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smoking My first smoked Brisket

 So for Christmas the my boss aka my better half bought me a weber smoky mountain charcoal smoke/grilll . It was the 18.5 inch variety . I have a very small propane smoker that I have used for smoking peppers and small meats but was never very happy with it . This is the charcoal variety and after smoking some whole chickens, ribs , turkey and a Boston butt I felt compelled to try the mother of all meats the Brisket. So after a couple weeks of searching I finally got my hands on a 11.5 pound USDA prime angus cut Brisket . It cost me about 58 bucks . I applied olive oil to the outside and applied my secret rub  :liar:  , foiled and set in fridge for about 6 hours . 
 
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 I had never smoked a piece of meat that large and was shocked when it did not fit on my grill . So I had to cut this bad boy in half . I set the point ( the fatty thicker but also more tender side) on my bottom rack just above the coals,wood and water pan . I placed the flat on my upper rack . The ideal temp( from what they say)to smoke  is about 225 degrees . At this temp I guessed it would take about 12 to 18 hours to cook .so I started my smoke at 10 pm Saturday night . I have smoked several chickens, ribs , a whole turkey and a 8 pound boston butt during the day and had no problem keeping the temp at 225 for around 8 hours . 
 
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 Well I added more coal and wood than my other smokes and quickly found the smoker running at about 250 and even after shutting the air vents almost all the way it was not budging . It was around 1 am and I could not keep my eyes open anymore so I took a short nap . Around 4 am I awoke from a deep sleep and scampered out to check on my meat . It was stuck on 250 . Nothing I could do but add some more wood and go back to sleep . I awoke around 6 AM . The smoker was still right at 250 . I opened the top up for the first time and checked the temp on the flat . It was at 203 degrees . I could not believe my eyes .8 hours and it was done. This ain't good . So I checked the point and it was at 199.  Well I know for an optical briset you cannot count on the internal temp solely so I did the toothpick test . They ( who the hell is they ) say if it jiggles like jello. and the toothpick goes in like butter your meat is done . Well the toothpick went in like butter   :dance: . So I wrapped both pieces in double foil, then wrapped them in towels and set in my beer cooler for two hours . At 8:30 am I opened them up and was amazed at how nice it had turned out . This process is supposed to allow the meat to tenderize even more and is essential form what they say . 
 
Point 
 
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Flat 
 
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My wife was not going to allow me to serve luch at 9 in the morning  :mope:  But I cut up some of the brisket flat 
 
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The boys and I did a taste test . It came out great . I am sure an expert would have some negatives but to us it was fantastic . 
 
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We had lunch around 12 noon . There was almost nothing left . Thank reading and putting up my almost 5th grade grammar/ writing skills  and shit . 
 
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Yeah man you did us proud! fantastic! I knew you'd throw some macshellsncheese in there somehow! Very nice job man!!
:dance: :dance: :dance: :dance:
 
Damm straight Jamie! Was it a little dry? No matter...

Your first brisky done like a boss! Nice smoker too btw.

Keep up the good work my friend.
 
Chewi said:
Yeah man you did us proud! fantastic! I knew you'd throw some macshellsncheese in there somehow! Very nice job man!!
:dance: :dance: :dance: :dance:
 Roberto,  your  myself :)  :rofl: 
 
Scoville DeVille said:
Damm straight Jamie! Was it a little dry? No matter...

Your first brisky done like a boss! Nice smoker too btw.

Keep up the good work my friend.
 
 Not dry at all . Melted in your mouth . Thank you Jimbo !!!
 
juanitos said:
looks great to me! a nice char / bark, smoke ring, tender  :party:
The burnt ends were eaten before I had a chance to even spice a few up :) 
 
romy6 said:
 Roberto,  your  myself :)  :rofl: 
 
 
 Not dry at all . Melted in your mouth . Thank you Jimbo !!!
 
The burnt ends were eaten before I had a chance to even spice a few up :)
Very cool.  Do you think the whole brisket would have fit on the 22.5" model?  How many times did you have to add charcoal, or was it just wood you kept adding?
 
I don't think 250F is a big deal.  A lot of pros, and those bbg houses down in Lockhart, Texas cook at 350F, and no one's complaining.
 
Looks awesome Jamie!
 
And those knife skills, man they're.......unique! Ummm.........yeah, that's it, unique! :D
 
HAHAHA! Knife skills. Use a hatchet?

Good first effort! It was overcooked though, which is why it was tender as you say, when brisket is overcooked it starts to fall apart like pot roast which can be good for sammies but not for nice thin juicy slices of brisket. You'll get it right, and you'll see on your next cook, each one gets better. Usually lol.
 
Look a  little  cooked but for first time it looks fantastic. Better than most of mine most of the time :rofl:    put the kids up because im coming to sicman that plate. P.s mKE my shells extra cheesey.
 
 
 
Holy shizzey!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!     I just seen the price on that thing :rofl:  :rofl:  :rofl:
 
Roguejim said:
Very cool.  Do you think the whole brisket would have fit on the 22.5" model?  How many times did you have to add charcoal, or was it just wood you kept adding?
 
I don't think 250F is a big deal.  A lot of pros, and those bbg houses down in Lockhart, Texas cook at 350F, and no one's complaining.
 
I have cooked a whole brisket on my 22.5" without problem.  Takes 2-3 loads of charcoal for the cook, wood chunks added for the first 3 hours or so.  I always remove the point and trim down the fat first, cook the point on the bottom rack just like Jamie did (I use only point for burnt ends, don't care for it all that much unless it's burnt ends!).  The flat cooks for about 10-12 hours and then gets wrapped and thrown in an old cooler for a couple hours to do it's thing.  Agree that 250 isn't a big deal, don't think 275 is bad either for beef.  
 
If you can find it beef shoulder clod is excellent for smoking.
 
EDIT:  That's one hell of a first effort Jamie.  Well done buddy!
 
Nice looking brisket.
 
I don't even care at this point if my brisket cooks at up to 260-275F, and I intend to aim for 240-250F going forward in fact ...
 
You get something for the shorter total cooking time it endures, even if it's *POSSIBLY* at the expense of something else ...
 
I don't ever intend to wrap another one in foil.
 
I doubt I'll inject another brisket (I'll probably only ever do that for poultry going forward).
 
In fact, I think I can say the extent of variation in my future brisket cooks will be a binary decision in regard to whether or not I use mustard w/ the S&P ...
 
I think I've made a half-dozen brisket cooks in the past 6 months and I'm kind of looking forward to the future cook that comes off a 325F fire that I couldn't get under control. It's going to be good almost no matter what happens, I think ...
 
Great - now I want brisket, LOL ;)
 
Looking good, though ...
 
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