Recteq crew- question from a newbie

I wrap at 160ish on my Recteq and continue to smoke until a little over 200 internal... or really until a probe goes in with no resistance.

I also put the brisket in a disposable pan after wrapping. I get a ton of au jus that I think might be lost if I didn’t put it in a pan. Could be wrong but it turns out so good that I don’t want to mess with that part of it.

I do inject with beef broth - I don’t see why it would be different than any other smoker.

Other most important thing I think is to wrap the whole thing in towels or put in a cooler when you pull it off the smoker. I try to shoot for Four hour rest time.

Edit - I use butcher paper for the wrap by the way.

That would work and maybe wrap a few towels around it too.

I have wrapped in 5 or 6 towels and left on the counter. But it’s still in the pan.

It’s still almost too hot to handle still after four hours.

If you have time to do it, I think resting is what can make a good brisket into a great one.

Doesn’t have to be four hours... but I will never rest for just an hour again unless I’ve got hungry guests hounding me.

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USEyourCURDS

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Real A$$ OG!

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I do inject with beef broth - I don’t see why it would be different than any other smoker.

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I did this once. Seemed like my brisket had a roast beef taste to it. I’ve watched numerous people do it though on tv. No idea what these competition guys are injecting into their brisket. I’m by no means saying what you are doing is wrong though. Just an observation I noticed when I tried injecting one.

OP my dad is from Texas and we treated ours very simple. First and foremost the quality of your cut of beef is 90% of the battle. We coated ours with olive oil as a binder and seasoned with course salt, pepper, garlic powder, and on the smoker it went. I smoke mine on my pellet grill at 225 and smoke it to around 160 to 175 degrees internal temp and when the bark looks right I slather it in beef tallow and wrap it in butcher people. I throw it back on the smoker and turn the heat up to 250 to 275 degrees and I don’t have a set temp I cook mine such as 203 internal temperature. If it’s at 195 degrees I start poking on it and when my meat probe slides in easily I pull it. I’ve pulled them anywhere from 195 degrees to 205. I've smoked so many briskets I can just kind of tell when it’s done. They all cook a little different. I think a lot of people overthink cooking brisket. Get the bark the way you want it, wrap it, cook it until a meat probe slides in like butter, pull it off the smoker and let it rest in an ice chest. I have more juicy briskets when they stay in that cooler 3-5 hours. Sometimes I wrap a towel around them. Again the quality of meat you buy greatly determines if you have a flavorful juicy brisket or a dry one. I cook mine fat cap down on the pellet grill and when I wrap it I throw it in fat cap up. I’m a believer you want that fat cap down in a pellet grill because the heat source is coming from beneath the brisket. I think it helps as a buffer from the heat and not dry out the flat.

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I'm a proponent of a really long rest period. My oven will go all the way down to 100 degrees so when my brisket is done I rest it on the counter for a couple of hours (in a pan, still wrapped) then throw it in a 140 degree oven for 12 hours.

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I wish my oven would go that low. I think mine will only go as low as 170 and that’s only on the “keep warm” setting and it automatically shuts off at an hour. You are 100% correct long rest periods really seem to work out better for me. The last one I smoked was for the guys at the plant. That thing rested 10 hours and was warm and juicy when I sliced it for everyone. I’ve also wrapped some like you described at 185 degrees. Occasionally I just get one I can’t get the bark to set up right so I keep smoking it until it looks right. If I wrapped every brisket I’ve smoked strictly based off 160 degrees I’d have done that cut of meat an injustice. I’ve also wrapped them at 150 several times because the bark was right where I wanted it. Every single brisket I’ve ever smoked acts a little different. It’s to the point I’ve smoked so many of them it’s an eyeball and feel thing to me. Honestly I could do one without a meat probe. Having said that a lot of people need some form of guidelines to get them in the ballpark because that’s an expensive mistake if you mess one up.

I cooked my best one of my life this weekend. I lucked into it though. My grill has started to over read-I may need a new probe. So, all night Friday night it was cooking at barely 200. Saturday during the day, I bumped up the reading to get a little over 225. I wrapped at 165 with a liberal splash of the fat I rendered. At 195, I turned the power off the cooker and it sat there for a few hours under 200. To a person, they said it was the best they ever had.

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I think a lot is predetermined with the meat you pick out at the store. Sometimes you just luck into winners.

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I agree, because I have had the opposite happen as well. Do everything perfect and have a mediocre flat.

the brisket I was charged with cooking weighed 15#. I put it on at 06:15. Pulled it off the recteq at 21:15 when the internal temp was 204F. Let it rest in a cooler as suggested here till Midnight. I cut a piece off and the smoke ring was really good. Bark was as good as i think it could be. Its now in a Food Saver bag. It'll be eaten later this week for supper. It looked damn good and smelled wonderful. Hopefully its as good as it looks and smelled.

Ordered my RT700 earlier this week. Looking forward to doing my first brisket on it, after curing it and running some other meats on it first of course.