Father's Day Brisket

For Father's Day this year, I asked that I could have the time to smoke my first brisket.  Well I got my wish.  Went to Costco and found the smallest Prime Packer I could (15.5 lb). 



Figured with a bit of trimming, It would fit..... and it did, barely.  No rib rack or anything like that needed.  Did as much research as I could on trimming it and getting it ready.



Put it on the grill Saturday night around 8pm (forgot to get a photo), and let it go.  Grill had some larger Rockwood chunks at the bottom with 3 fist size pieces of hickory, smaller pieces of Rockwood on top of that, with some chips of Jack Daniels oak barrel.  Place setter on legs up, drip pan with a bit of an air gap, and the brisket.  Egg held at 240-250 all night.  Did a quick peek about 12 hours after putting it on to see how it was looking.



Smelled amazing and was trucking along beautifully.  I decided to keep it naked all the way through.  Partly because I didn't want to foil it, and I also didn't have butcher paper.  



Everything I wanted for Father's Day.  Grilling, drinking, and no interruptions.  I will give a shout out to @lousubcap for answering some questions.  Much appreciated and sorry again for bothering you.  Here is the shot after taking off the grill to rest before FTC.  Temperature wise, the point was registering around 200.


So this is where I start to wonder if I left it on too long, or not long enough.  The thicker part of the flat was probing easier (had it on for 18 hours at this point) but it wasn't exactly like the point which was like butter.  I let it rest for about 25 min., then wrapped in foil and placed in towels and a cooler that had been baking in the heat of the sun.  About three hours later, I finally got the chance to cut into it.....





The flavors were amazing.  Franklin's salt and pepper was all this needed.  I ended up using about 1/2 cup total of equal parts kosher salt, and fresh ground pepper (tried to get as close as I could to a 16 mesh grind).  Crust has that caramel/stickiness that Franklin talks about.  But when I get to the inside....it was a bit dry, and maybe a bit tough.  Definitely didn't pass the pull test that Franklin talks about.  Still tasted amazing, but I don't know if it was over-cooked, or under cooked.  

I remember my first set of ribs, I thought were over-cooked as they were a bit tough, but found out via this forum, they were actually or most likely, under-cooked.  Since the thickest part of the flat was probing nice but not quite as nice as the point was, I am thinking it was under-cooked and maybe should have left it on a bit longer.  I think I got anxious/worried that at 18 hours this brisket (around 12lbs trimmed) was more than done.  Reading that it is on average 1-1.5 hr/lb, I was at the high side of the range.  But it was also a bit dry, so maybe it was left on too long.  

To me, this is why we post on here.  To learn and better ourselves via the abundance of experience everyone has.  Maybe I put too much focus on the time, and should have let it ride out longer until the flat was probing a lot nicer.  Maybe I left it on too long, and missed my window.  Would wrapping in paper have helped?  All questions I will try and find answers to, and honestly can't wait to do this again and hopefully make it even better.

..... and to add to why I love the egg (amongst other things), and maybe a shout out to @stlcharcoal for an amazing product.  After almost 20 hours of cooking and having the charcoal filled to the bottom of the fire ring, this was how much was left.  And that is after I stirred it to make sure there were no pockets and have everything settle.  Plenty of lump ready for the cook.