First Time Brisket Smoke. Seeking Pointers.

[WossamottaU]

Having a little gathering of sorts and being the manliest man of the group, I'm in charge of smoking the brisket. Problem is it's all new to me.

Guy left me an 11lb brisket, already trimmed of excess fat. I put a rub on it this morning . Paprika and garlic and instant coffee and all kinds of shit....that's not the part I'm concerned about.

Buddy also left me his Traeger smoker/grill to cook it on, a device I've never used before. I do have a good probe to put in it for temp watch.
My plan was to throw it on to smoke at 225° til it hit about 160° then wrap it in foil and keep at it til 205°. I'd then take it off and throw it in a smaller cooler to slowly cool/temper for a couple hours. Is this not the way?
I was also left some butchers paper to wrap it in but I don't understand what exactly I would do with that or how it would be a benefit over the foil. Thoughts on that are welcome.
I'm expecting it to take around 10-12 hours but we'll see how it goes.

Anyways, the guy should just do it himself instead of let me stress over it but here we are. Help?

 

[nonoob]

Low and Slow for the win !​

Reminds me of my high school sweetheart.
I met her while riding the short bus, was love at 1st site.
She was a brunet, just under 4 feet tall, with a 38 IQ.

 

[WossamottaU]

Low and Slow for the win !​

Reminds me of my high school sweetheart.
I met her while riding the short bus, was love at 1st site.
She was a brunet, just under 4 feet tall, with a 38 IQ.

Thanks buddy, I'll keep that in mind!

 

[davidlemonparty]

225 is too low a temp. Go 250, or 275. 11lb trimmed is a decent brisket.
225 could lead you to a 14 hour cook or more, easily. Every piece of meat is different.

You can rest a brisket as long as you want if you take some simple precautions and it is ALWAYS better to be ready early than late
Go 275,trust me.

Wrapping in foil can speed up the end of the cook, and especially push thru a stall, but it will impact the bark. I'd definitely use the butcher paper . It allows moisture exchange if things start getting out of wack. Watch a YouTube on how yo wrap in paper it does make a difference.

Pull the brisket when the entire thing is probing like butter. No resistance to a skewer, probe, etc getting poked in. Don't pull on temp.

When you are happy to take it off, let it rest (wrapped) on the bench for 30 mins. This let's the cooking process stop. Prevents excess carry over cooking.

To rest, wrap in a towel and put into an esky (chilly bin, insulated cooler?) dunno what they call em where you're from.
Ideally warm the esky up first by pouting in warm water and once it gets warm, tip that shit out.

You can literally rest for 6-8 hours this way if it's wrapped in paper and a towel in a good esky.

Key advice :
Cook early, rest long
Cook at 275
Wrap in paper not foil
Cook till probes smooth, not by internal temp

 

[davidlemonparty]

PS post some photos my bro.
Here is my last brisket :

 

[Fedorgasm]

Been a long time since I've done a brisket but I recall my biggest fuck-ups were due to not letting it sit for a couple hours before cooking. And expecting it to be done on time. The stall is real. Plan ahead.

 

[WossamottaU]

225 is too low a temp. Go 250, or 275. 11lb trimmed is a decent brisket.
225 could lead you to a 14 hour cook or more, easily. Every piece of meat is different.

You can rest a brisket as long as you want if you take some simple precautions and it is ALWAYS better to be ready early than late
Go 275,trust me.

Wrapping in foil can speed up the end of the cook, and especially push thru a stall, but it will impact the bark. I'd definitely use the butcher paper . It allows moisture exchange if things start getting out of wack. Watch a YouTube on how yo wrap in paper it does make a difference.

Pull the brisket when the entire thing is probing like butter. No resistance to a skewer, probe, etc getting poked in. Don't pull on temp.

When you are happy to take it off, let it rest (wrapped) on the bench for 30 mins. This let's the cooking process stop. Prevents excess carry over cooking.

To rest, wrap in a towel and put into an esky (chilly bin, insulated cooler?) dunno what they call em where you're from.
Ideally warm the esky up first by pouting in warm water and once it gets warm, tip that shit out.

You can literally rest for 6-8 hours this way if it's wrapped in paper and a towel in a good esky.

Key advice :
Cook early, rest long
Cook at 275
Wrap in paper not foil
Cook till probes smooth, not by internal temp

This is helpful. Cheers, man.

My main concerns were time, and having to touch a fella with the jab. I know that prick's gonna be standing over my shoulder every time I go near it, telling me how he'd do it differently, even though he sloughed off the responsibility of cooking it himself.

I threw it on about an hour ago (4am) at 250. I imagine I'll be too busy to update but I'll try to snap a picture of the finished product.

 

[davidlemonparty]

This is helpful. Cheers, man.

My main concerns were time, and having to touch a fella with the jab. I know that prick's gonna be standing over my shoulder every time I go near it, telling me how he'd do it differently, even though he sloughed off the responsibility of cooking it himself.

I threw it on about an hour ago (4am) at 250. I imagine I'll be too busy to update but I'll try to snap a picture of the finished product.

Yeh you might need to slap a bitch imo.

Good luck

 

[Natural Order]

The manliest man of the group doesn’t have BBQ equipment dropped off to borrow.

 

[WossamottaU]

The manliest man of the group doesn’t have BBQ equipment dropped off to borrow.

I have my own homemade smoker but it's too manly for them to handle.

 

[nonoob]

Here is my last brisket :

View attachment 1060801

Your directions are 4 Star dlp, that finished brisket is gorgeous!

Do you marinate or do a massaged-in rub before the smoking?

I have my own homemade smoker but it's too manly for them to handle.

1. Nice, did you make that beast?
2. Did you give it a proper name?

Seems like it'd be cool to say "I just got done stickin' my meat in ???".

​

 

[Brom Bones]

Having a little gathering of sorts and being the manliest man of the group, I'm in charge of smoking the brisket. Problem is it's all new to me.

Guy left me an 11lb brisket, already trimmed of excess fat. I put a rub on it this morning . Paprika and garlic and instant coffee and all kinds of shit....that's not the part I'm concerned about.

Buddy also left me his Traeger smoker/grill to cook it on, a device I've never used before. I do have a good probe to put in it for temp watch.
My plan was to throw it on to smoke at 225° til it hit about 160° then wrap it in foil and keep at it til 205°. I'd then take it off and throw it in a smaller cooler to slowly cool/temper for a couple hours. Is this not the way?
I was also left some butchers paper to wrap it in but I don't understand what exactly I would do with that or how it would be a benefit over the foil. Thoughts on that are welcome.
I'm expecting it to take around 10-12 hours but we'll see how it goes.

Anyways, the guy should just do it himself instead of let me stress over it but here we are. Help?

Yeah, just do that.

 

[Natural Order]

I have my own homemade smoker but it's too manly for them to handle.

View attachment 1060805

Diss rescinded, Sherbro.

 

[Kowboy On Sherdog]

PS post some photos my bro.
Here is my last brisket :

View attachment 1060801

I Could Eat

@lsa @helax @Arqueto

 

[Arqueto]

I Could Eat

@lsa @helax @Arqueto

Birthday brisket

 

[nonoob]

Been a long time since I've done a brisket but I recall my biggest fuck-ups were due to not letting it sit for a couple hours before cooking. And expecting it to be done on time. The stall is real. Plan ahead.

Smoking a big one like that right outta the fridge (an 11 pound - 5 kg brisket) will add mega-hours to complete the smoking/cooking process.

Fedorgasm's "The stall is real" comment is just as true here in brisket smoking as it is in a boring, never-go-for-the-finish, Colby Covington fight.

 

[WossamottaU]

1. Nice, did you make that beast?
2. Did you give it a proper name?

Seems like it'd be cool to say "I just got done stickin' my meat in ???".

​

1. Yeah, that's my handiwork. Runs a little hotter than the thermometer reads, but otherwise I'm super satisfied with it. The one I did previously was made out of an old gun locker. I don't do a lot of general BBQ style meat smoking, mostly use it for sausage, bacon, fish, cheese, etc.

2. No name but I'm open to suggestions.

 

[liner]

11 lbs could take 1 hour per pound or 2 hours per pound. You never know. Id have started it the night before, around 8 or 9. Id go 250- 275. Wrap around 150-160. Foil or butcher paper, either will work. Til around 200. Hopefully you are done around noon or so. Hot hold that sumbitch in the wrap around 150-170 until you are ready to eat. You can hot hold for an hour, or 8 hours or more. Depending on your cook time. That's why I'd start early and utilize the hot hold. Danger of starting at 4am day you want to eat if that meat takes 18 hours to cook, people get hungry and it's 10pm and no meat!

 

[GoodBadHBK]

I have my own homemade smoker but it's too manly for them to handle.

View attachment 1060805

Confirmed: TS is Tom Selleck

 

[liner]

The butcher paper would potentially give a better bark. But honestly I've done both foil and butcher paper. And I don't notice a huge difference. Key for me is taking advantage of hot holding.

If you really care about the bark that much dont wrap but it'll take longer!