BBQ Brisket (Guest Post - Jeff)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 With a full packer brisket, you will need to trim the fat cap down to 1/4" thick.  Any more than that is too much fat.  Remove the deckle (very hard fat in between the Point and the Flat) the deckle will not render during the cook, so it has to go. There are lots of YouTube videos on how to remove the deckle before smoking. Use a liberal amount of SPG (salt, pepper, and granulated garlic in equal amounts) to rub the meat.

Light your smoker.  you are looking for a pit temp of 250 degrees for low and slow cooking.  If you wish to cook it quicker, go ahead and let the temp come up to 275-300 (some folks go to 325) for the hot and fast version.  I find that hot and fast works best with a prime brisket rather than choice or select.  After the smoke clears to a thin blue color, the meat is ready to go on.  I highly recommend using a multi-probe, WiFi-enabled thermometer to keep track of pit temp and internal temp of the meat.  Set alarms on the thermometer to indicate an out of control fire (325+ degrees) and when meat is completed cooking (203 degrees).   

Now put the rubbed brisket on with the fat cap towards the fire in order to help insulate the meat from the fire.

 If you want, you can spray apple cider vinegar or apple juice on the meat as it gets barky...I never do this before about 7 hours.  Most of the time, I don't do it at all.  If there is moisture on top of the brisket, no need to bother spraying it.

Remember this:  if you are looking...you are NOT cooking.  Keep the lid closed, there is no need to constantly check the meat.

When the meat hits about 170-180 degrees, the internal temp may stall.  Go back inside and have another couple of beers. It will overcome the stall at some point and then the temp will rise to the finish temp of 203 degrees.

When the alarm sounds off that you are done...go push a hand held probe into the meat.  if it pushes in like warm butter....take the meat off and wrap in pink butcher paper.  Wrap it well, then wrap it again. now put it into a small cooler, fill the airspace with  newspaper or a towel.  Let it rest for a MINIMUM of 1 hour, 2 -4 hours is better.  

Remove from cooler, unwrap and remove the point from the flat. Slice across the grain.  

  I usually cut a full packer into dinner + a couple big chunks that can be frozen in food saver bags and reheated in the sous vide.