I'm trying my first brisket with the plan to take it to a holiday potluck this evening.

I've got a Weber Smoky Mountain bullet smoker 14"

I bought a whole PRIME brisket, cut off the flat (about 6 pounds), trimmed it to 1/4" fat (this has a nice cap) and brushed it with peanut oil and then gave it a good rub.

I prepped the coals, poured them into the firebox, added more clean charcoal and 4 big chunks of HIckory (all I could buy by the chunk locally)

I closed up the smoker, ran it up to 225 degrees and then put the flat, fat down on the top rack. After two hours, I'll flip it.

That was at 8:00 am. When the temp gets back up to over 200, I'll add water to the pan.

My plan is to smoke for 4 hours, then wrap and put in the oven to finish it. I may put it back on the smoker wrapped until I start losing heat from the smoker, then transfer to the oven to finish at 225.

I plan to pull it when it hits 190 and then let it rest and wrap it to take the the potluck and slice it there.

Total cook time 8-9 hours. Sound reasonable? Asking cause it's my first try at brisket.

UPDATE: I let it smoke at 225 for 6 hours and it made it to 150 degrees. I wrapped it and tranferred to an oven at 270 degrees. I've only got three hours to get it to 190, so hoping to goose it over the stall in the next couple hours.

Keep us posted. Always thought about trying a smoker.

Franklin smokes his at 275F according to his TV show.
You might find it interesting:
http://www.pbs.org/food/features/bbq-with-franklin-episodes/

When smoking meat I refer to Amazing Ribs for advice.


Amazing Ribs Brisket

Depends on the meat, but I usually do 12 hours at 225. I think that gives time to break down the fiber and render the fat. I look for a 190+ temp, then let it rest with the smoker door cracked.
I thought if I needed it quicker, I would smoke a while, then put it in a pressure cooker with apple juice.
I can't say briskets are hard to do, but they just take different amounts of time to get to 190, and less than 190 is not optimum in my opinion. I would suggest at least 8 hours at 225 and hopefully you can see an internal temp over 170 before resorting to an oven. Good luck.

I think it may take a bit longer if you keep it in the smoker

I like the peanut oil

Prev mentioned apple juice I like to inject mine with apple juice

It's fun to do and when you bring it you become a rock star

I always bring a new hot and mild Uncle Bob's barbq sauce I love it because it's thin not like putting syrup on the meat
Hank

Everything you are doing sounds fine except the time could take 12 hours or a little more. I always pull and wrap mine when it gets to 195 deg internal. Wrapping yours sooner may speed up the process to 8-9 hrs like you said. When it reaches 195, I always wrap it in foil, then wrap in a towel and stick it in a small cooler. That way it stays hot.

It usually takes about 12 hours for me, at about 200 degrees. Taking it off early may not impact the flavor much, but it will be tough.
I usually smoke for 5-6 hours at about 200. Then in oven foil wrapped at 225 or so. I’ll check it every hour after it’s been in the oven for four hours.
Do not stop cooking it until it is tender. It varies by piece of meat, but plan on 12 hours or more.

I've only smoked one brisket on my Traeger. I did it on the Traeger from start to finish and it did finish well. It's not so much time you need to be concerned with but meat temperature. Get it to the right temp and it was be great.

I mix mustard and worcestershire sauce and brush it on to both hold the dry rub and give a nice bark. I like to smoke between 205 -225. I'm usually in the 12 +/- a bit and as other said go by internal temperature. Being you cut the flat off I can see a shorter time.
Best of luck and enjoy.
Go me thinking about doing a boston butt now

Yum and more yum.

At some point your gonna have a cook stall (around 170 for me) and that will add time.
I leave the fatcap topside the whole cook.

also as mentioned when you pull it put it in a cooler it will stay hot for a long time and enhance the flavor quite a bit

I love doing this
in June my Best Bud came up with his tribe and his youngest helped me we had a GREAT time she was a gas

Hank

I cook mine on this. Mesquite wood

I cannot believe you are taking it to a potluck! Can I join your church, family, tribe, whatever???

Well, it's the County Republican Potluck, so everyone is welcome. If I was truly generous, I would have smoked the whole brisket, but I'm saving the point side for this weekend. I'm going to give it a special rub on Thursday and let it sit for 48 hours before smoking.

UPDATE: After 6 hours, it's up to 150 degrees and hasn't yet hit the stall. I let it smoke for 6 hours, then wrapped and put it in a 270 degree oven, with the hope that it will get to 190 degrees in the next three hours. I'll check it hourly and see if it's making progress.

Damn, that sounds good.

Well, not much of a stall. It went from 150-195 in about 90 minutes. I took it out, wrapped some additional foil and put it into a cooler, covered by a folded towel to trap in the heat. Hopefully this will trap in the moisture. I guess we will see!

I'll not slice it until about 6:45.

pics..............

or it never happened.................

Sounds awesome and I bet the people are in for a treat!

Wrapping tends to minimize the stall and it typically blows right through it.....aka The Texas Crutch.

I’m with Tikkanut, we need to see the product.

Dang - no pics, sorry. It was very good, but not great. It got a little dry, but the bark was amazing. I learned something about the wrapping and the stall. Since it got to 195, it probably got at least 10 degrees hotter after I pulled it. I've still got the leftover point and I'll smoke that one for Sunday dinner. There wasn't a scrap left, so no complainers.

Wasn't a scrap...

Dang! I was about to gas up the truck and head your direction.

I think the meat over shoots temperature by about 5 degrees if my smoker is at 225. I like to stop at 190. Most times I put the meat in a crock pot and add either or both apple juice and Coke. I may mix those with a BBQ sauce depending on my taste that day. I really think adding liquid before serving makes it better.
For the bark i use a dry rub with plenty of sugar. I don't think the suet fat does anything for the process so I trim it off.
The flat is a better cut of meat because it has less fat. I usually only buy flats for brisket of corned beef.

Too bad it wasn't a pork shoulder.

Next time if you want a good brisket you SHOULD NOT trim the fat. Cook it fat side on the top. That way the fat drips into and over the meat. Season with ONLY kosher salt and course black pepper. Cook at as close to 220 degrees as you can for 12 hours or so. Use oak chips and do not worry about messing with it and wrapping it through the stall and all that mess. Just leave it on there until you can stick a fork in it and remove meat with a slight twist of the fork. It is done at that point.

Then wrap it in foil and drop it in a Yeti with a towel on top. It will be tender, moist, and it will have an amazing flavor.

Geez, i need to throw a brisket on the pit. Basil the BBQ hound agrees.

came in for pics.....disappointed

Ok. Pics

Pure white trash!

Quoted - for future reference. Thank you. Now, back to regular programming.

Dang, sure does look good.

Sausage is for eatin' while cookin'

This is why one shoots smaller pigs!

i cook a mean brisket.

Nice KW!!

A recent brisket and beef ribs...

Most people dont like the way I do a brisket. But I make em where I can chew em with my bad choppers. Imagine pulled pork in brisket form. And the grandkids sure like em. Leftover are easier for an eintopf too!

Oh, them look good 32/20!!! Im smackin' my lips!!!

Dang kaywoodie! you cook just like Coopers in Llano. Do you charge by the pound too?

Hell dont they charge by the troy ounce???

They are damn proud of their stuff.

I heard that, you can spend over 20$ in a heart beat there and I haven't been there in over 9 years.

BBQ is one of a few things I just cannot spend money on. Not when I can do it myself. To my personal liking anyway. Lord knows I have the time to do it.

"I closed up the smoker, ran it up to 225 degrees and then put the flat, fat down on the top rack. After two hours, I'll flip it."

Why flip it? I knew a guy that had a travel trailer converted to a BBQ trailer for BBQ contests and he won a lot of BBQ contests for best brisket. He cooked his like you did (except for the flipping) plus he wrapped it after 4 hours of smoking and cooked it in his oven at 200 degrees for another 8 hours. The only seasoning he used was a dry rub he made.

I always cook with the fat side up. It helps keep the meat from drying out. If you don't have Hickory don't be afraid to use oak. I also agree with wrapping it after 4 to 5 hours, That also helps to keep it moist and keep from over smoking. believe it are not you can get too much smoke flavor.

Fat side up, never trim fat.
Ever

Trim fat to about 1/4 thick. Fat up helping a brisket is a myth, it does nothing. Fat down to protect the bottom and
I’ll flip if needed.

There is no need to trim the fat. If you don’t like the fat and don’t want to eat it, just cut it off when you are done cooking. Actually, you don’t even have to cut, at that point it is like wiping it off. But anyway, a brisket is formed of tough stringy meat from the chest. Without fat, it is just that, tough stringy meat that dries out when you cook it. You’ve got to have the fat on it.

Protect it from what?

heat.

I heard you want the fat on top because it renders down into the meat.

That’s helps a little with pork, not brisket.

It renders down *onto* the meat, which could help keep it from losing as much moisture, in theory.

Brisket is actually three cuts of meat, the top fatty part, the thicker slab, and the point end.

If you was cookin a 1" steak and a 2" steak, and wanted em both rare, would you cook them the same amount of time?

It can pay to cut the thinner point end off, wrap it earlier, and rest it earlier.

It's not what you're gonna use for show anyway, so make it somethin you can eat, steada dryin it out tryin to get the thick slab done.

Score the thick slab perpendicular to the grain about 1/4", before you rub, so you'll know how to slice when it comes outta the smoker.

When you can grab the fatty cap and twist the meat off with your tongs, it's time to wrap and rest.

Well I'll bet that 98% (or more) of the briskets cooked by the contributors to this particular thread are pretty damn tolerable, and would not be shunned!

There probably wouldn't be much pickens left if you set one out in front of this crew of carnivores!

Not on indirect smoking.

Every smoker I’ve used is supposedly indirect, until you light it.

I used a bullet smoker which has heat on the bottom, there's a water pan separating the coals from the grill, but it's hotter on the bottom, which is why I put the cap down. I think my small problem was that I didn't pull it off until it was already pushing past 195. I'm sure it peaked at at least 205. I poured the drippings over the slices and had a homemade sauce that set it off quite nicely.

I'm doing the big end on Sunday -- I'll get pics of that one.

It all starts with pickin' the right brisket...some were better off being hamburger
I use a marinade/rub for at least two hours pryor to smoking...
With mesquite I will smoke no more than three hours. Hickory up to four...
Fat side up. Wrap and cook as needed with rest by whatever means...
I keep the smoke at just under 200

Personally I go with the KISS method. Keep it simple.

Note: I do this on a big Kamado Joe. The Kamados do cook a little different than the Weber bullet but you can get great results with both.

Costco Prime full packer (full brisket, flat and point).

Trim the fat cap to about 1/8”. Trim off any thin ends. Generally take off the 4-6” of flat (*I save this and cook it side by side with the main part of the brisket).

60/40 pepper and salt mix straight on the meat. No oil or mustard needed. It sticks fine with a little rubbing.

Kamado to 225 indirect with a full load of coal. Apple or Alder is my preferred wood. I do not soak the wood. Usually half a dozen chunks of dry wood and a few handful of chips to boot. (Apple and Alder are more mild woods). Large pan of water to add some steam and collect the juices (not really needed but keeps the KJ cleaner).

I run four probes on a IGrill. First is my pit probe, the other three go into the thickest part of the meat. (I’ve found that multiple probes gives me a better overall meat - heat reading).

I put the main brisket on fat cap up. The smaller flat cutoff goes next to it with a fat cap trim on top.

225 to the 160 stall in the meat. I turn it up to around 250 for the remainder of the cook. I do NOT crutch (no foil, no paper). The Crutch always makes the meat way too soft and It softens the bark. I love me some bark.

When I hit the stall (160) I check the separate flat cut-off and it’s usually right at 200 at that point. I pull it and let it cool for 15 minutes. I get a nice little snack and a good idea how the meat is coming that way. (*what I don’t eat goes into a brisket omelette the next morning).

I pull Brisket at 203 in the meat (pork at 197). I might have those numbers backwards - I don’t have my notebook handy.

That’s it. Normally around 14 hours to cook. I’ve found that 12-14 hours is about the ideal time to cook before it starts to dry out.

Haven’t had anything but stellar results that way.

^ This

I trim the fat down to 1/4 inch on a packer beef. I want the fat cap even.

White Oak is great for smoking, but Red Oak is bad and has a nasty flavor.