Making first brisket

[picksbigwagon]

16 pounds of brisket will hit the smoker on xmas day for 'The Gathering' on the 26th. Any hints for a first timer?

I have seen recipies that call for injecting and some that don't. My wife is questioning how people are going to eat it and when I said with their fingers she questioned me at length as to how that will work. (Yes I know) any hints would appreciated, I am figuring 16-20 hours on the smoker at 180-200 or is that a wrong range of temperature?

[jmd1]

When i make mine, i slice it and make sandwiches out of it. You can also chop it up, i usually have sliced onion with mine and some chiles. I usually trim fat cap off at end of cooking, throw it away, cut the knob end fat out and discard. If you like enchiladas, use meat scraps for them. May want to make soup or chile. Good luck show pictures.

[leechlake]

I'd refer you to "the smoke ring"

You want to cook at 225-250 and I prefer 250. One key is that from one piece of meat to another the time to cook can vary wildly. You want to get it to temperature, using a probe and then you can hold it in a cooler for a few hours. In other words plan on getting it done early and then "resting" it 2-4 hours.

Preferred method is to slice. Make 2-3 good side dishes and you will be a hero.

[jmd1]

Some fried okra, mustard greens, and pinto beans, call me when it is ready.

[westb]

16 pounds of brisket will hit the smoker on xmas day for 'The Gathering' on the 26th. Any hints for a first timer?

I have seen recipies that call for injecting and some that don't. My wife is questioning how people are going to eat it and when I said with their fingers she questioned me at length as to how that will work. (Yes I know) any hints would appreciated, I am figuring 16-20 hours on the smoker at 180-200 or is that a wrong range of temperature?

No need to inject. I would cut the brisket in half so you have two equal pieces to cut down on cooking time (roughly 1 1/2 hrs per pound). Trim fat cap down to roughly a 1/4 inch. Rub the brisket the night before smoking with worchestershire sauce and then apply a rub of a 50/50 mix of salt and pepper. Wrap with saran wrap and refrigerate overnight. Smoke brisket at 250 with your favorite wood (I prefer hickory) until the internal temp reaches 150. I then wrap in tinfoil with some apple cider vinegar until the internal temp reaches 200. Now the important part. Wrap brisket (still foiled) in a couple bath towels and place in a insulated cooler for at least an hour (I have left them in a cooler for up to four hours and the brisket will still be hot). If you follow this recipe I promise you will not disappoint your guests.

[picksbigwagon]

Salt, pepper and garlic powder with a initial rub of worchestershire sauce (!Justin Wilson style!) smoker is set at 235*, put it on at 6 pm, planning on it hitting 197* sometime between 10 and noon tomorrow. Two hours of resting in a cooler and then it will be time to get my grub on!!!!,

[picksbigwagon]

Son of a $&%*€!!!!!!!!!

I had my smoker at 235* and I woke up at 6 this morning, checked my brisket (temperature) and it was 205*!!!! My guess is it pnever stalled over night. It is sitting in the cooler right now, my fear is it is ruined and will be dried out beyond belief. Not a happy camper with 15 in laws showing up today. Guess I better get the big shrimp platter at costco this morning. At least we have left over ham from last night that I can reheat in the crockpot.........did I mention I am not in a good mood right now? At least the dog still likes me

[Alagnak]

I've had that happen, but mine seemed quite a bit thicker. My guess is it will still be great but will shred instead of really getting any slices out.

[leechlake]

I bet your guests will rave over the brisket and you'll do what most of us do and tell them how your screwed it up. It will be fine.

[delcecchi]

Some sauce. or the Au Jus recipe from here will fix it right up, with any luck.

[foulpole18]

It will be fine. I wrap and bring them up to 200-205 all the time. If it didn't get wrapped, that I don't know. I think it will be fine

[bobberineyes]

Looks good, the last few I did I brought to that temp shredded to make french dips with. Some of it will still be slice able for those that don't want sandwiches dunked in au jus. Don't forget the horseradish.

[blue_healer_guy]

Horseradish, a beautiful thing

[delcecchi]

Well, how was it?

[bobberineyes]

Smoked sliced brisket is tough to beat, but if your intentions are to chop or shred in the end there is an easier way. Instead of mopping and pretty much baby sitting a brisket all day long, I've been buying large chuck roasts from costco. Season the night before as you would a brisket, smoke it the next morning ( I use a webber and keep the smoke rolling for an hour and a half to two at about 180). Finish it off in the crock pot. Can either make philly's with it or french dips.

[picksbigwagon]

I am still trying to figure out what happened in the six hours I was asleep, in thosesix hours it went from beautiful mahogony color to blackened and dried out, I could even get the cordless electric filet knife to cut through it. I am thinking one of two things: there was a grease fire in the smoker during the night or there was no stall in the meat and it just raced through and the fat came out and was scorched.......I haven't imvestigated the interior of the smoker yet, but I noticed the grease bucket was full, it wa only half full when I started.

This was a huge kick in the beans to me, I am no chef, but I can handle myself in the kitchen and I have NEVER had such an epic fail like this. I will try one again, maybe this summer, but my plans will be to turn the smoker down to 200 when I go to bed, and to wrap it in foil once I get to a color I like.

[delcecchi]

I couldn't sleep all night with something on the smoker, not that I sleep all night anyway at my age.

I would want an alarm or a remote sensor or something even if I was getting up every few hours to monitor it.

[rundrave]

Sorry to hear about your trouble, I know the feeling. I have to chime in and say that the Ivation Long Range Wireless Digital Thermometer I have now for my smoker has me less worried about something like this happening because you can program a smoker temp and meat temp to an alarm if things get too hot etc. It just takes all the guess work out of it and if things get out of range it sure is nice to know you have an alarm to alert you.

[Jim Almquist]

I had around 5 pounds of salmon on the smoker Everything was just great so I thought I would run to L&M real quick. Round trip was less than 45 minutes and the salmon needed around 2 hours. Got back and they were all just burnt to a crisp. Wind must have picked up and got the coals fired up. Told myself to never again leave my food on the smoker unattended. Life lessons learned.

[philly35]

Sounds like you need a Big Green Egg!

[leech~~]

I had around 5 pounds of salmon on the smoker Everything was just great so I thought I would run to L&M real quick. Round trip was less than 45 minutes and the salmon needed around 2 hours. Got back and they were all just burnt to a crisp. Wind must have picked up and got the coals fired up. Told myself to never again leave my food on the smoker unattended. Life lessons learned.

Ha, Jim, it's like a clock. If you sit and watch, it doesn't nothing. If you leave it flies by. Done it!