1st brisket ~ Easter pressure!

LitEGGator

I've been egging for a few months now...I've conquered wings, spatchcock, steaks, MOINKS, and butts.  Now for the brisket overnight challenge!

The rubs seem simple, mopping seems straight forward (although, please post any recipes if you want to share them)...however, the cook time and temperature is not surprisingly where it gets hotly debated.  I know there are LOTS of posts on here and Griffin's page seems to have a great strategy. 

Dinner will be at 5pm on Sunday so I think there is plenty of time, but with about 10 people showing up --- the pressure to get this right compelled my first post in the forum!  I'm loving the Egglife!

NPHuskerFL

@cazzy & @The Cen-Tex Smoker‌ in 3, 2 ...
Me personally like several dry rub recipes. Or you could use the K.I.S.S. Theory and use a simple kosher salt and coarse pepper.

plumbfir01

good luck and ask these guys anytime day or night, someone will almost always respond quickly no matter the time. 

Ps welcome to the forum and we look forward to your contributions (EGGIN' Porn) and remember the search bar is a big help if you have any questions (most can be answered by searching first)

bicktrav

Use this recipe.  This is from Adam Perry Lang.  He's kind of a BBQ hero.  Has won several competitions, and is an accomplished chef apart from the world of BBQ.  This recipe is one of the most involved you'll find, so it seems hard at first glance, but it really isn't.  Just follow the instructions.  People will be floored by what you turn out...

http://www.adamperrylang.com/recipes/get-a-book-whole-beef-brisket

If the intensity of the recipe is scary, you can just do the following (which is an abbreviated version)...

Rub with salt, pepper, garlic powder and cayenne (don't worry so much about portions).  Smoke with any wood you like at 250 until internal temp reads 165.  Wrap brisket in foil and pour 1/2 cup each of honey, butter and brown sugar into the foil with it.  Throw back on egg until 195.  Pull and put in a cooler to rest for one hour.  Paint with your favorite BBQ sauce and throw back on the egg for 30 minutes.  That's it.

cazzy

bicktrav said:

Use this recipe.  This is from Adam Perry Lang.  He's kind of a BBQ hero.  Has won several competitions, and is an accomplished chef apart from the world of BBQ.  This recipe is one of the most involved you'll find, so it seems hard at first glance, but it really isn't.  Just follow the instructions.  People will be floored by what you turn out...

http://www.adamperrylang.com/recipes/get-a-book-whole-beef-brisket

If the intensity of the recipe is scary, you can just do the following (which is an abbreviated version)...

Rub with salt, pepper, garlic powder and cayenne (don't worry so much about portions).  Smoke with any wood you like at 250 until internal temp reads 165.  Wrap brisket in foil and pour 1/2 cup each of honey, butter and brown sugar into the foil with it.  Throw back on egg until 195.  Pull and put in a cooler to rest for one hour.  Paint with your favorite BBQ sauce and throw back on the egg for 30 minutes.  That's it.

That's good and all, but not something I would recommend for a first attempt.  I find most of Adams recipes to be too complex for my BBQ approach.  To each his own though.

grege345

LitEGGator said:

I've been egging for a few months now...I've conquered wings, spatchcock, steaks, MOINKS, and butts.  Now for the brisket overnight challenge!

The rubs seem simple, mopping seems straight forward (although, please post any recipes if you want to share them)...however, the cook time and temperature is not surprisingly where it gets hotly debated.  I know there are LOTS of posts on here and Griffin's page seems to have a great strategy. 

Dinner will be at 5pm on Sunday so I think there is plenty of time, but with about 10 people showing up --- the pressure to get this right compelled my first post in the forum!  I'm loving the Egglife!

I've seen Steven raichlen (don't know if I spelled it right) mop but I don't think you'll see a lot of mopping goin on here. The egg keeps moisture in pretty good. Also, with mopping that's a lot of open and closing during an overnight. Not exactly how you'd do that at 3 am. @griffin has a lot of good info. What size brisket? Full packer? What temps are you shooting for? As for rubs its a personal preference. This won't be your last brisket so try all kinds.

smokesniffer

Good Luck with it. It is great eats! The guests will love it. Let us know the results. Pics or it didn't happen.

cazzy

• Buy a brisket packer
• Trim fat cap to 1/4 inch.  Get rid of all hard fat.  Good example right here.    
• Stabilize fire at 250 dome
• Season brisket and toss in egg with wood chunk(s).  Oak is the best but i'm from Texas
• If you have a Maverick or pit controller, insert probe in the thickest part of the flat.
• Check for tenderness at 190...you'll likely pull at around 195-205
• Pull when the probe inserts the thickest part of the flat like butter
• Rest the brisket for 1 hour minimum
• Watch this video for how to cut it.

A few cliche BBQ lines:

• If you're looking, you're not cooking
  
• Cook to temp, not time (in this case, tenderness...temp just tells you when to start checking)
  

At 250, you're prolly going to average about 1-1.5 hours per pound.  That's not an exact science though as every brisket is different so just monitor it closely at the back end.  This isn't competition, so please don't inject your brisket.  Maybe, just maybe, I could see doing that if you can only get a flat in your area.  

bicktrav

cazzy said:

bicktrav said:

Use this recipe.  This is from Adam Perry Lang.  He's kind of a BBQ hero.  Has won several competitions, and is an accomplished chef apart from the world of BBQ.  This recipe is one of the most involved you'll find, so it seems hard at first glance, but it really isn't.  Just follow the instructions.  People will be floored by what you turn out...

http://www.adamperrylang.com/recipes/get-a-book-whole-beef-brisket

If the intensity of the recipe is scary, you can just do the following (which is an abbreviated version)...

Rub with salt, pepper, garlic powder and cayenne (don't worry so much about portions).  Smoke with any wood you like at 250 until internal temp reads 165.  Wrap brisket in foil and pour 1/2 cup each of honey, butter and brown sugar into the foil with it.  Throw back on egg until 195.  Pull and put in a cooler to rest for one hour.  Paint with your favorite BBQ sauce and throw back on the egg for 30 minutes.  That's it.

That's good and all, but not something I would recommend for a first attempt.  I find most of Adams recipes to be too complex for my BBQ approach.  To each his own though.

Agreed; like all of APL's cooks, this is a very intense recipe.  But I did it when I was relatively new to egging with no problems at all.  It seems really daunting at first because of the volume of ingredients and the amount of steps.  No question, it requires a hefty trip to the supermarket, but once you have the ingredients, it's really not that hard.  You only have to do one thing every hour or two, and that thing typically takes only a moment (spray brisket with apple juice spray for example).  But I hear you, and I agree; this is one of the more involved recipes you're going to find.  If you choose to do it, however, you'll absolutely blow any guests you serve away. 

DMW

Yep, I'm way too simple for APL's recipes, or lazy... But seriously having to do stuff in the middle of the night is not for me.

bicktrav

Yeah, no APL recipe should ever be attempted at night. All of his cooks should be daytime affairs carried out when you're cool lounging around the house all day.

@cazzy - totally concur about not injecting.

s_austin_egger

My only advice is to give yourself plenty of time to cook. You can FTC for several hours if it finishes early. Fight the temptation to pull it before it's ready. It's not ready until the probe goes in all over without any resistance.

LitEGGator

Thanks! I really appreciate all of the tips!

DIAD

Enjoy!  It's going to be fun!!

Griffin

Keep it simple. Salt and pepper, 250 grate temp, oak is good, but I'm from South Texas and prefer some mesquite mixed in, no mopping, no foil, cook until its done. FTC if needed. Every brisket is different and people will be around here to help walk you through it.. Not me, my weekend is packed and I don't ususally get on here during the weekend. Listen to cazzy and Cen-Tex.