tostitobandito
New member
Just got my model 3D Wifi after the cyber Monday special, so naturally I had to cook a brisket immediately. Here is a brief summary of what I did, the results, and my thoughts.
I bought a 16.88 pound USDA prime packer from Costco. Probably would've gotten something a little smaller, but this one had the nicest flat and the best fat so giant brisket it is. It had a lot of extra fat, so I lost over 4 pounds in the trim. I did a trim similar to what Aaron Franklin demonstrates, leaving the two muscles connected and streamlined but cutting off extra fat and thin meat that will burn, and trimming the cap to about 1/4". I've seen other videos where people really go in and cut out all the hard fat between the point and flat almost to the point of separating them, but opted not to go that route. I seasoned with just salt and pepper and let it warm up for about 1.5 hours or so before putting it in the smoker.
For the cook I decided to go at 250F using about 7 oz of white oak and two loaf pans full of water, one on either side of the fire box. After some annoyance getting the wifi working again (it worked fine a few days previous when I seasoned it), I got it going at about 11:30pm.
[*]After 5.5 hours or so of smoking the flat was already just past the stall at 175 or so and the point was about 6-8 degrees behind mid-stall. I was shocked at how fast it was moving along so I lowered the temperature to 240F. This brisket was over 12 pounds trimmed so I fully expected at least a 12 hour cook.
[*]By about the 8 hour mark the point was 180F and the flat close to 190F, so I lowered the temperature again down to 230F. I was worried I was going to kill the flat before the point was done.
[*]By about the 11 hour mark the point and flat had about evened out with each other at 195F or so. This probably would've happened if I'd just left the temperature alone, but I was paranoid and didn't want to overdo the flat before the point rendered. Anyways, all good at this point. Probed tender except for a couple spots, so decided to go a couple more degrees.
[*]Pulled it after about 11.5 hours at 197-198F throughout. Wrapped it in butcher paper and then in foil and deposited in a cooler with some towels to rest until dinner time. One thing I'll note here is that it was sort of difficult to get the brisket out intact. I tried grabbing it with BBQ gloves but it was so tender I thought it was going to tear apart, so I ended up pulling the entire rack out and sliding the brisket off onto my counter. There was plenty of nice bark on there, so next time I think I'll strongly consider wrapping it in butcher paper about halfway through the cook, in part to help make the thing easier to handle once it's done and super jiggly.
The flat was pretty damn good. It was tender and juicy but held together well. It passed the pull test. If I'm being critical it may have been ever so slightly overcooked as it maybe could've been pulled a degree or two sooner and been even more tender.
The point on this particular brisket was extremely heavily marbled, fatty, and large. It cooked extremely tender, to the point where it was somewhat difficult to get clean slices of it. Even the big bands of harder fat were about as well rendered as they can be. Similar to the flat, if I'm being critical here if I'd pulled it slightly earlier maybe it has a bit more integrity while remaining tender and juicy. It was mouth wateringly delicious though, and I even got some solid burnt ends off of it.
A contributing factor may have been that my cook finished much earlier than I was expecting so the brisket got to sit in a cooler staying warm for a good 5 hours before being served. It's possible this may have contributed to things like the point being overly tender, compared to if I'd served it after a 1-2 hour rest.
Anyways, I was very pleased overall considering this was my first brisket. Everyone seemed to really enjoy it including myself. I definitely learned that these smokers being insulated like they are will cook faster than traditional offset pits at the same temperature setting. If I went 250F all the way the brisket is probably done in 10 hours or less. There's nothing necessarily wrong with that, I'll just have to play with temperatures more in the future and be aware when reading guides geared towards wood burning smokers that the SI smokers are sort of like an oven as well so they may cook more efficiently than something like an offset.
I bought a 16.88 pound USDA prime packer from Costco. Probably would've gotten something a little smaller, but this one had the nicest flat and the best fat so giant brisket it is. It had a lot of extra fat, so I lost over 4 pounds in the trim. I did a trim similar to what Aaron Franklin demonstrates, leaving the two muscles connected and streamlined but cutting off extra fat and thin meat that will burn, and trimming the cap to about 1/4". I've seen other videos where people really go in and cut out all the hard fat between the point and flat almost to the point of separating them, but opted not to go that route. I seasoned with just salt and pepper and let it warm up for about 1.5 hours or so before putting it in the smoker.
For the cook I decided to go at 250F using about 7 oz of white oak and two loaf pans full of water, one on either side of the fire box. After some annoyance getting the wifi working again (it worked fine a few days previous when I seasoned it), I got it going at about 11:30pm.
[*]After 5.5 hours or so of smoking the flat was already just past the stall at 175 or so and the point was about 6-8 degrees behind mid-stall. I was shocked at how fast it was moving along so I lowered the temperature to 240F. This brisket was over 12 pounds trimmed so I fully expected at least a 12 hour cook.
[*]By about the 8 hour mark the point was 180F and the flat close to 190F, so I lowered the temperature again down to 230F. I was worried I was going to kill the flat before the point was done.
[*]By about the 11 hour mark the point and flat had about evened out with each other at 195F or so. This probably would've happened if I'd just left the temperature alone, but I was paranoid and didn't want to overdo the flat before the point rendered. Anyways, all good at this point. Probed tender except for a couple spots, so decided to go a couple more degrees.
[*]Pulled it after about 11.5 hours at 197-198F throughout. Wrapped it in butcher paper and then in foil and deposited in a cooler with some towels to rest until dinner time. One thing I'll note here is that it was sort of difficult to get the brisket out intact. I tried grabbing it with BBQ gloves but it was so tender I thought it was going to tear apart, so I ended up pulling the entire rack out and sliding the brisket off onto my counter. There was plenty of nice bark on there, so next time I think I'll strongly consider wrapping it in butcher paper about halfway through the cook, in part to help make the thing easier to handle once it's done and super jiggly.
The flat was pretty damn good. It was tender and juicy but held together well. It passed the pull test. If I'm being critical it may have been ever so slightly overcooked as it maybe could've been pulled a degree or two sooner and been even more tender.
The point on this particular brisket was extremely heavily marbled, fatty, and large. It cooked extremely tender, to the point where it was somewhat difficult to get clean slices of it. Even the big bands of harder fat were about as well rendered as they can be. Similar to the flat, if I'm being critical here if I'd pulled it slightly earlier maybe it has a bit more integrity while remaining tender and juicy. It was mouth wateringly delicious though, and I even got some solid burnt ends off of it.
A contributing factor may have been that my cook finished much earlier than I was expecting so the brisket got to sit in a cooler staying warm for a good 5 hours before being served. It's possible this may have contributed to things like the point being overly tender, compared to if I'd served it after a 1-2 hour rest.
Anyways, I was very pleased overall considering this was my first brisket. Everyone seemed to really enjoy it including myself. I definitely learned that these smokers being insulated like they are will cook faster than traditional offset pits at the same temperature setting. If I went 250F all the way the brisket is probably done in 10 hours or less. There's nothing necessarily wrong with that, I'll just have to play with temperatures more in the future and be aware when reading guides geared towards wood burning smokers that the SI smokers are sort of like an oven as well so they may cook more efficiently than something like an offset.
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