 145 when the temperature didn’t move for an hour and a half. Once done and rested 9 hours later and thought it tasted like juicy roast beef. I was very disappointed. No wrap next time. And I’m sticking with a traditional Texas rub


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## binnesman

Does wrapping in paper keep you from getting that pot roast taste?


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## tallbm

binnesman said:


> Does wrapping in paper keep you from getting that pot roast taste?



I've not paper wrapped so I can't give my direct experiences.
I have read where the paper still allows smoke flavor and such in.

If you notice, Aaron Franklin wraps when his briskets look good not by a specific IT. Translation = he wraps after he knows it's got that look that indicates good taste.
In a number of places (his books and videos) he indicates that paper wrapping still allows for more smoke and flavor to happen but not like unwrapped.

Here's a video I saw before where Franklin does briskets all 3 ways. Foil wrapped, paper wrapped, and unwrapped. Spoiler... they seem to be way more talkative and enamored with the unwrapped brisket :)


That video should help you out and pay attention to what they are eating and the last remark of the video as it ends ;)


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## schlotz

tallbm
 has you covered on the key points.  I will add that if you are going to wrap, it's way better to use butcher paper (BP) than foil and as he indicated do not wrap too early. Best to monitor the IT and note the temps.  You'll see when the stall happens. I wait until it's been in the stall for at least an hour or more before reaching for the BP. Usually running @275º that tends to be somewhere around 170-175º.  Note running at 275º does shorten the stall and for a few of my smokes it almost eliminated it but that is highly variable as each brisket is different.

Wrapping does come with a couple of issues to deal with.  First getting the probe(s) back into the flat at the right depth. Second probing for doneness is a bit tougher to get use to, having to punch through the BP.  Personally I tear open the paper when it gets time to start probe testing.  Last point: if you are pulling a done (tender) brisket and before resting it, make sure you leave it open on the counter for at least 10-15 minutes to stop the cooking process before wrapping it up tight with towels etc... monitor the IT to make sure it has started downward for at least 5º.


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## LexB89

All good stuff.

I have my brisket on for the weekend.

Should I go with fat side up or down?


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## tallbm

LexB89 said:


> All good stuff.
> 
> I have my brisket on for the weekend.
> 
> Should I go with fat side up or down?



Put the fat wherever you get the most heat.  For example if you get heat from below then fat side down.  If you don't have such a heat behavior then I would default to fat side up :)


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## LexB89

I'm cooking on a weber smokey mountain so the heat is below.

Fat side down then?


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## tallbm

LexB89 said:


> I'm cooking on a weber smokey mountain so the heat is below.
> 
> Fat side down then?



If the heat is directly radiating from below against the meat then the general consensus of seasoned brisket pros is to put the fat towards that direction, so yeah downwards.  if there is something deflecting the heat to where it isn't directly hitting the brisket from below then I would default to fat side up.


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## LexB89

I got my brisket delivered today.

I didn't want a whole brisket as if only feeding 4.

I asked for a 2.5kg (5.5lb) point cut with all the fat left on.

I got this with next to no fat at all.

Any ideas as to what I got?


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## tallbm

LexB89 said:


> I got my brisket delivered today.
> 
> I didn't want a whole brisket as if only feeding 4.
> 
> I asked for a 2.5kg (5.5lb) point cut with all the fat left on.
> 
> I got this with next to no fat at all.
> 
> Any ideas as to what I got?
> 
> View attachment 499616



That is most definitely the Flat muscle but I can't tell if they left some small amount of the Point on towards the top and underneath.  In any case they removed all the fat.

I would smoke this to about 180F Internal Temp (IT) then place on 2 layers of foil and splash in a little liquid like 1-2 floz (water, left over wine, beef broth, one of those) and then I would tightly rap and smoke until it passes the tenderness test. I would check for tenderness around 200F IT.

Since there is no fat you have a major risk of drying this guy out so I would definitely wrap with FOIL not butcher paper but I always recommend waiting to 180F'ish so you are sure to get smoked BBQ brisket flavor and not roast beef flavor.

You may want to call them up and tell them they failed miserably and send them a picture of what you were expecting so maybe they can get it right next time... if there is a next time :)


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## LexB89

Thanks for clearing that up.

I wasn't sure what I was looking at.

They obviously haven't done what I asked.

I'll ring them on Monday!

I need to wrap this then. 

And spritz.


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## tallbm

LexB89 said:


> Thanks for clearing that up.
> 
> I wasn't sure what I was looking at.
> 
> They obviously haven't done what I asked.
> 
> I'll ring them on Monday!
> 
> I need to wrap this then.
> 
> And spritz.



I would only spritz/add liquid when you wrap it in foil.

In the US you would ask for an "untrimmed whole packer brisket" which looks like this:
Top brisket is fat side up; Bottom brisket is fat side down view; Both untrimmed


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## LexB89

This is the first time I've had brisket from them.

I spend a lot of money there tho.

I have sent them an email.

I'm sure they will do something to make it up to me.

Whatever cut I get, if all the fat is left on, it should look like the picture you posted.


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## tallbm

LexB89 said:


> This is the first time I've had brisket from them.
> 
> I spend a lot of money there tho.
> 
> I have sent them an email.
> 
> I'm sure they will do something to make it up to me.
> 
> Whatever cut I get, if all the fat is left on, it should look like the picture you posted.



Hopefully they make it right for you.

Yeah pretty much whatever cut you get should look closer to the pics above.

So the top brisket the Point is to the left.  If they gave you just a point it would start about the halfway mark and go left being cut from laying on top of the Flat.  The Point will always be smaller than the Flat.

If just the Flat then imagine the Point removed as I just described and then you would have the pic like that but a much larger cut of meat. So imagine your cut if you flip it over with fat over the top covering about 3/4 of the whole Flat muscle.

The cut you requested would litterally be go to the halfway point of the top brisket pick and just cut cross ways (top to bottom).  If you flipped over the cut as you requested it would look like the bottom brisket at the halfway mark and go to the right.
At that point if you look at the bottom brisket pic you would cut away that first "row" of fat (looks like there are 2 rows one on top of the other). That first row is the deckle that is useless hard fat that goes down between the flat and point muscle some. You remove that.
The bottom row of fat in the pic is just fat that is actually on top and on the side of the flat muscle so you would keep it or trim it down to 1/2 an inch. 






This picture is a really good one for reference.  Makes me want to eat brisket now but they will go on sale again before the 4th of July here in Texas and I have 38 pounds of it in the freezer for smoking for grinding atm so I'm good to go :)


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## Berettaclayshooter

I only use butcher paper for brisket and pork shoulders, foil for ribs.  Butcher paper doesn't ruin the bark like foil does.  I use apple juice and apple cider vinegar for my spritz and do that about every 30-45 mins starting after the first hour of cooking up until I wrap. I check at 190F for tenderness, but it usually takes until about 205F until it's super tender.  I use the bend/ jiggle test, no poking for me please.  Rest a min of 2 hours without a towel or blanket if you plan on eating soon after the 2 hour mark, this will allow the brisket to cool and stay juicy.  If resting longer use one of the above to insulate and slow cooling.

   If using a probe, don't remove it  just wrap over it, then you aren't hemorrhaging juices from the brisket.  I also don't subscribe to poking a bunch of hole into the meat before it's rested, again fluid loss and dryness...

   Some say only slow and low is the way to go, they have too damned much time on their hands.  Hot and fast or medium heat 275-300F will yield good results without sleeping when it's time to eat from tending a smoker for 14 plus hours.  

  Use a water pan always when smoking, don't get wrapped up with crazy flavorings for the water pan, plain old water does great and keeps a moist environment. Brisket is best with simple seasoning coarse salt, coarse pepper mixed 50/50 add some granulated garlic and onion if you like, about 1/8th of what you use for salt and pepper.  The meat is the star, the smoke and seasoning are supporting actors in this movie.


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