Brisket HELP!!!!! (so confused)

[memartha]

I have read a million and one posts on here about how to smoke a brisket and I am so confused. I can see that there are many different methods, depending on who is the chef for the day. Anyway.....I have a couple of questions and hope you guys have some answers for us! We are doing a whole packer (12#)

1: Trim or not?

2: Fat side up or down?

3. Some mentioned to separate the point from the flat by cutting along the fat line and cooking the pieces side by side. Is that really necessary? Just seems like we will end up with a dryer piece of meat.

4: 1.5 hours/pound?

5: Should we be monitoring the internal temp of the flat? It seems as though that would be the logical thing to do because if we monitor the point, by the time it gets to 190-200 the flat will be ruined.

6: Water/soda/beer, etc. pan or not?

7: How much wood should we use for smoking?

Sorry for all the questions, but this wasn't a cheap piece of meat so want to make sure we are able to eat the meat after all the hard work! HAHA!

[Hozman]

1. I buy untrimmed and trim fat myself. I like about 1/4" fat cap on it

2. Fat side up

3. I separate the flat from the point. Reason is the flat will hit temp before the point. I just wrap flat in foil while point finishes. Approx60-90 minutes later.

4. 1.5-2/lb good guide. I cook to 190-195* if slicing.

5. See number 3

6. no

7. Depends on cooker

[Pigslips]

I've only done one as a private smoker, many in business. One thing you'll learn is "there are no hard and set ways". Read here ask as you have done, then have fun come what may.
_________________

"The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sauces"

[DntBrnDPig]

That's the problem with briskets, it isnt cheap to learn on. Hopefully at this point you have a good idea of how your cooker cooks.

I buy they whole packer briskets and cook it until my flat is at 195. Then I wrap in foil for an hour and then separate the flat and point and slice.

I also use water in my pan. I dont think using anything else has ever made a difference in any of my smokes.

Good luck. The key to brisket for me is a stable cooking temp and keeping an eye on the brisket temp.
_________________
Backwoods Competitor
Char-Griller Trio
Great Smokey Mountain (gasser)

[k.a.m.]

memartha, I am going to say up front that you will most likely not be any closer to a definite answer once this thread is complete. The problem is so many members have different techniques that work for them. And you will have to trust your instinct knowing your cooker and follow some ideas that you feel will work for you. I am going to give you our method that works for us through your questions but others will have a different take. I agree with DntBrnDPig that briskets are not cheap and require knowledge of your cooker to maintain constant temps.

1: Trim or not?
I rarely trim briskets in the 12lb range, the only thing I remove is the hard fat.

2: Fat side up or down?
If I am cooking on the WSM or UDS the fat cap is down if I am cooking on my offset the cap usually starts up then about 2/3rds in it gets flipped to down.

3. Some mentioned to separate the point from the flat by cutting along the fat line and cooking the pieces side by side. Is that really necessary? Just seems like we will end up with a dryer piece of meat.
I have never separated the point from the flat, they cook together and get sliced at the same time.

4: 1.5 hours/pound?
Cooking at 225° to 250° that is a good average I also add 3hrs to my cook time for stalls or what ever may happen.

5: Should we be monitoring the internal temp of the flat? It seems as though that would be the logical thing to do because if we monitor the point, by the time it gets to 190-200 the flat will be ruined.
Being that the point and flat stay connected when we cook them they both cook pretty much at the same rate, I rarely monitor the temps until I know I am getting close you may want to monitor your flat since you are unsure of what to look and feel for. If I were to monitor it I would place the probe in the flat but towards the point end.

6: Water/soda/beer, etc. pan or not?
I do not use a pan to cook our briskets. They either get foiled at the resting time or earlier it depends on the situation.

7: How much wood should we use for smoking?
Our briskets take the smoke the entire cook unless we foil early. On the WSM or UDS we use about 8 to 10 chunks of wood during a cook in the offset it is pretty much wood splits the whole time.
I hope this helps and Good Luck.
_________________
Always remember slow and steady wins the race.

Hybrid Cooker

[memartha]

WOW! Thanks for all the great responses. I should probably clarify a couple of things. When I said "pan", I meant drip pan. I didn't plan on putting the meat in a pan. We have done many, many pork butts, chicken, meatloaf, ribs, etc....but this is our first attempt at brisket. You guys really gave some great answers. Just one more question. How long can the meat rest in the cooler? Just wondering in case it gets done early. Does it continue to cook while resting in the cooler and if so, does that tend to make it "well" done and dry?

Thanks again everyone! I'll let ya know how it comes out and hopefully will remember to take pictures.

[SoEzzy]

There is some "carry over cooking" but it probably doesn't last more than 30 minutes totally.

As long as you wrap before you cooler you should maintain moisture levels, pack towel round the meat in the cooler and you can hold meat at above 165°, (presuming you took it off the pit between 190 - 200°), for 4 hours or longer.
_________________
Here's a change Robert.

I still work here!

[Virginiasmoke]

Lately my brisket has been nothing short of awesome.
I can't take any credit though because all I do is follow the directions here:
http://www.bbqbug.com/forums/bbq-contests/703-award-winning-competition-brisket.html

[frankncali]

[Virginiasmoke]

Search for his wright ups on pork and chicken. They are just as good.

[Pit Boss]

[BluDawg]

[jickey]

[texbbqpits]

you have received good advice above and I basically do as others have described. i cook at 220 to 230 as best I can and my times normally run about 1 1/4 hour per pound. That said, however, a thick brisket will obviously cook slower than a thin wide brisket. Last weekend i cooked three briskets, 2 13 lb and 1 14 lb. One of the 13 lb and the 14 lb went right at 15 hours, but the other 13 lb (the widest and thinnest) reached 185 in 9 1/2 hours and was right between the other two. So pay attention to the thickness as much as the weight when estimating and check temps at about 1 hour if cooking at 225. I trim hard fat but thats all, fat side up in my offset. i cook to 180-185 temp in flat, remove, foil and rest 30 to 45 minutes in cooler. At that time i seperate the point, foil the flat and put back in the cooler for another 30 minutes or more. i chunk the point and put back on the pit for another couple of hours. No pan or water but that depends on smoker and amount of wood also depends on smoker., i cook with sticks except use charcoal to start the sticks.
_________________
Klose Mobile
Home made offset
Bradley 6 Rack Digital

[chilehead70301]

I guess I'll be different in regards to cooker temp. I've cooked about 10 briskets, all on a smoker. the 1st eight were done low and slow at 220-250. the last two were smoked at 325. The last two were the best. The 1st eight all turned out dry. I followed the steps that many stated in previous posts but just could not get the results I wanted. I injected, mainly with beef broth, whatever rub i used and dr pepper. I've done some without the injection and the results were about the same as the non-injected ones.

Then I decided to give the hot and fast a try. The last brisket I did was about 17 lbs and I pulled it at an internal temp of 207, which is when the temp probe slid in like butta. The total cook time was between 5-6 hrs. I wrapped when it hit an internal temp of 173 and when I pulled it, i placed it in a cooler for 1.5 hrs with a heavy towel on top.

It was the jusiest, most tender brisket I've ever cooked. The bark was excellent. Only negative was I didn't use enough oak & pecan to get the smoke flavor I wanted. But it was still much better than the previous eight I did.

This is just my opinion and I'm sure there are cookers out there who have not been successful with the hot/fast method. I like it and that's how I will continue cooking my briskets.
_________________
Bubba Keg
Stumps Baby (Received 12/23/10)
Super fast yellow thermapen

[Oregon smoker]

Its only a brisket. So many seem to have troubles with em. While mine arent always perfect they are usually spot on for good eats and moisture content.
I dont foil. I start fat side up with point in the direction of the 47th parallel. I then do a dance to my favorite song that is repeated on the hour every hour. In between my dances i make foil hats for all of the people that will be eating. Once the brisket is done i put it in my time machine to rest, the time machine is the best for that.
Enjoy!
_________________
#3 LIAR

[Smoke&flame]

Oregon smoker posits a method for people with out a grasp on reality. I applaud him on that. His followers need guidance.

If you are in the real world camp I would suggest doing what chilehead70301 says. It's very close to what I do, and it's by far the best way to cook a brisket.

[tacklebox]

[memartha]

Just wanted to let you all know that our brisket was AWESOME! Went to take pics and the camera was dead! Nobody would wait for me to charge the battery! They were all starving. But, I can sure tell you about the experience. We were smoking on a Kamado Joe (which we absolutely love, btw). Brisket was 12#, put it on at 9PM didn't stabilize until almost midnight. Went to bed shortly after midnight, and lo and behold the good ole maverick started it's little beeping noise at 1AM. I think I had just gotten to sleep and of course hubby didn't hear the beeping.......so, I GOT up....checked it out and the KJ had spiked to 278. I had no clue what I was doing, because Hubby is the one that cooks on the thing..........so I just gambled. I shut down the daisy wheel completely and closed the bottom vent so it was just open a sliver. Crept back down and finally leveled off at 237 and stayed there. Brisket was done at 1PM, pulled it, let it rest in cooler for 2 hours (had to finish up all the sides, cuz I wasn't planning on it being done that early) and we ate around 3:30. All I can say is it was juicy, tender and just plain awesome. There was one small part that was a little too done/dry. Other than that it was great! And...............there wasn't anything left but crumbs! Thanks for all the tips everyone. I really think the wealth of information from this group of people helped make our smoke a success!!!! Thanks again! Ohhhhhhhhhhh...and I went and bought another battery for the camera so we won't have the same problem again!

[Oregon smoker]