Christmas Brisket

[towtruck]

It seems my tube smoker has been seeing a lot of brisket lately and not so many ribs as I intended. We decided to do another brisket for Christmas and I made the decision to smoke it early and reheat on the big day. I bought a choice 17 lb full packer out of the bargain bin at our local meat market. Every one I have bought from them is a good one.

I'm starting to get this smoker figured out with lump charcoal. It's a little more work verses briquettes. I light two chimneys and dump them into the fire basket and the half of the smoker I'm using gets up to 225 in an hour. In goes the meat and then I pull the fire basket and dump another lit chimney on top. I set my intake to get it up to about 240* and about the time it hits 240 it's been an hour. I pull the fire out and add another lit chimney. Temps drop to 230* and then creep back up to 240* in an hour and we repeat the process. I have it down pat and the remote thermometers really help.

So I trimmed the fat....



and I split the point off completely as one end was very skinny and the other end was thick. Once trimmed to where I wanted it I salt and peppered it all with a touch of garlic and stacked the flat onto the point to make it as even thickness as I could. I tied it up a little to help keep it together and in the smoker it went.


Briskets fit perfectly in the smoker and with a little trussing I could easily fit a 19 lb full packer in each side. I have been doing a lot of smoking on just one half of the smoker and it's working great. I'm thinking of saving some of the drippings and smoking a pan of beans Christmas morning to go with the meat. I started the smoker at 11am and put the meat in at noon.......I'm going to run it to 160 then wrap it. I will transfer it to the oven at some point after I wrap it....it all depends on how long I want to keep feeding the coals.

[towtruck]

Six hours and 15 min later we are at 158* internal temps. I am going to pull it at 160* and wrap it up and finish it in the oven. If I planned it right I should be able to get a good nights sleep before it hits temp. I have not even peeked at it either...proud of myself. I switched to some mesquite lump charcoal after the first two hours and it has been holding temps and lasting longer than the other stuff I was using. I think I have it timed out to hit 160 when this batch of coals starts to fade out.

[towtruck]

I pulled it at 6:30 pm at 160*. My temp control was much much better than the last one I did. I left a little too much fat on the top and it hurt my bark formation. I'm good with it. It went into the oven at 225 covered in foil. I am going to finish it off, cool it down, slice it up and use a bunch of the crispier stuff to make a batch of burnt ends with. Should be a good one.

[Dirtytires]

If you are looking to cut down on time, cook the point and flat separately on the rack. You will reach internal temp a bit faster since the meat is not as thick but be careful as one piece will typically reach temp several hours before the other.

[towtruck]

If you are looking to cut down on time, cook the point and flat separately on the rack. You will reach internal temp a bit faster since the meat is not as thick but be careful as one piece will typically reach temp several hours before the other.

Time is not an issue.......I do think they would get done too fast on my smoker if I split them up....I have a good amount of heat coming up from below.
If I want a heavy bark I run the intake wide open and get it up around 275....that really crusts it up....pull and wrap at 160 and then lower the temp to 225 to finish it off. That has been working really well.

[towtruck]

Brisket hit temp at 1am. I turned the oven off and went to bed. I got up this morning and pulled it apart. The extra fat layer did keep the bark from forming but it sure did not have any other negative effects. The flat is perfectly done and the taste is really nice. The point got cut up for burnt ends, the flat got trimmed for slicing later. I scraped off the fat layer and the color underneath is great.

Point before cutting up and fat removal....


The flat after scraping the fat off....


The pan of burnt ends....


Christmas day I will slice up the flat, make an Au jus to pour over it and reheat it before serving. The burnt ends will get served as well for two flavor profiles.

I went for less bark on this one....I got my wish..it just does not look right....but the flavor is there. The burnt ends are back in the smoker now doing their thing...pics when they get done.

[Chromeski]

Looks great. Ship me a few slices

[towtruck]

I got the burnt ends done......one more reheat on Xmas will finish off the carmalization. I had to try them...they are goooooood.

[Smurf]

[towtruck]

Thanks, I may have to cut the flat up and make more burnt ends with it......the wife won't leave the burnt ends alone and there may not be any left by Christmas. I can cut up and smoke the rest real quick if I have too I guess. 17 hours of smoking and she can't leave it alone

[Dirtytires]

Good brisket is addictive.....

[JKalchik]

Good brisket is addictive.....

Yessir, good brisket is thoroughly addictive (which is also why I'm hangin' 'round these here parts.)

So.... what time is dinner?

[towtruck]

The final product........
Dinner is served.


The pan of burnt ends


Here is the flat all cut up before heating it back up. I will be making sammich's out of the flat.

[Big T]

[towtruck]

Thanks.

I have smoked enough brisket in the new smoker to finally have it figured out. I can go heavy bark, medium, and light. I like using briquettes but lump seems to work very well. I can use either though. The one thing I have done on each one is over cook them. I go until there is no resistance with a probe and they end up not slicing well. I have to get brave and pull them a little sooner. I am also going to start adding an injection and rub next. Over the years I have only done small flats as I never had a pit big enough for the packers. Now I need to do more ribs as I have yet to get my method down on this pit.

[Dirtytires]

Might I recommend you use a quality instant read thermometer to test? Much more reliable and repeatable that a resistance test with a probe.

I pull mine at 202.

[Chromeski]

Might I recommend you use a quality instant read thermometer to test? Much more reliable and repeatable that a resistance test with a probe.

I pull mine at 202.

I've always heard the "pros" say not to depend on temperature for a brisket. Most say to use temp as a guideline, but it's not done until it's ready. I am no expert because I never cook brisket myself.

[Pete Mazz]

I've had tender brisket @200 up to 210

[Frank_Cox]

Man those burnt ends look fine!!
Slices turned out nice too!
So, last couple years I have perty much changed to a hot and fast kinda guy. I cook between 275 and 300. Briskets and butts I cook at 300. I do butts and briskets in 4-6 hours.
I flip and rotate every 45 minutes for the first 2 hours.
I wrap at the 2 hour mark and pour broth or something in at that time.
I pull at exactly 212 internal.

Now I’m ready for the Galley hahaha

[towtruck]

Man those burnt ends look fine!!
Slices turned out nice too!
So, last couple years I have perty much changed to a hot and fast kinda guy. I cook between 275 and 300. Briskets and butts I cook at 300. I do butts and briskets in 4-6 hours.
I flip and rotate every 45 minutes for the first 2 hours.
I wrap at the 2 hour mark and pour broth or something in at that time.
I pull at exactly 212 internal.

Now I’m ready for the Galley hahaha

Thanks, and yes they were fine! I may try a hotter faster method some day. I know to get a good bark that I like I need to hit 250-275 for a time and then I can back the temps down. I need to just grab more meat and try it. Learning the oddball pit was first on the agenda and now I can play a bit with it.