1st time brisket

[HawkeyeSmokes]

Great work DJ! Bet your going to be busy trying to keep up after this.  ;D

[DjSaneR]

That is a beautiful brisket.  The hallmark of Barbeque is the bark and that is fantastic looking bark.  Evidently, you went from start to finish in the Bradley without foiling or boating.  Is that correct?  How was the tenderness?  Did it cut with a fork?  It looks great.  Congratulations on a job well done.

Thanks, the bark was fantastic and the mustard slather worked exactly as you described!  It was incredibly tender and yes, just a tiny bit of pressure with a fork cut it into beautiful bite sized pieces.

You are correct, no foil was involved in the process.  

I read a very interesting article by a real pro on briskets and he posted the internal temperatures of several briskets throughout the smoke.  They stalled at 160F (this is when the connective tissue and collagen start to break down at an accelerated rate) then took off again.  At one point, the temperature actually went down on every brisket.  I believe it was around 167 and they plunged back down to 160 - 162.  You hung in there, got good advice from board members and won the battle..

Yeah I became a bit worried when is stalled for about 2 hours.  I was almost tempted to crank up the heat, but I'm glad I took the advice from you folks. Low and slow.  Eventually it started climbing.

I am sure you did so, but be sure and slice across the grain for maximum tenderness.  Some people mark their brisket by slicing a corner and there are other methods.  I just push a little bark aside from the thin of the flat with the knife and can see the grain easily enough.

Yeah I'm still trying to figure that out.  

I can see one problem with your brisket.  It has evidently already started to happen.  Not only will your family be spoiled and refuse to go out for barbeque, so will your friends.  Oh well, that is the burden a smoker has to shoulder..

Yup! It was gone in a flash! It was so good that my buddy wants me to do a 10lb brisket for his party this week

Again, congratulations on a a job well done. I am excited for you...

Thanks, like I said I couldn't have done it without the great advice from you folks. Thanks a million!

[OU812]

Very nice Dj, very nice.

The bark is outstanding and the juice on the cutting board proves it was moist.

[ronbeaux]

That looked very good. Tip; what I have been doing is taking my knife and cutting an 'arrow'(a 'V') on the thick end of the brisket pointing to where I can slice across the grain on the thin end(before adding the rub.) A cheat sheet if you will. When it is cooked and swelled up like a football the 1/2" arrow cut I made is still visible. Just slice it 1/2" deep. You don't loose any meat and you actually gain a little bark......

[HawkeyeSmokes]

Thanks for the great tip ronbeaux. Should make it a lot easier to start slicing!