Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Nice. Another plan while my in-laws are in town is to take them to Eastern Market. I've only been once, when met you there to pickup that coolidor. My wife has been wanting to go for some time. Do you know if they will be open for normal Sat stuff on 7/5?

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Just picked this up from Restaurant Depot. Choice grade full packer brisket for $3.59/lb. If you buy 40 lbs or more it drops to $3.29/lb. You need a business license to register for free membership. Not bad given the deals.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...0703141230.jpg

I plan on smoking it around 250 to an IT of 170. Then it'll go into an aluminum pan with some sauce made of apple juice, brown sugar, worshteshire, and some BBQ sauce. It'll be loosly covered after that and stay until IT gets to 195-200. That's when it'll come out to rest for 30-60 minutes before I remove the point. I really want to try my hand at burnt ends so the I want to re-rub the point where it was cut and put it back onto the smoker for another 4-5 hours, per what I've read here: http://www.virtualweberbullet.com/burntends.html

My in-laws are in town and were raised on brisket flats cooked in the oven in a covered cassarole dish. It's fall apart tender but not my favorite way to eat brisket. I'm aiming for sliceable but nearly pullable tender and very moist; hence the finish in the foil/pan.

If any of you brisket vets wants to offer any suggestions please let me know. This is only my second brisket. I'll check back as soon as I can. My wife wants this ready for an early dinner or late lunch tomorrow. Given the weight of the meat I already realize that isn't likely to happen so I was kicking around the idea of higher cook temps maybe up to 275.

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

More info/questions on this smoke...
http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/1...-on-burnt-ends

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

I smoked a brisket on Father's day. The key is going to be not to take it off until you can put in and take out a temperature probe like it is butter. I had mine internal temperature at 205 for over 1.5 hrs before it was tender enough. Make sure it gets enough time to rest after the cook too.

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

I ended up with the Angus brisket Mike, from RD. $3.89/lb. Hard to beat.

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Mine didn't say angus on the printed label but when I flipped it over the pastic said USDA Choice and it also said Certified Black Angus. :sh

I think we're both in for some good eats. I've taken a few pics and I'll post them later. I ended up starting it tonight as my wife made plans for us for tomorrow evening. Need brisket ready for lunch instead.

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

I would put in a pan at 185+ and just finish/bathe it in the sauce till 200.

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

I received my Smokey Mountain yesterday...WOOHOO! I wanted to give it an initial "seasoning" smoke so I picked something fatty: chicken wings. Here they are after about an hour -

https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3869/...f7604d3b_c.jpg

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

What time is dinner?
:dr

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

10 minutes, Peter; got yourself a rocket car? :)

Here they are right before coming off, with a spicy honey-BBQ glaze I threw together:

https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3924/...1942e3e4_c.jpg

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Here's the brisket I did Friday. Never got a pic of the burnt ends, the pan never made it off the grill. :D

Took to 205 IT. Next time I'll go to only 200. The point was too tender, making it hard to cut for burnt ends.

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Man, that brisket is making my hungry!

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

love the rest depot. I get all my meat at the one here in Va Beach.

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Somehow I missed this post and failed to heed its advice.

Here's the packer trimmed up. As you can see my knife work needs some work.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...0703142133.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...0703142136.jpg

All rubbed up and put onto the smoker
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...0703142317.jpg

Removed and ready for a rest:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...0704140622.jpg

The flat sliced up:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...0704141142.jpg

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

And...the point being cubed up. The point got smoked 4 hours longer than the flat. I let both rest, separated them, put the flat back in the cooler to rest, reseasoned the point (where cut from the flat), and back onto the smoke it went.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...0704141105.jpg

Here's the burnt ends drizzled in the drippings and sauce used in the foil/pan/crutch.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...0704141116.jpg

Last but not least is our improvised outdoor spread for Independence Day lunch:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...0704141239.jpg

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

To Christos's advice: The IT read 203 when I pulled the full brisket off and rested it. I did NOT test for tenderness. The flat was juicy and tasty but not quite as tender as I'd like. Don't get me wrong, every bite was eaten but, the crowd favored the burnt ends as they were more tender and more flavorful with the crispy bark they had. Next time I may not crutch the brisket or I may even try to to a wet to dry method to get better bark. But, I WILL test for tenderness once IT target is reached.

To the burnt ends: I've read a number of ways to "do" them. All I did was double smoke the point, cube it, and drizzle a little sauce on it. I read some people fry it in trimmed fat after, and/or cook it in a pan with sauce to carmelize it a bit. I did none of these and it tasted great. Any preferences/tips here?

One more question: I notice many of your briskets have a perfect 360 degree smoke ring. Mine did not. Do you flip your brisket at some point while cooking? I read mixed suggestions for/against. Given that, I did not flip and cooked fat cap up.

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Mike, i didn't flip my brisket. Only the flat end that wasn't covered by the point got a smoke ring all the way around. The rest only had the smoke ring on the bottom.

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

BTW, yours looks really good. Nice job. :tu

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Thanks Bob. I appreciate the compliment from someone who's been smoking meat quite a bit longer than I have. Also, that makes sense about the smoke ring.

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

My first attempt at baby backs on the new Weber just went on.

https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2911/...fb9d6ff6_c.jpg