First brisket cook

[dgaddis]

I've done my research, read Aaron Franklin's book and lots of forum posts across the web, and I'm ready. Bought my first brisket today, from the only place nearby (and still half an hour away) that has whole packer briskets. No idea what grade...but dang this thing better be good! At $6.12/lbs this will not be a cheap cook. $83 and change makes this the most expensive piece of meat I've ever purchased and at 13.5lbs also the largest.

Putting it on the Egg Friday and letting it smoke overnight and taking it to a NYE party Sat. night.

Wish me luck!

Apple for scale.

[Nierman]

Good luck - I can't get myself to try a brisket just yet. Hope that's fat cap side down!

[dgaddis]

Good luck - I can't get myself to try a brisket just yet. Hope that's fat cap side down!

It is fatcap side down! I've been wanting to try one for a while, but the cost and the size have made me wait. With the NYE party I've got a big enough crowd to eat it, and for a special occasion I don't mind spending the money. But I'm not gonna get one for any random weekend for just the wife and I...

[robin3mj]

I've done less than a handful of briskets, all in the past ~15 months. Two were great (including the first), one was good, and one was decidedly below average. That one was rushed.

I used Emeril's rub recipe of all people, and it was tasty- nice spicy bark.
Take your time, then take some more, and it'll turn out right.
Wrapping it in foil for the last hour or two, then resting it in same foil off the egg for a while seems to be beneficial.

[dgaddis]

I've done less than a handful of briskets, all in the past ~15 months. Two were great (including the first), one was good, and one was decidedly below average. That one was rushed.

I used Emeril's rub recipe of all people, and it was tasty- nice spicy bark.
Take your time, then take some more, and it'll turn out right.
Wrapping it in foil for the last hour or two, then resting it in same foil off the egg for a while seems to be beneficial.

I'm going to follow the Franklin method. Leave it nekkid until it hits The Stall and then wrap it in butcher paper when I get the bark where I want it. For the rub I'm going to try Dizzy Pig's Red Eye Express.

The hard part, since this my first one, is deciding when to put it on. I'm planning to put it on at midnight and hope for a 15hr cook. If it finishes a few hours early, no worries, I'll put it in a cooler and it'll be ready to go at the party. If it looks like it's going take too long I'm not afraid to bump the temp as we get near the end.

[Cookietruck]

15 hrs should be enough for a 13lb brisket. i usually do mine at around 250-275 and a 13lb brisket would probably go about 11 hrs.
wrapping in butcher paper once the bark is where you want it works well, after you wrap you can ramp the temp up some but it sounds like you won't need to. and also, i'd imagine in an egg you have to be a little more mindful of overcooking the underside.

be sure and allow an hr or two for a proper rest.

[dgaddis]

Well, we're off and running. Had a lesson learned with thermo probe placement and overshot my grill temp for a while, but got it back down. Here she is at 5hrs in, 171° according to my temp probe at the time. Since then it's gone up over 180° and still hasn't stalled yet. Grill is sitting steady at 275°.

[dgaddis]

Alright. Bit of a roller coaster getting this thing done, some lessons learned and things to do differently next time.

Overall grade:: A-

Flavor of the meat was great, the rub was good without being too peppery, good bark, nice little smoke ring, texture was good, but it was a little dry in some places. It was really good, but I can do it even better next time!

Only one pic cause once I started slicing folks were coming through the line to get some.

[Tamu8104]

Very pretty smoke ring!!

I've tried a few methods with brisket in the BGE and I prefer a 50/50 cook. The first half naked to let the bark develop, fat cap down at about 225 degrees, the second half wrapped in foil which keeps it from getting too smokey and drying out. Once I pull it, immediately wrap it in a towel and put it in a cooler for an hour.

I'd also recommend getting some chunks of actual oak and putting them in with the lump charcoal if you can, makes a difference in flavor in my opinion.

[summilux]

I tried the Franklin directions for brisket on a BGE last summer and mine came out a bit dry too. I think Franklin asks you to trim too much fat off the brisket. The second time I did a brisket, I left it untrimmed and fatty and it came up much moister. I used a double layer of foil instead of butcher paper. I do like the uncomplicated Franklin rub and his sauces. The espresso one is my current fave.

[robin3mj]

Any opinions on how small a brisket is worth doing, and how long it'd take?
I've done a handful in the 11-13lb range, for about an hour-plus per pound.

Planning on doing one (at the wife's request) this weekend, but it'll just be us and I don't want/need to have days and days of leftovers.

[jjmstang]

Use the same size and freeze the remainder Matt.....

[robin3mj]

Use the same size and freeze the remainder Matt.....

I may go that route, but I also failed to mention I'd like to buy the meat on Friday evening and have it for dinner on Ssturday, which means either not much time sitting in the tub before starting to cook before I go robbed Friday or getting up st the crack of dawn Saturday to cook it.

I generally can do a pork shoulder same-day but historically have smoked briskets overnight and allowed a good rest in foil for the afternoon before eating it.

[crumpton]

Any opinions on how small a brisket is worth doing, and how long it'd take?
I've done a handful in the 11-13lb range, for about an hour-plus per pound.

Planning on doing one (at the wife's request) this weekend, but it'll just be us and I don't want/need to have days and days of leftovers.

when I have the hankering but limited time, i do a bunch of bone in short ribs. do everything the same but they are done in under 5hrs usually. keep an eye on them. if they are getting too much color i'll wrap em for the last hour or 2.

when i say bone in short rib i mean those short fat ones like in the pic. they may go by different names in different parts of the country.

[robin3mj]

Realize I never closed the loop on this. I talked to my butcher and they sold me a 7-8 pounder which came out fine. I much prefer the larger ones and starting the process the night before but sometimes taking 18 hours to cook dinner just isn't feasible.

[crumpton]

7lb packers still take me 12+ hours but it is always worth it.

another good brisket time cheat is to buy one of those brined in the cryo bag corned beefs. get the size you want. desalinate that sucker in a pot of cold water for several hours. rinse well and do whatever rub you like. back the salt a tad but not all the way. you'd be surprised how much salt leaves with the soak.

those can be done in 5ish hours depending on size.

for the record these are not shortcuts on brisket but rather substitutions.

[bking]

If you want to cut down brisket time there's nothing wrong with ramping up temps to 300 to 325. In fact, many of the best insist it's better that way. Just watch it and wrap it (I like butcher paper) when it gets the color you want.
Above someone said they used Franklin's method and it came out a bit dry. Often it's just the piece of meat, Franklin get's the best. But I've often thought that it helps when cooking 30 plus briskets inside the one smoker (they're big) to keep the moisture content inside the smoker high. I remember one of my best cooks I had packed one of my smokers from top to bottom, three or four briskets, racks of ribs and eventually chicken; some of the best meat I've turned.

[dgaddis]

I've done beef chuck ribs a few times now (can't find plate ribs anywhere). They're okay, but I've decided for ribs I like pork spare ribs best. The beef ribs are just too fatty.

They're a fun cook tho...

EDIT: In my area the only way to find the whole rib plate in one piece (as opposed to chopped up like posted above) is to ask the butcher at the grocery store. Around here they come in whole, and the store butcher cuts them up. I've only cooked 'em whole so far.

[crumpton]

those look damn good to me. too fatty? na.

i do pork but pork ain't beef. fact i do mor epork than anything lately cause Michelle is allergic to all things beef. insert frowny face

these are wet but i've been doing dry mostly lately. they are easier, faster and we dont need near as many napkins. oh and my cocktail glass doesn't wind up looking like something out of a Peckinpah film.

[crumpton]

here, have some more