Smoking Meat

[Roy Tucker]

Pork Loin and baked potatoes in the smoker right now. Wife will fix up some sauerkraut.

Happy New Year everyone.

I’m flying solo on NYE for the first time in a really long time. My middle daughter had a baby son yesterday and my wife is there pitching in.

My son in law is happy to get a extra deduction on his 2022 taxes. Baby was 2 weeks early but was 8 lbs 1 oz. I think I’ll sample my bourbons tonight.

[cumberlandreds]

I’m flying solo on NYE for the first time in a really long time. My middle daughter had a baby son yesterday and my wife is there pitching in.

My son in law is happy to get a extra deduction on his 2022 taxes. Baby was 2 weeks early but was 8 lbs 1 oz. I think I’ll sample my bourbons tonight.

Congrats Grandpa!

[medford]

So question for the brisket smokers on here:

I've gotten to the point where I'm pretty comfortable that I can cook something pretty darn good, but had a few curveballs thrown at me New Years day.

I bought an 11, almost 12 pound brisket. Got up early and threw it on around 7 AM. I've seen varying cooking times listed as 1 hr to 1.5 hours per lb when cooking at 225 and 45 min per pound smoking at 250. I've settled into doing something kind of inbetween, smoking at 240 and figuring on roughly an hour maybe a shade less.

I knew I was triming away some of the fat, so If I planned for a 12 hour cook on my 12 lb brisket prior to triming, the actual cooking time would be something less, allowing for an hour or so rest and eating around 7 PM. However, my brisket was done by 3ish, so roughly an 8 hour cook.

Is there an estimate for how much weight you lose off the brisket by trimming it? Obviously its going to vary by brisket, and it would be easily solved by weighing the trimming after done to get to a total, but I don't have a scale for that. There is a significant amount of fat to be trimed b/w the flat and the point, but I would have guessed around 1 lb of fat trimmed overall.

Anyhoo, when doing your brisket, how long do you plan for and at what temp. If you buy a 12 lb brisket, what is your planning on when it will be ready.

Another curve ball, we were at my fathers for a delayed christmas that day, normally I'd wrap the brisket at 165, but because I was there it pushed past 165 and the stall while I was at his house, we actually left because my probe was ready 205 around 2:30 (I know my probe is going to be roughly 10 degrees higher than my much better hand held digital probe will read so I was OK, but it only took another 45 min for me to be done). Anyone prefer not to wrap it? I've done it in foil once and didn't get the bark I'd like, I've done it in butcher paper seveal times, this is the first time I did it w/o any wrap and wouldn't do again if I could help it. The thin end of the flat got a bit dried out and there was definitely a bit too much bark in spots. Thankfully I was planning on using some of it in chili the next day, so the dried out ends worked out well for adding to the chili, while the thicker point was fantastic.

[goreds2]

I have never smoked a brisket. Look forward to the answers.

I am terrible at smoking spare ribs.

I stick with pork loin, Turkey, prime rib, country ribs, chicken wings, chicken legs and baked potatoes.

[medford]

Brisket can be intimidating only because it is such a large cut of beef and you invest a lot of time into it that messing it up scary.

However, I've found as long as you leave yourself enough time, its not very tough, at least on my pellet smoker.

Hardest part is triming off the fat. Suzie gives a great step by step process on her site: https://heygrillhey.com/how-to-trim-a-brisket/

Biggest things to pay attention to is making sure there are not excess areas of fat on the brisket, and to trim out a good chunk of the fat b/w the flat and the point (then be sure to get seasoning into that part)

I've found the montreal steak seasoning that you can buy at Kroger or in large quantities at Costco (I think its made by McCormic) is perfect. Lots of salt, just the right amount of pepper and a few other spices mixed in. I've made my own rubs before and sampled lots of others on various meats, but that stuff is perfect as is for a brisket and can be used on so many other things as well. Anyhoo season the cut liberally, and as mentioned above make sure you get a good amount of seasoning between the point and the flat and its ready to throw on.

I'd definitely recommend wrapping the brisket in the pink Butcher's paper when it hits 165. I've found that foil tends to soften the bark while my most recent cook without lead to part of it being dried out a bit. Its super easy to wrap it in butcher paper if you've never done it, plus it helps the meat push thru the stall.

Finally, make sure you let the brisket rest for at least an hour. I put a towel (one you don't care about) in the bottom of my cooler place the brisket on top of that, then cover it up with some additional towels or a lot of old shirts I use as dust rags. I've let my brisket rest for as long as 6 hours before (not by choice, just kind of worked out that way) and it remains very warm wrapped up that way in my yeti. Be sure to build in at least an hour for rest, I'd actually recommend a 2 hour rest, but know that as long as you keep it insulated it will maintain its heat for a long time.

Finally, 3 years ago, I thought Brisket was kind of expensive. A lot of meat, but pricey in comparision to other things. It feels like the price of brisket has actually come down the last couple of years as everything else has jumped up in price. My almost 12 lb brisket was around $51 at costco. Trim away the fat and maybe it was $5 per pound for the edible piece that was cooked.

give it a shot, its much easier than I thought it would be at first.

[Roy Tucker]

How big of a brisket do you do?

[medford]

I've done a "flat only" that costco sells that run about 7 lbs or so, its is pretty well trimmed up, just add your rub and you are ready to go.

For a full brisket (point and flat) I've usually bought a 12 pound one (which needs trimming) but would be find doing something bigger, I think costco sells them up to 14+ lbs

12 lbs brisket made enough to feed my family of 5 for 2 nights plus a lunch plus enough to add into the chili I made the next day.

You get a lot of meat out of a 12 lb brisket and I've found it to be pretty versatile after words for left overs. I used extra for chili, and will probably use extra chili as a topping for nachos this weekend (another thing that is awesome on a smoker, I can do 2 large trays and separate the baking sheets into 4 separate areas per sheet so you can make 8 varieties of nachos if you have a large crowd to feed, 300-350 for about 10 min on the smoker is all it takes). Can also use left over for tacos, or if you can slice it really thing turn it into sandwiches.

[Roy Tucker]

I've done a "flat only" that costco sells that run about 7 lbs or so, its is pretty well trimmed up, just add your rub and you are ready to go.

For a full brisket (point and flat) I've usually bought a 12 pound one (which needs trimming) but would be find doing something bigger, I think costco sells them up to 14+ lbs

12 lbs brisket made enough to feed my family of 5 for 2 nights plus a lunch plus enough to add into the chili I made the next day.

You get a lot of meat out of a 12 lb brisket and I've found it to be pretty versatile after words for left overs. I used extra for chili, and will probably use extra chili as a topping for nachos this weekend (another thing that is awesome on a smoker, I can do 2 large trays and separate the baking sheets into 4 separate areas per sheet so you can make 8 varieties of nachos if you have a large crowd to feed, 300-350 for about 10 min on the smoker is all it takes). Can also use left over for tacos, or if you can slice it really thing turn it into sandwiches.

Thanks. I’ll give the 7 lb version a try this summer. I no longer have a big crew to feed so I’ll have to wait till my family (kids, spouses, grandkids) are in town to help eat it

I don’t know if you’re local to Cinci but I met up with friends last night at Warped Wing in Mason and had a darn fine brisket sandwich.

[medford]

I'm up in centerville; I've drank Warped Wing beer, but never ate there. One of the co-owners was a year (I think 2) behind me in High School, been forever since I've seen him however. I'll have to keep that sandwich in mind whenever I do get around to eating there.

[Roy Tucker]

I'm up in centerville; I've drank Warped Wing beer, but never ate there. One of the co-owners was a year (I think 2) behind me in High School, been forever since I've seen him however. I'll have to keep that sandwich in mind whenever I do get around to eating there.

Yeah, we kinda get the best of south Dayton here in Mason. We’ve got Warped Wing, Arrow Wine, and Marion’s Pizza.

I’m a CHS grad from way back in the day.

[dabvu2498]

Thanks. I’ll give the 7 lb version a try this summer. I no longer have a big crew to feed so I’ll have to wait till my family (kids, spouses, grandkids) are in town to help eat it

I don’t know if you’re local to Cinci but I met up with friends last night at Warped Wing in Mason and had a darn fine brisket sandwich.

I really wish WW did smoked meat plates other than family-sized. I’ve had all three of their smoked meat sandwiches and they’re all very good, but to just get it on a plate with some sides, you need 4-5 people. I guess I’m saying I with they had a more traditional BBQ plate menu than just a sandwich menu. The bun is just extraneous and also messy.

[Roy Tucker]

I really wish WW did smoked meat plates other than family-sized. I’ve had all three of their smoked meat sandwiches and they’re all very good, but to just get it on a plate with some sides, you need 4-5 people. I guess I’m saying I with they had a more traditional BBQ plate menu than just a sandwich menu. The bun is just extraneous and also messy.

I agree completely. I want the restaurant to be more of a traditional BBQ place. I wanted a plate of pulled pork or a few slabs of brisket and skip the bun and have the meat be the star of the plate. I mentioned that to the waitress and she said they’ve heard that a lot.

[goreds2]

My first smoking meat of the year. It is going to be just above 60 degrees today so I just now put in a fresh 2 and a half pounds of country ribs in the smoker. Country ribs $2.49 a pound at local grocer. I also added baked potatoes.

Will let the smoker do it’s thing while we are doing yard work.

[medford]

I bought myself an insulating blanket, as long as its not too terribly cold I can easily smoke thru the winter. I know I've started it early mornings while it was still in the teens and never warmed up to much above freezing. Can comfortably get the smoker up to 350 if needed, but probably not much above that (I could get close to 500 on a warm summer day if I wanted to sear something off at the end, but I typically just fire up my gas grill which will get to 500+ at below freezing to finish off the reverse seer on steaks or wings). I do use more pellets that way... If you live in a northern climate, the blanket is a great addition.

Oh, I forgot to add, I hope you 1st smoke tastes great

I saw a recipe for hot dog burnt ends the other day. I must admit it intrigued me. Normally I would say "no way" but since I saw it on a pretty reliable source that I get a ton of recipes on I figured it might end up pretty good for a really cheap munch on snack for a party some day.

[goreds2]

My first smoking meat of the year. It is going to be just above 60 degrees today so I just now put in a fresh 2 and a half pounds of country ribs in the smoker. Country ribs $2.49 a pound at local grocer. I also added baked potatoes.

Will let the smoker do it’s thing while we are doing yard work.

OMG, it was great if I say so myself. Going to be in the 40’s the next few days so glad I was able to squeeze this in.

Fun day today. That is what it is all about.