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"Brisket for dummies" questions


Saint Austin

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5 minutes ago, Saint Austin said:

I've been asked to smoke a brisket this weekend for my in-laws, only problem is, due to not owning a smoker, I've never attempted it before. How best should I proceed, including what and where to purchase the meat?

We are going to need the back story as to why your in-laws thought they should ask someone who doesn't own a smoker, to smoke a brisket.

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1. Buy WSM.

2. Got to HEB and purchase an untrimmed cryovac packer. 

3. Obtain coarse ground pepper and kosher salt, mix in 2:1 ratio. Coat brisket thoroughly. 

4. Build fire using minion method, intersperse oak chunks.

5. ????

6. Profit

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39 minutes ago, TornACL said:

We are going to need the back story as to why your in-laws thought they should ask someone who doesn't own a smoker, to smoke a brisket.

Fair question. They're yankees. That said, father-in-law owns a smoker, he's just not apt at using it. And because the rest of his family is sick of eating his dry AF brisket, they drafted me to try using his smoker.

Edited by Saint Austin
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Fair question. They're yankees. That said, father-in-law owns a smoker, he's just not apt at using it. And because the rest of his family is sick of eating his dry AF brisket, they drafted me to try using his smoker.

So you will have access to a smoker. What kind?
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27 minutes ago, Saint Austin said:

Fair question. They're yankees. That said, father-in-law owns a smoker, he's just not apt at using it. And because the rest of his family is sick of eating his dry AF brisket, they drafted me to try using his smoker.

I think you need a turkey pan and liquid smoke as well.

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18 minutes ago, Beau Vine said:

I was planning on smoking a 12 pound brisket on Saturday but I had a last minute recording session and had to leave town, my wife messed up the recipe but it turned out great, here is what happened:


I brined the 12 pound brisket starting Friday night then left town.
My wife on Saturday night forgot what I told her and took the brisket out of the brine and rinsed it, she then rubbed it with a mixture of ground chipotle pepper, black pepper, chili powder, sugar, cumin and cilantro, she then cut it in two (don't ask why) and put each piece in a large freezer bag, put half a bottle of liquid smoke in each bag and put them back in the fridge, on Sunday night she put both pieces into a large metal turkey roasting pan then covered them with a mixture of Stubbs and cattleman's BBQ sauce, she cooked it at 225 for 5 hours. I was pissed with I got home and while I was yelling about her screwing up my brisket she shoves a piece of the brisket in my mouth, I almost popped a boner, it was the best fuckng brisket I have ever tasted outside of a restaurant. My wife is giving me the biggest shit eating grin along with a told you so look.

Whatever happened to that psychopath Rabidhorn? 

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59 minutes ago, Beau Vine said:

I was planning on smoking a 12 pound brisket on Saturday but I had a last minute recording session and had to leave town, my wife messed up the recipe but it turned out great, here is what happened:


I brined the 12 pound brisket starting Friday night then left town.
My wife on Saturday night forgot what I told her and took the brisket out of the brine and rinsed it, she then rubbed it with a mixture of ground chipotle pepper, black pepper, chili powder, sugar, cumin and cilantro, she then cut it in two (don't ask why) and put each piece in a large freezer bag, put half a bottle of liquid smoke in each bag and put them back in the fridge, on Sunday night she put both pieces into a large metal turkey roasting pan then covered them with a mixture of Stubbs and cattleman's BBQ sauce, she cooked it at 225 for 5 hours. I was pissed with I got home and while I was yelling about her screwing up my brisket she shoves a piece of the brisket in my mouth, I almost popped a boner, it was the best fuckng brisket I have ever tasted outside of a restaurant. My wife is giving me the biggest shit eating grin along with a told you so look.

Whatever the question was, I was coming to post this. Internets to you. 

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1 hour ago, Saint Austin said:

Fair question. They're yankees. That said, father-in-law owns a smoker, he's just not apt at using it. 

It's not difficult.  Get some lump charcoal (not Kingsford briquets, and not mesquite, but true hardwood lump from hickory or oak or apple, etc.)  Also buy some actual dry wood chunks, again not mesquite.  Put the charcoal where the fuel goes and light it on fire.  Buy a thermometer and stick it in a potato with the tip in free air and monitor the temperature of the main chamber.  Cover the brisket with a bunch of salt, twice that much coarse ground black pepper, put it near the potato and smoke it for at least an hour a pound.  Try to manage the fire so that the chamber doesn't go above 275 F ish.  Pray.

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1. buy some lump charcoal & oak chunks for your FIL smoker
1a. buy some bourbon and some beer for you (soak the oak chunks in a small amount of bourbon)
2. about 12 hours before you want to eat, light the lump charcoal
2a. after the charcoal fire has started to spread put the bourbon soaked oak on the charcoal
3. close up the smoker and let it heat up
4. start drinking the bourbon and beer
5. check the temperature of your smoker every 15 minutes & take a drink
6. throw some piece of meat on the smoker after your first 3 or 4 drinks
7. about 90 minutes before you need to eat, find an excuse to have to go the to store
7a. don't go to the store, go to a top-line Q place and buy a whole brisket & sneak it into the smoker
8. after 10-15 minutes (or one more drink), pull the brisket and tell them it has to set for 20 minutes
9. have another drink
10. slice the brisket and celebrate

Plan b - http://virtualweberbullet.com/cook.html (it really isn't that hard)

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I smoked one on Monday, on my kid's new offset.  

Used lump with Oak chunks.  Moist side was fantastic.  Lean side looked great, had amazing smoke ring (i know, i know) but was dry as fuck. 

Started probing at 195.  Moist side was vagina butter at 198.  Lean side probed not as easy.   Moist side was towards firebox.  Should I have rotated?  I did add a small water pan. 

 

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3 hours ago, Anastasis said:

1. Buy WSM. Buy BGE/Kamado Joe

2. Got to HEB Costco and purchase an USDA Prime untrimmed cryovac packer. 

3. Obtain coarse ground pepper and kosher salt, mix in 2:1 ratio. Coat brisket thoroughly. 

4. Build fire using minion method, intersperse oak chunks.

5. ????

6. Profit

FIFY

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16 minutes ago, lonestarsooner said:

FIFY

Meh, not a huge fan of the porcelain coookers, but that's personal preference.  I don't have a dogmatic belief on grading wrt brisket. I have had some really awesome primes, and some that disappointed.  I have had a bunch of really awesome choice grades that were better than the primes. One of the most disappointing briskets I have tasted recently was wagyu from blackboard BBQ outside boerne. Never cooking one myself.  eta:blackboards angus brisket was better than the wagyu imo, but was not cut correctly. 

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Yankees?  Who gives a fuck, just go get Rudy's and say you did it.  I did that several years ago for some family in from Virginia.  (Who I honestly do not like that much anyway). I didn't have that much time to cook for them.  They thought I was fucking Aaron Franklin.  But they don't know who he is so it really didn't matter.

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2 minutes ago, Jameslaw121 said:

Feel free. Electric smokers aren't the greatest thing in the world, but for a novice smoker it's a great way to start. Like training wheels for meat.   

Meh, I dont believe in negging. 

But I strongly disagree with this.  This is not rocket science we are talking about. If you need training wheels, that is what a WSM is for. 

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Let's see.
1. You have never smoked a brisket before.
2. You are using a smoker that you aren't familiar with.
3. You are trying to out due your FIL.

What could possibly go wrong?

Don't forget the French dressing.

Seriously, YouTube search Aaron Franklin's brisket series and may the brisket gods be with you. In a pinch call 1-800-Champkind for $19.99 brisket tutorial.

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7 hours ago, Anastasis said:

1. Buy WSM.

2. Got to HEB and purchase an untrimmed cryovac packer. 

3. Obtain coarse ground pepper and kosher salt, mix in 2:1 ratio. Coat brisket thoroughly. 

4. Build fire using minion method, intersperse oak chunks.

5. ????

6. Profit

This is the answer.  Plus . . .

 

5.  Between 9 pm and midnight, put brisket on with 1 probe in brisket and 1 for grate temperature. Run with the top vent open and, for starters, with all the bottom vents open.  When the temp gets to about 220, close 2 vents and close the third vent to the amount only a pencil will fit through.  Watch your temp for about twenty minute, but it should settle between 225 and 250.  Go to sleep.  Twelve hours later, add charcoal.  If the brisket is above 165, wrap in butcher paper (or foil) and but back on the WSM (or skip wrapping and power on).  When brisket gets to about 200 F, start probing.  If it probes like WVB, pull it and rest.  If not, be patient.  By 210, it ought to probe done.  But be patient.  Rest for 30 minutes to an hour and store in a cooler or warm oven until time to serve.  Slice against the grain starting at the point and slicing in a fan pattern until you get to the point, turn the point section 90 degrees and slice some more.  Slices should be about a pencil-width.   Proceed to Step 6.

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11 hours ago, CooterBrown said:

They’re fucking Yankees. Grilling is BBQ to those shitheads. This is a perfect opportunity to serve them some derka dogs.

 

10 hours ago, jimmyjazz said:

It's his in-laws.  Who cares? 

Like you never smoked a shitty brisket.

FWIW - I'm a Yankee, I smoked a shitty brisket (long story) and all of my family loved it

shitty brisket was the first time I cooked at my house and transported it to my parents. I didn't let it rest before wrapping it and putting it in the cooler to transport it. Brisket sat in the cooler 2-4 hours and came out like an overdone pot roast. I was embarrassed, and learned a couple of valuable lessons.

a) rest before wrapping and transporting or it will continue to cook
b) almost everyone enjoyed it, so what the fuck don't fret over it

I took a brisket again the next year and it was great (well great for me, anyway), just have to get the temp down to around 150 before transporting it.
Even if I make a mediocre brisket, nobody up here knows the difference (unless I run into Baboon)

 

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If the OP is going to document the entire day in photos (which he should be obligated to do, IMO), I request that he also buy himself a nice bottle of bourbon and consume it throughout the process.

I mean, you're not really smoking a brisket if you aren't drinking the entire time.

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18 minutes ago, TornACL said:

If the OP is going to document the entire day in photos (which he should be obligated to do, IMO), I request that he also buy himself a nice bottle of bourbon and consume it throughout the process.

I mean, you're not really smoking a brisket if you aren't drinking the entire time.

^^^^ He's right you know.

The best part about smoking delicious smoked meats is waking up and having a beer (or whiskey) at 4:00 in the morning when everyone else is asleep and it's just you and the dog.

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