Brisket time.

[_Bear_]

Hey guys I am back, haven't been around in a while I had some health issues and was in the hospital for just over a month, got out Feb 14 th and am still in pretty heavy recovery mode, but the smoking bug has set in again and it is starting to warm up out side. I have a 13 lb brisket in the freezer, I bought it just before I went into the hospital with the intention of not freezing it, but things happen. So the question is how should I go about thawing this thing and I need a nice flavorfull yet mild recipie for this thing. Any thoughts?

[squirtthecat]

Bear's back!

I've done a few frozen ones.   Give it about 3 days in the fridge and it should be thawed enough to work with.  Maybe a couple hours in cold water (fill a cooler and drop it in) before you go to smoke to to make sure it is thawed.

Even if it is a little frozen in the middle, it won't hurt anything.

[OU812]

Welcome back and hope your recovery goes well.

Like Squirt said just place that brisket in the fridge to thaw if you do it now it should be ready for this weekend.

For the rub I like it simple, I like to taste the brisket.

Salt, pepper, onion and garlic powder is all I use.

[SoCalBuilder]

Good to hear you are on the mend. I've read where some folk here will just use salt and pepper, smoke it up and be done with it. I'm not sure if it will develop a bark that way, but slow cooked, tender beef is tough to beat.

Damn, OU812 types faster than I do :o

[OU812]

It does develop a nice bark.

[KyNola]

Welcome back Bear!  The others have you covered on the brisket.

[_Bear_]

Thanks guys. The Brisket will come out of the freezer today and probably go into the Bradley Monday. I am going to make a light rub, but a little more than salt and pepper. I plan on smoking for 6 hrs @ 220* with Hickory, boat it in a foil pan and into the oven at 220* to an IT of 190*, then FTC it for 3 hrs or so.

[Tenpoint5]

Sounds like a good plan!

[squirtthecat]

That'll work!

The Salt Lick clone might be good on a big hunk of meat like that...

1-1-1/3-1/3  Salt/Pepper/Cayenne/Garlic Powder

[OU812]

That sounds good Bear.

You gonna put any liquid in the pan before throwing it in the oven?

[_Bear_]

I was thinking about putting some beef broth in the bottom of the pan. I have used apple juice on pork ribs and it worked out great, but I don't know how it would work with beef. I want to save the drippings for dipping and making gravey.

[squirtthecat]

Mix some beef broth and a bottle of dark beer...  (Guinness, etc)

Tasty tasty.

[_Bear_]

That sounds good. I may incorporate some of this thread into this brisket as well. Love the onion idea and will probably put onion soup mix on it for the smoke.

http://forum.bradleysmoker.com/index.php?topic=21136.0

[_Bear_]

Ok guys, I have a snag here. This brisket is BIG, 13.54lbs and it will not fit on the rack, it looks like an inverted U when I get it all stuffed on the rack. Should I just cut this thing and cook it on 2 racks or will it shrink down enough that it it will eventually fit on the rack. Just rubbing it down now and  want to get it in the smoker in the next 1hr or 2.

[_Bear_]

As you can see it is a tad bigger than my Bradly racks