Brisket action

Smoke #4: my first brisket.

I got a 14-pounder, and decided to separate the tip from the flat, just smoke the flat and freeze the tip for another day. Somebody on the internet said that Aaron Franklin's dry rub was equal parts kosher salt and black pepper, but I added a little onion powder, garlic powder and Coleman's dry mustard to that. Seven hours (overnight) in the rub before smoking.

Got it into the smoker at 6:30 a.m., pretty much straight out of the fridge, so its internal temp was pretty low. Electric smoker set on 225˚, using hickory chips. Six additions of chips, approx every 1:15.

It took a crazy long time. The plan was to smoke until 160˚ internal temp, wrap in foil, then back into the smoker without chips until 190˚, then wrap in towels and rest it for 90-120 minutes. By 5 p.m., it was only up to 149, so I foiled it then. When I took it out, it felt as hard as a rock and I though "oh shit, I've wasted a $35 piece of meat," but I pressed on, knowing that the magic temp where the collagen gives up the fight was still to come. By 10:15 p.m., internal temp was still only 182. Almost 16 hours in the hotbox. I said "fooey" and wrapped it in towels, put it in a cooler to rest overnight, and went to bed.

Cut into it this morning and it's pretty damn good. The "pull" is perfect, the smoke ring looks good, the amount of smoke and penetration into the meat is good...has a nice bark. It's a little dry, but for my first time, it's a success. I'm going to add a little brown sugar to the rub next time I do a brisket.

Rule of thumb at Smoking Meat Forum is that brisket takes roughly 1.5 hours per uncooked pound, so I was just too impatient on the cooking time. The pork shoulder and ribs I've smoked both finished way ahead of estimates, so I thought the brisket would also.

Well done!! I'm v curious what your brisket tastes like, and jealous that you know and I do not. This is becoming one of my favorite cuts, partly because I can always get it, unlike some roasts where depending on what store I'm in, they might not have cut up their primals that way so they don't sell a top round roast or whatever I'm looking for on that day.

It's pretty peppery, but I like this dry rub. A big bite kind of goes in stages -- pepperiness of dry rub, then strong hit of smoke, then the flavor of the beef comes through and brings it all together as I chew. The hickory chips I've used on all my smokes so far have given the meat just the slightest bitterness, so I'd like to try fruitwoods or oak, maybe with just the tiniest bit of mesquite mixed in.

Breakfast was smoked brisket and scrambled egg sandwiches on toasted english muffins, with homemade barbecue sauce.

My mother bought me a vacuum sealer a few months ago, so I'm going to portion out a bunch of this stuff, seal it up and freeze it for later. There's no way the three of us can eat a hunk of meat this size without being sick of 'cue forever by Wednesday.

I smoked my second brisket of the year a couple of weeks ago as a special request of my in-laws (former residents of Austin) who were coming into town for the evening. I went ahead and bought two tips instead of a whole. It was a total of 14 pounds. Even with 9 people and slicing off a good two pound portion for my brother-in-law to use for lunch sandwiches, my son and I were able to eat brisket for lunch for the week. Two words for great brisket leftovers: brisket fajitas.

i did a brisket a few years ago at the cottage and it took a realllly long time. got a nice smoke ring tho.

Yeah, I was hoping to smoke the briskets the whole time but started the smoker too late. I had to wrap in foil and finish in the oven. This is how I usually cook these. The briskets turn out fine, but last year I did one in the smoker the whole time and the differences were marked.