Help with Brisket and Pork

[JBomb]

Little about me:  I just got my Bradley Smoker about 1 month ago.  I've been reading up on the forums pretty regularly and it has been very helpful.  I've smoked 3 sets of ribs and a butt and with the exception of the first set of ribs(used mesquite, cause it's all I had) everything has come out great(no make thqat specatular) thanks to all the information on these forums.

The Event:  I am planning on having the family come over for a good brisket and pulled pork BBQ this weekend.  My plan is to try and have everything ready sometime between 1pm and 3pm.


What I got:  I have a 12lb whole brisket and a 6lb butt.  I'm planning on a sweet type simple rub, my family is not much for anything to spicy.  I have mesquite, apple, hickory, maple, and cherry chips. 

My plan:  I was planning on seperating the brisket before smoking.  Than using a 3 maple 1 apple mixture for about 4-5 hours of smoking.  I am currently planning on starting up at 8-9pm on Friday.


Questions:  Basically I just wanted some advice on 1)  Sepearting the brisket before or after?  2)  What would be the best smoke mixture?  3)  Advice on when to start on Friday?

I normaly would do my research by reading previous posts, but I'm getting close to gametime here and could really use some advice. I'm concerned with doing both brisket and pork at the same time and if I can get it to all come together at the same time.

Thanks in advance

[SKSmoker]

My advice, start much, much earlier than you thought to. I did 2 butts this weekend, but started 4 hours earlier, and I am glad I did! I was done early, had a nap, pulled the meat at supper time <it was so hot it burnt my fingers and it was sitting for 5 hours> and I had a beer.

That butt and brisket will FTC nicely for atleast 4 hours and more. It is going to take much longer than you think, so why not finish early!  Start at 4pm on Friday. If it is going too fast, then just turn it down. No sweat. I now smoke all of  my food at 240 or 250. Really cuts the time down and I cannot taste any difference in the meat. If anything, the meat is more done than using 210. 210 for me doesn't get hot enough to get the meat really cookin to render the fat out. I always ended up turning it up for the last 4 hours anyways to get the meat done.

I did a brisket about 3 weeks to a month ago and I will separate the flat and point before cooking from now on. The flat for eating, and the point for burnt ends <holy cow were the burnt ends good!>. Put the point above the flat <great advice I am passing along from the forum members here!>

Personally I would use cherry on it all as I like the flavour that cherry gives, but that is just my preference. Not sure how well apple and beef go together. I would try to find something you can do all with and cherry for us is what I can do a mixed meat load with.

Oh, welcome to the forum!

[Gizmo]

Welcome JBomb,
I would second SKSMoker's advice on starting earlier than you think and use the FTC (Foil, Towel, Cooler) or some derivative there of for the buffer time.  You can figure about 1.5 hours per pound on the brisket at 210.  As SKSmoker also mentioned, if you use a higher cab temperature then the time time will be less.  I split the point from the flat with the fat cap on the shelf above the flat but I eat them both.  The point IMHO has more flavor than the flat which makes it a good eat or maybe I am sufferring from a lack of burnt ends the others here enjoy incredibally.

The butt can also be smoked and then taken out when done and pulled, then reheated just before consumption.  Crock pots or slow cookers provide a great reheating tool and serving dish to keep the eats warm. 

I think your maple and apple choice is a good combination for smoking the two meats together.

Let us know how it goes.

[Habanero Smoker]

Welcome to the forum.

Both brisket and butt reheat easily, so you can prepare both in advance. I generally smoke/cook at 200°F. If I were smoking both cuts at the same time I would use Oak. Also I take my butts out at 175°F, and my brisket out at 180°F to 185°F.

[manxman]

Both brisket and butt reheat easily, so you can prepare both in advance. I generally smoke/cook at 200°F. If I were smoking both cuts at the same time I would use Oak. Also I take my butts out at 175°F, and my brisket out at 180°F to 185°F.

Some great advice given so far, must admit for events such as yours I prepare in advance as HS says as both are easily reheated. Means you can relax and have a few beers rather than fret that everything is going to be ready on time, things always seem to take longer than expected!!  ;)

I would agree with the choice of oak, my personnal preference it to take the pork to about 180 - 185F, much the same as brisket.

Welcome to the forum.

[Wildcat]

Welcome to the forum.  The only thing I can add to the above is if done early and you have a vacuum sealer you can seal up and then reheat in boiling water.

[JBomb]

Thanks for the help everyone.  Think I'm going to take off work a little early Friday and get that bad boy in earlier than I had planned sometime around 3-4pm. 

One last question.  After reading the forums I'm going to go with just a salt and pepper rub for the brisket.  How much should I use.  Do you apply it light or get a good coat on it?

Thanks for all the help.  I can't wait to get started.

[Habanero Smoker]

I generally use a mix of salt, pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder, and I apply a liberal coat on all sides. If I were just using salt and pepper, I would use a light coat on all sides.

[JBomb]

I want to thank everyone for all there help.  Everything turned out great.  I made plenty of mistakes:
Don't think I seperated the flat and the point correctly.  (But after cooking it I have a much better idea for next time)
Had some really wacking temperature readings, like a 10lbs chunk of the brisket hitting 190 after only 6-7 hours at 200 degrees (but than later dropping down to 160,  Definetely need to calibrate my thermometer and make a better placement of it in the meat)

But even with all of this everyone loved it.  I used a salt, pepper, garlic and onion rub on the brisket and and a more Brown Sugar/BBQ rub for the pulled pork.  Went through about 20 + pounds of meat with only about 13-15 people, and several requests of do it again.

Next time I'll try to get some pictures.  But I just wanted to say thanks again.  I would have crashed and burned without all your help.

[SKSmoker]

It only gets better. Good luck next time, and send us along some left overs :P

[Wildcat]

Way to go!  Guests raving over it and wanting more is a true indication of your success IMHO!

[Gizmo]

JBomb, sounds like you did just fine.
The long story:
I did a whole packer brisket this weekend for a couple of chefs.  Even though I have done quite a few briskets, I had some technical variations (new way of saying screw ups) that could have been avoided.  I was in a hurry to get some work done on the old house, I started the brisket (split between the flat side and the cap side where the thickness starts to change).  The techinical variation was - I connected the cabinet probe to the underside of the top rack (where the point was) and then slid in the bottom rack right below.  I didn't use a second indepenant (dual probe) and the cabinet probe from the maverick ended up resting on the top of the meat on the bottom rack (and I didn't notice).  So I ended up having the cabinet temperture much higher (probably around 230-240 or so) then the normal 200-210.  Thought it was aweful unusual for the cab probe and the meat thermometer to be reading close to one another after a few hours and the cabinet probe never did get up to 200 deg.  Didn't notice the probe problem until the 3 hour mark or so.  After 4 hours, I pulled the briskets, boated them in apple juice and wild turkey and then put it in the convection oven with the meat probe set to 175 deg.  Asked my son to keep an eye on it while I was at the old house.  6 PM he calls me to say that the oven is beeping meaning the probe has reached the final IT but way sooner than I normaly see.  Change the convection oven into the standard mode and held the temperature at 170 for another 5 hours then dropped it to 150 until 1 PM the following day.  Served at 2 PM and the brisket turned out very tender but the flat side was not dripping wet inside like normal but the cap side was.  The guests were very impressed (even though I didn't think the flat side was moist enough for my standard).    The one chef owned a sea food restaurant and is from Texas.  He also has several barrel smokers in the back yard and is a brisket flat lover.  Said it was the best brisket he had ever had.  Wouldn't be surprise if he is out getting a Bradley soon.  The second chef does weekend catering.  He has been a regular sampler of mine for some time.

So from the long story, you can have a lot of error and still come up with an amazing feast, even if it falls just a little short of perfection every time.  For me (IMHO) the place to split the flat from the point is where the flat side starts to change thickness, not between the fat layer.  The point also turns out much more flavorfull and with more moisture so for me, I prefer the point for eating over the flat. 

Here is my "point".

[coyote]

Giz ,
    You're doing it again. It's 2:08 a.m. eastern and man does that look good ! :) After a quik snack I'm
gonna try to get some sleep....But there's nothing in the fridge that even comes close to the picture in
your post. :( You really know how to make a POINT :D ;D

                                                     Coyote

[Wildcat]

Nice job Giz!  Raves from chefs!  :o  Can't get much better than that.

[MRH]

Giz that sure looks good!!

Mark