1st Brisket

[manderso]

Hello All,

Seeing as it's the first day of spring, I decided I was going to end the long winter by breaking out my OBS and letting her rip this weekend.  I picked up a 7 lb. brisket flat today (BJ's, USDA Choice, $3.59/lb).  It looks like I'm going to have to cut it so that it fits on the rack without touching the inside of the OBS.  Is it better to cut off a small piece and keep the rest as large as possible, or should I cut it in half, or quarters (1 for each rack)?  Just curious if it makes any difference.  Also, does anybody think I should dress it with bacon to help keep it moist?

[iceman]

I think I'd be inclined to cut the point off and keep the rest intact. Just smoke the smaller piece on the next rack down and pull it when it's done and keep smoking the large one. Sort of a "snack" piece while your waiting for the rest to get done.  ;D
Bacon is always welcome in my book. I like it on top of the brisket when I smoke them but it's all personal taste. Sounds like a great weekend is in store for you. Have fun!!!

[manderso]

Thanks Ice.  What's your view on boating it for the last few hours vs. just letting it sit on the rack?  Either way, I'm going to FTC it for a couple of hours after it hits 185-190 IT.

[hollyandtheivybhx]

FTC ?? What does this mean please  ;D

[FLBentRider]

wrap the meat in Foil, wrap that in an old Towel and place in a Cooler. This allows the meat temperature to "coast" to serving time. It also allows you to serve when you want, assuming you start early, since smoking times can vary.

It is also Find The Cooler for an adult beverage.

[iceman]

Thanks Ice.  What's your view on boating it for the last few hours vs. just letting it sit on the rack?  Either way, I'm going to FTC it for a couple of hours after it hits 185-190 IT.

Last one I put in a foil roasting pan when it hit 185 with some beef broth and beer and covered tight then tossed that in the oven (off) and FTC'd that way.

[Tiny Tim]

Proper FTC procedure:

Foil, Towel, Cooler
Fill The Cup
Find The Chicks
Focus The Camera
Funnel the Cash
then
Fly To Carribean

:D

[Wildcat]

Sounds like a good plan.  Just keep in low and slow, take photo's and mail the left overs to me.

[Garner Boy]

Howdy Ya'll

Another newbee just hit the forum...ugh!  Last week I bought the Original Bradley Smoker and tried out my first smoking adventure yesterday.  I smoked a 6lb flat brisket as recommended by the recipe from the Bradley Cookbook for Texas Smoked Brisket.  Because I wanted to determine my mistake, I followed the recipe exactly...which called to cook the brisket between 180 ~ 200 degrees for 10 hours, with a minimum smoke time of four hours.  I smoked the brisket for 5 hours.

The flavor is wonderful...but the brisket is too dry :P.  The recipe called for a mustard baste rub  :-\.  I think next time (if I follow this recipe again) I will cook the brisket between 8.5 ~ 9 hours.  I also think the mustard created too much of a paste when combined with the other ingredients.  But I admit, I'm really new to smoking...so, I'm looking for advice.  A few moments ago I tried searching for other rubs/recipes for smoking brisket and got overwhelmed with the thousand of recipes on the forum and web. 

I'm a little disappointed with the bisquette auto feed feature on the Bradley.  I loaded enough bisquettes in the tube to smoke for 5 hours.  I found that many of the bisquettes didn't burn down far enough...and the last bisquette got stuck between the rotor feed device and didn't advance to the burner element...another bisquette wasted.  Perhaps loading the bisquettes at different time intervals might be a better option.

Looking for advice... ???

[Ontrack]

Welcome to the forum Garner Boy. Two of the most important accessories needed with this smoker are bubba pucks and a Maverick ET73 or similar thermometer. Time really isn't an important issue with the Bradley. You may smoke the same sized item two days in a row and the cooking times to reach the same IT may be hours apart. There are so many different variables that make cooking times different. That is why an accurate probe thermometer is such a neccessity. As for your puck issues, you need to purchase a set of Bubba pucks. These aluminum pucks go on top of the stack of pucks, and will push the last puck onto the burner, avoiding burning half of your last puck. As for the pucks that didn't burn completely, try preheating the burner before you advance the pucks. This should help with the first puck, and the Bubba pucks will help with the last.

[Wildcat]

I recommend that if you do not already have one, you obtain a Maverick ET-73 to properly monitor the cabinet and meat temps.  It is a dual probe and does a fine job at it.  The door thermometer can be off by as much as 20 degrees.  Along with that, I recommend that you do a brisket at 200 cabinet temp until the meat reaches around 190, then FTC for 2 to 4 hours.  It will turn out juicy and tender.  I like to rub with olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic and onion.  Forget about how many hours of cooking.  10 to 14 hours is a rough guess for time.  Go by temp only.

4 hours of smoke is plenty for anything.  Any more that that is a waste IMHO.

Let your generator heat up before adding the wood.  This will help with burning the pucks adequately.  Get some bubba pucks and it will save you some wood.

Make sure that you blow most of the loose particles off the bisquettes before placing into the generator and make sure they are all lying flat.  This will help with proper advancement.

Welcome to the forum and I hope this helps.

[Wildcat]

Sorry ontrack.  I see that you posted just ahead of me.

[Ontrack]

No need to be sorry, Wildcat (unless you drank my last beer or took my last bottle from the bar) ;)

[Wildcat]

I'll never tell. :o ;D

[manderso]

Well, it came out good, but not great.  I was planning on it taking approximately 9-10 hours (1 1/2 hours per pound), but it reached an IT of 190 after only 7 hours.  I put it in an aluminum boat, sealed the top well and stuck it into the house oven, quasi FTC.  After a couple of hours, I turned the oven on to 150 degrees to keep it from cooling down completely when my guests arrived in another 2 hours.  When dinner time came, the meat was very tasty and somewhat tender, but was a bit dry.  I think it was over cooked from sitting too long in the oven.  Live and learn.  I know what not to do next time!