new at it . first brisket ?

twelveacres2 · August 18, 2005, 03:30:17 AM

First time cooking brisket, it is 4 lbs, flat cut which will be smoked at 8500' elevation. Needs tips on time, curing, how much to open the smoke vent, temperature. Best smoke flavor to use; I have mesquite, hickory and cherry. Thank you, Tom

BigSmoker · August 18, 2005, 05:36:14 PM

Can't help with the elevation thing but I will throw in my 2 cents on the rest. 4lb flat is on the smallish side so I bet it dosen't have much fat on it(maybe it does). If it dosen't have much fat I would smoke it on the next to top rack with a rack of the cheapest fattiest bacon above it to help keep it moist and juicy(add the bacon even if it has plenty of fat for a nice tasty treat). Several hours to 24 hrs before ready to smoke the brisket do the following.

0. Injecting a brisket can help keep the brisket moist as well as add flavor but is not necessary. If you would like, inject a 10% solution per total weight of the brisket. A good injection is 75% apple juice, 25% Dale's sauce or similiar. Inject liquid in a pattern down and across the brisket. Just so you know injecting fluid in the brisket will cut down on the cook time.
1. rub the brisket all over with cheap yellow mustard(you will not taste the mustard after it cooks).
2. coat the brisket heavily with your favorite rub for a nice thick outside crust/bark or go lighter for a thiner outer crust.
3. Wrap the brisket in plastic wrap and refrigerate brisket if you don't plan on cooking the brisket within an hour or so.
4. Preheat smoker to anywhere between 200-240°f depending on who your talking to around here and open the top vent 1/4 to 1/3 open. Me I go for about 225°f but have had great success with 200 and 240[;)].
5. Put brisket in the smoker either cold straight from the fridge or let it sit for an hour or so it's up to you.

Ok now its time to add the smoke flavor. Me I like the smoke to be a subtle flavor enhancement to the brisket not to over power the beef flavor so I normally only use 4 hrs worth of pucks. The brisket or any other meat for that matter won't absorb much smoke flavor after it reaches an internal temp of 140°f this is just a little side note. I have done 6 hrs of smoke but it will really be smokey at this point(on my tastebuds anyway) I think my favorite for brisket is oak but hickory will work fine or a hickory/cherry mix. I personally don't care a whole lot for mesquite but others here have used a hickory/mesquite mix if memory serves me well. Now all you have to do is sit back and relax for the next 10-12 hrs(after 4 hrs open the door and retreive the water bowl. Empty it and refill with hot water then back into the smoker. Do this as quickly as possible so you don't lose any more heat than necessary. After this do not open the door)maybe longer maybe shorter. All briskets cook different so always err on the long side time wise so you don't get surprized when the briskets not ready for supper and you end up ordering pizza[:0]. When the internal temp(the use of a remote style meat thermometer such as a Polder or Mavrick really helps here)of the brisket reaches 185°f(your elevation may screw this whole temp thing up I'm not sure)remove it from the smoker and wrap it tightly in some HD aluminum foil with about 1/4 cup of apple juice inside the foil with the brisket. Wrap that with a couple of old towels then into an empty medium sized cooler(we call this part FTC). If you don't have a cooler use the oven(not heated) or microwave. Leave the brisket for 2 hrs. This allows all the internal juices to redistribute throughout the meat and it will also continue to cook the brisket a little further. The brisket will stay piping hot for 6 or more hours wrapped like this so if the brisket is done early no worries. After the 2 hours remove the meteroid cause thats what it will look like on the outside and place it on a cutting board. Slice appx. 1/4" thick slices across the grain. Serve with a nice bun and sauce on the side. Anyway thats how I do it. HTH and I'm sure someone else will add to all the stuff I've left out[:D].

One thing you mention is curing. If you cure the brisket you get corned beef and then when you smoke it you get pastrami. No curing necessary for the style of brisket I have described above.

Jeff

Some say BBQ is in your blood, if thats true my blood must be BBQ sauce.

twelveacres2 · August 18, 2005, 11:26:38 PM

thanks jeff. your brisket recipe sounds great. iam going to do it.in my case its better to be lucky then good!

JJC · August 21, 2005, 02:31:06 PM

Welcome to the Forum, TA2! Jeff is a real pro at brisket . . . nothing to add to his terrific advice. How did it turn out?

John
Newton MA

GrillinFool · August 22, 2005, 03:30:17 AM

When i did my first brisket pre bradley and years ago, i learned that not all markets look at brisket the same way. The 4 pound one you have has likely been trimmed and is much more expensive than what you might want.

Finding a good source for brisket can be a challenge. I get mine at Sam's Club which is a Wal-Mart company. I dont know if Sam's are everywhere or not? I pay about $2 per pound and it is 8+ pounds with plenty of fat usually. I do buy them at Super Wal-Mart too but they dont seem to be quite as fresh.

You can trim off some fat and even separate the two layers if you want two smaller pieces and less fat. Personally I like less fat but keeping it moist without mopping in a smoker, could get dry without the layers of fat or injection. (I am working on this with my new Badley as my personal brisket challenge as I am used to mopping my bbq)

I guess my main point is that it took me several meat markets and alot of looking and cooking to learn that the real secret to brisket is to buy a good one big and cheap and make a masterpiece out of it.

If you can feed 10 people on $20 worth of meat and have every one say it was so good they ate too much, then you win.

JJC · August 26, 2005, 02:32:12 PM

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by GrillinFool
 
If you can feed 10 people on $20 worth of meat and have every one say it was so good they ate too much, then you win.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">
Well said!

John
Newton MA

twelveacres2 · August 27, 2005, 01:40:34 AM

the four pound brisket turned out great! i started it at 11 pm and took it out at 9:30 the next morning . i think the hunk of bacon went over as well as the brisket . i got the brisket and bacon at costco , its like sams club . i think our altitude 8500'warrants longer cooking times , as everthing we bake in the oven alwase takes longer . one question ? if i cooked a larger piece of meat , how do i determine the cooking time . is there an equation ? or , just guessing? checking temp. ? one piece of advice . dont leave your smoker outside if your in bear country ! bears love barbecue . smokey , as we will refer to him or her , i dont use industrial language online , almost destroyed our smoker a day after i cooked the above brisket . all smokey got was the drippings . the smoker still works . there is a god . the moral to this . i should of known better . claims ," the wife " . ony one smoke bear?

GrillinFool · August 27, 2005, 01:56:31 AM

Glad your brisket went well. I love brisket and in fact that is one of the main reasons I bought a bradley. When I moved into a subdivision I had to let go of my open pit cooking, and never could get enough smoke on any thing. The Bradley definately gives all the smoke I could want on a brisket.

As for doneness, I use internal temp and experience to know when its done. Some say 190 but i like it just a little more falling apart and go for 195-200. but I am still new so listen to others for more info on this. And who knows, maybe my thermometer is off.

I think a smokey tender brisket is hard to beat and left overs can be eaten three meals a day till its gone.

As for smoked bear? dang bring it on. I only had bear once cooked over a pit and it was good. in a Bradley it would be awesome!

JJC · August 27, 2005, 11:17:50 AM

Congrats on a great firstr smoke, TA2! As for bear, like GF I've only had it once, cooked slow over an open fire. Really good! Smokin' bear in the BS would be great [:p]

John
Newton MA

Habanero Smoker · August 27, 2005, 11:37:48 AM

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by twelveacres2
 
i think our altitude 8500'warrants longer cooking times , as everything we bake in the oven alwase takes longer .
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">
This issue came up before. When it comes to meat, unless you are simmering or braising, high altitude has negligible effects on cooking times.

Edited
Here is one source on the subject:
http://extension.usu.edu/files/publications/highalt.pdf

bsolomon · August 29, 2005, 04:22:51 PM

I agree with Habanero Smoker, and living at 8000' myself, I haven't seen any effet on the smoker that I could attribute to altitude. I have smoked several briskets, but always whole in the 13-15 lb. range. While the Rule #1 answer is that you need to cook it low and slow until done (i.e., the internal temperature reaches what you want), I keep my cabinet temperature at 200-205 degrees for most of the process and pull around 187-190 degrees, and I think many will agree that a good rule of thumb is somewhere between 1-1/2 to 2 hours per lb. For example, the last 15 lb. brisket I did took 26 hours, or about 1.7 hr/lb.

Now that brings up the obvious question of why did your much smaller 4 lb. brisket take 10 1/2 hours (2.65 hr/lb.)? Not that this violates Rule #1 in any way, but I would question your cabinet temperature.

You don't mention the cabinet temperature or the internal brisket temperature when you pulled it out of the Bradley, or if you were relying on the door thermometer (notoriously inconsistent) or any kind of dual probe thermometer. Did you preheat the cabinet fully and thoroughly or just add the meat to the cabinet cold? Also, overnight as the exterior temperature cooled off, did you adjust the slider accordingly to comensate? I have had a couple of colder-weather smokes where the cabinet temperature dropped down into the 170-180 range for a few hours, which adds dramatically to the cook time.

In any case, I wouldn't worry about it too much - the ultimate goal was achieved successfully. However, if the same timing was to apply to a larger cut, you could be waiting for a long time (my 15 lb. brisket would have taken about 40 hours, which seems quite excessive).