Smoking my first brisket tomorrow

No charcoal?

low and slowwwww

Plan on keeping your smoker going for a loooong time. did an 8 lb one last weekend and it cooked for about 17 hours

I like to make a paste with salt, pepper, garlic, thyme, rosemary, and bay leaf. Rub this all over the brisket and let it sit overnight. Then smoke at about 225 for 6 hours (if a brisket under 5 pounds) and about an hour more per half pound above that.

Any wood will do.

The last two I did I did with the fat on the bottom and it was much less dry. The old foil and stick in an ice chest move post-smoke seems to really help it from drying out as well.

Quit doing low and slow briskets a couple of years ago and will never do another one. High heat brisket turns out great in a fraction of the time.

1) I trim some of the fat off the fatcap, but leave enough to keep the meat covered in fat. I then take that fat that was trimmed and put it on the side of the brisket that doesn't have a fat layer.

2) I rub it down with Plowboy's Bovine Bold found at Bass Pro Shop. I use a very liberal amount.

3) Set my Weber kettle up for indirect heat at about 325 to 350 degrees. I bank unlit coals on one side of the charcoal grate and then light about 1/2 or 3/4 of a chimney. I put pieces of smoke wood in the unlit and then add the lit to the pile. This is called the minion method as the lit coals will burn the unlit coals throughout the cook giving you a constant burn for hours without having to add fuel.

4) Add a water pan under the brisket on the charcoal grate.

5) Add the brisket to the side that doesn't have the coals underneath. Remember to add the fat strips to the side that doesn't have any fat, which should be the side that is up, since I like to cook fatcap down to protect the bottom of the meat.

6) Set my bottom air vents to about 50 to 75 percent or whatever will give you a temp of 325 to 350.

7) Cook until brisket hits 160 internally (About 2 to 3 hours). Always keep the lid vent all the way open. Then wrap in foil with about a cup of beef broth.

8) Cook covered in foil until brisket hits about 195 internal temp (about another 2 to 3 hours).

9) Let brisket rest in the foil for at least an hour.

10) Take out of foil and save the juice. Separate the point from the flat. Slice the flat against the grain. Dice the point up in cubes and add more rub. Add the cubed point to a foil pan and put that back on the smoker for burnt ends. Flipped the meat in the pan after about an hour and cook for another hour.

11) With the drippings you can make a bbq sauce. Here is the recipe for the sauce:

1 cup ketchup
1/2 cup cider vinegar
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon worchestershire sauce
1 tablespoon rub
1/2 cup meat drippings

Simmer to marry the flavors and thicken as desired.

High Heat Brisket with Pics about half way down

quote:

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gonna be hard to not freak seeing my smoker that hot though

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As long as the heat is still indirect you will be fine using the method I posted. My briskets turn out much juicier with this method than low and slow. I've even ran my smoker at 375 for a while on a brisket and it didn't hurt anything.

Good luck.

This makes sense, intuitively. What dries out meat is high temps and long cooking times, if you go higher on your temps but cut down the cooking times, you shouln't have that problem. May try this tomorrow.

Reminds me of a recipe for a whole beef tenderloin. Where you blast the tenderloin under the broiler on all sides until it burned, then wrap it in foil for 45 minutes. The result is a charred exterior and a perfect medium rare inside.

Thermodynamics, man.