First Brisket ever

[Dassman5]

I haven't had experience with this personally, but I've read/heard that if you're not going to do a whole packer cut, then go for a point vs. a flat. More fat and more forgiving.

While the point is more forgiving, locally it is much harder to find unless I purchase a full packer brisket. It also tends to more fatty, which makes for great burnt ends, but a bit too fatty for sandwiches for my liking. Hence the reason I have migrated to full packers and vacuum sealing and freezing the leftovers.

 

[KevinD]

Trim the fat before cooking and trim the fat between the flat and point after.

 

[Dassman5]

Trim the fat before cooking and trim the fat between the flat and point after.

I always trim the fat before cooking, especially the yellowish, hard fat. I have a couple of friends that carve out the fat line between the point and flat, and they get great results.

However, Like you, I never bother to trim all of the fat between the point and flat, but just working to eliminate all but 1/4-3/8” fat on the fatty side and almost all of the “silvery” stuff on the flat from the opposite side, just as I do with ribs.

On the last 21# USDA Prime full packer brisket, it lost over 3.5# of fat and scrap meat...hardly restaurant or competition trimming, but when cooking fat side down on my ex4 I like as much insulation between the fire and the meat... just personal preference.

 

[ftank47]

Well. I've had my EX4 for almost a year now and finally decided to make a brisket for a few good friends. Didn't do anything special just to get a baseline. Only did a flat, too. 9.7# before I did a little trimming. It turned out pretty good, actually. Just a little dry, so I think I know how to improve that aspect. Went at 250 until we were getting impatient and moved it to 310° to speed it up a little. Used grill master blend until I ran out and went to Kingsford hickory because my locale doesn't have weber pellets in stock anymore.

Do you remember how long this cook took? I just did my first brisket, it was a flat as well. It was only 5 lbs and I read through your thread to pick up pointers (thank you!). Still ended up drying out at the end. Maybe that's just the case with flats...but I also did a pork shoulder a few weeks back and it also ended up dry. The one similarity between both cooks, I wrapped in butcher paper at what I thought was the stall but they both still "stalled"! My 5# brisket took 14 hours (wrapped after 6 hours 154 internal) and the 8# pork shoulder took like 15-16 hours from what I remember. I think I skimped out on the wrap material and didn't focus on making it super tight. The paper was soaked in the end but the meat was dry. Both rested for about 30 mins before cutting.

Does anyone not wrap and get good results on the smokefire? It's like the butcher paper acted like a paper towel and stole my mojo!

 

[rwhapham]

Do you remember how long this cook took? I just did my first brisket, it was a flat as well. It was only 5 lbs and I read through your thread to pick up pointers (thank you!). Still ended up drying out at the end. Maybe that's just the case with flats...but I also did a pork shoulder a few weeks back and it also ended up dry. The one similarity between both cooks, I wrapped in butcher paper at what I thought was the stall but they both still "stalled"! My 5# brisket took 14 hours (wrapped after 6 hours 154 internal) and the 8# pork shoulder took like 15-16 hours from what I remember. I think I skimped out on the wrap material and didn't focus on making it super tight. The paper was soaked in the end but the meat was dry. Both rested for about 30 mins before cutting.

Does anyone not wrap and get good results on the smokefire? It's like the butcher paper acted like a paper towel and stole my mojo!

What temp were you cooking at and what internal temp did you pull from the pit at? I recently did an 8 lb. pork butt at 275F and it took about 10 hours. I wrapped in butcher paper at 165F-170F (where the stall typically happens) and pulled it off at 203F, and it turned out quite moist. I wouldn't think that wrapping before the stall would make much difference, but I'm not an expert there. Also, did you spritz or wash it at all during the cook?

 

[ftank47]

What temp were you cooking at and what internal temp did you pull from the pit at? I recently did an 8 lb. pork butt at 275F and it took about 10 hours. I wrapped in butcher paper at 165F-170F (where the stall typically happens) and pulled it off at 203F, and it turned out quite moist. I wouldn't think that wrapping before the stall would make much difference, but I'm not an expert there. Also, did you spritz or wash it at all during the cook?

225 to start for both brisket and pork shoulder. Bumped it to 250 after wrapping and then again to 275 b/c I was growing impatient. I spritzed the brisket 4-5 times out of the 6 hours before the wrap. Did not spray the shoulder.

I think I'll start at 275 next time and see what happens.

Was your pork butt on the upper or lower rack? Did you use water pan?

 

[rwhapham]

225 to start for both brisket and pork shoulder. Bumped it to 250 after wrapping and then again to 275 b/c I was growing impatient. I spritzed the brisket 4-5 times out of the 6 hours before the wrap. Did not spray the shoulder.

I think I'll start at 275 next time and see what happens.

Was your pork butt on the upper or lower rack? Did you use water pan?

It's BBQ, so there are so many factors that can cause one cook to go different than a seemingly identical cook. That's the art and fun of it. I cooked it on the lower rack with a nearly full water pan underneath it, which I had to add water to a couple times. One thing that I did do slightly different than I normally do is that I applied the rub the night before instead of just before cooking. No marinade or injection, but it would have been "seasoning" for about 10 hours. The day was pretty chilly and windy if I remember, so I expect that the actual pit temp was probably fluctuating a lot. I cooked it fat side up both before and after wrapping. When I did butts on my WSM, there would be a point where I'd flip fat side down for about an hour; but I didn't do that this time on the SF. And I spritzed with apple cider vinegar every hour until wrapping. After pulling it, I vented the paper a bit and let it rest still wrapped for about 45 minutes. I've had butts in the past turn dry if I had to shred them without an adequate rest, but your 30 minutes should have been fine. My wife commented that the bark wasn't as pronounced as unwrapped one's I've done on the WSM, but I thought it was actually a bit more moist than others. That's one of the trade-offs to wrapping. I'm very much still learning the SF--it's a different beast than the WSM, so don't take my account of a success as gospel, and certainly don't take your less-than-success as an indication that you did something wrong. Again, that's BBQ.

 

[ftank47]

I'm very much still learning the SF--it's a different beast than the WSM, so don't take my account of a success as gospel, and certainly don't take your less-than-success as an indication that you did something wrong. Again, that's BBQ.

Thanks for the detailed info, this is really helpful!

 

[AHoneyman]

After you wrap it in paper, you might put it in a pan. Depending on the weather (humidity), I generally end up with about 1/2 to 1 quart of broth from a butt. Hang on to it and after you pull the butt, add the broth back to the meat.

 

[JpsBBQ]

After you wrap it in paper, you might put it in a pan. Depending on the weather (humidity), I generally end up with about 1/2 to 1 quart of broth from a butt. Hang on to it and after you put the butt, add the broth back to the meat.

Yes! I simply put my pork butts in a foil pan (@160 IT) and cover the pan. Then strain juices though a fat separator (optional) and reintroduce it to the pulled pork. Tons of moisture and it’s seasoned. Flavor bomb! Game changer!