Smoked brisket tips

[Crumpet]

Last week I was in Texas and had some incredible smoked brisket at a proper BBQ joint. Like so good that I had tears in my eyes from the emotion! (I’m weird like that.)



I have a Weber Smokey Mountain that comes out a couple of times a year and makes adequate-at-best pork shoulders. What I’d really like to do is make something that actually feels like it was worth the effort! I also have a Weber Master-Touch with all the smoking bits if that’s a better option.

So, any tips for success? The best rub? The best wood? The best temperature? Smoke it for an hour or so then wrap in foil (is an hour enough for a decent bark?) or leave it fully naked the whole smoke? I want it as moist as possible and falling apart.

Cheers!

[85Carrera]

You probably should have asked the guys at the BBQ joint in Texas!

[Fonzey]

Only done one so far but it went down a storm. 7kg packer from Farmison.

Was around 20hours total on my Kettle. Smoked with oak and wrapped after 4-5 hours. After 15 hours it went in the oven because my snake was running out and it had been long since wrapped so wasn't taking on any smoke anyway.

Passed all the tests, nice wobble, oozed juice and pulled apart with barely any resistance.

Make sure you let it rest for a couple of hours, and find about 30 people to feed

[Fonzey]

85Carrera said:

You probably should have asked the guys at the BBQ joint in Texas!

They'd have killed him before giving the secrets away!

[Crumpet]

Fonzey said:

85Carrera said:

You probably should have asked the guys at the BBQ joint in Texas!

They'd have killed him before giving the secrets away!

Exactly - no chance they’d have let that secret out and the queue was out the door anyway! I’ve got a friend who lives in Houston and apparently half the ‘bloke chat’ is about bbq technique; it’s a big deal over there! Perhaps I should’ve asked him.

[Crumpet]

Fonzey said:

Only done one so far but it went down a storm. 7kg packer from Farmison.

Was around 20hours total on my Kettle. Smoked with oak and wrapped after 4-5 hours. After 15 hours it went in the oven because my snake was running out and it had been long since wrapped so wasn't taking on any smoke anyway.

Passed all the tests, nice wobble, oozed juice and pulled apart with barely any resistance.

Make sure you let it rest for a couple of hours, and find about 30 people to feed

Thanks! Maybe I’ll try the kettle this time. It’s only a 3kg piece so cook time should be less but I’m definitely leaning towards wrapping it.

[Djtemeka]

Best one I’ve done is just salt and pepper

Very little smoke. I don’t actually like the smoke flavours

[Fonzey]

Crumpet said:

Thanks! Maybe I’ll try the kettle this time. It’s only a 3kg piece so cook time should be less but I’m definitely leaning towards wrapping it.

Get some butchers paper if you can, I find it keeps the bark a bit crispier than sweating away in foil.

In terms of rub mine was 90% salt and pepper with a bit of steak rub I had left over.

I honestly don't think I'd change much if doing it again. As much as I love it though, when cooking just for myself or small group I prefer the taste of short ribs.

[Type R Tom]

In my (limited) experience, supermarket brisket is just too lean and the meat dries out. I need to one day summon the courage to buy a big lump online from a specialist butcher. I know enough now not to muck it up, but £100 odd for a piece of meat makes me extremely nervous!

[Bill]

Crumpet said:

I have a Weber Smokey Mountain that comes out a couple of times a year and makes adequate-at-best pork shoulders.

IMO you need to work out what's going wrong here before moving on. More practice required!!

[witten]

So I also started with a WSM and my briskets were never good. I spent a lot of time in lockdown trying to get better. My tips are below

- UK brisket is grass fed and so less fatty. The online butcher John Davidson does a XM gold UK brisket that is actually pretty good and would do a nice one. If you can afford an imported USA brisket it will be better. The Miguel Vergara Brisket's available online are pretty decent too, but they do tend to be a bit roughly cut. I have never found a decent brisket from a supermarket or even my local butchers.
- Rub wise - just use salt and pepper. 50/50 mix by weight is fine. Brisket doesn't need more. The Franklin BBQ Brisket rub might have some Lowrys seasoning salt in there but don't worry too much.
- Embrace putting some beef dripping on thing when you wrap it and don't tell your doctor
- Don't rush it. Rest it in a cool box for at least an hour, maybe 2 when it is done but leave it an hour to cool slightly before you put it in the cool box
- It will take a long time. Assume 14 hours for a full brisket so cooking it for lunch means a very late/early start
- Get a poking thermometer. Wrap it when it gets to 165°f and it's done when it probes like room temperature butter.
- Get on YouTube and watch the Chudds BBQ channel about the foil boat technique. Mine tasted amazing when I did that. It was moist as an otters pocket but kept a little of the barky crunch on the top
- Buy stuff from ProSmoke in Banbury - they're great guys. I bought my Masterbuilt 1050 from them and it makes life easy. If you want a bbq that tastes great (as it is charcoal fueled) and is low effort I would recommend them. I've put stuff on when working from home and you just need to check it every couple of hours or so to top up the hopper or chuck another wood chunk on there. the Smoky Mountain was a great start but moving onwards and upwards massively improves the tastes. Plus I can get 17 chickens on mine. https://prosmokebbq.co.uk/
- follow Wilsons bbq on socials - it is UK based so at least the accent doesn't grate after too many watches and it is all done very well.


Also, if you get into it, realise that you will mess up at least the first 2 or 3 Briskets you do. My first one was dry, tough and awful. It happens.

[Phud]

I use my WSM for briskets, what I've found is:

Low and slow, steady temp is best.
BBQ pit boys are a good source of guidnace
A temp probe that does WSM and brisket,
Do not remove too much fat
Simple seasoning, salt, pepper and garlic
Franklin has good you tube videos
Spritz to maintain moisture
cook on temp not time
every piece of meat is different

I use a water try sometimes sometime not, both work.


Above all it should be fun

[ComStrike]

85Carrera said:

You probably should have asked the guys at the BBQ joint in Texas!

Thanks for your input. The forum salutes your efforts

[ComStrike]

Crumpet said:

Last week I was in Texas and had some incredible smoked brisket at a proper BBQ joint. Like so good that I had tears in my eyes from the emotion! (I’m weird like that.)



I have a Weber Smokey Mountain that comes out a couple of times a year and makes adequate-at-best pork shoulders. What I’d really like to do is make something that actually feels like it was worth the effort! I also have a Weber Master-Touch with all the smoking bits if that’s a better option.

So, any tips for success? The best rub? The best wood? The best temperature? Smoke it for an hour or so then wrap in foil (is an hour enough for a decent bark?) or leave it fully naked the whole smoke? I want it as moist as possible and falling apart.

Cheers!

Had something similar in Nashville. Looks tremendous

[22s]

witten said:

So I also started with a WSM and my briskets were never good. I spent a lot of time in lockdown trying to get better. My tips are below

- UK brisket is grass fed and so less fatty. The online butcher John Davidson does a XM gold UK brisket that is actually pretty good and would do a nice one. If you can afford an imported USA brisket it will be better. The Miguel Vergara Brisket's available online are pretty decent too, but they do tend to be a bit roughly cut. I have never found a decent brisket from a supermarket or even my local butchers.
- Rub wise - just use salt and pepper. 50/50 mix by weight is fine. Brisket doesn't need more. The Franklin BBQ Brisket rub might have some Lowrys seasoning salt in there but don't worry too much.
- Embrace putting some beef dripping on thing when you wrap it and don't tell your doctor
- Don't rush it. Rest it in a cool box for at least an hour, maybe 2 when it is done but leave it an hour to cool slightly before you put it in the cool box
- It will take a long time. Assume 14 hours for a full brisket so cooking it for lunch means a very late/early start
- Get a poking thermometer. Wrap it when it gets to 165°f and it's done when it probes like room temperature butter.
- Get on YouTube and watch the Chudds BBQ channel about the foil boat technique. Mine tasted amazing when I did that. It was moist as an otters pocket but kept a little of the barky crunch on the top
- Buy stuff from ProSmoke in Banbury - they're great guys. I bought my Masterbuilt 1050 from them and it makes life easy. If you want a bbq that tastes great (as it is charcoal fueled) and is low effort I would recommend them. I've put stuff on when working from home and you just need to check it every couple of hours or so to top up the hopper or chuck another wood chunk on there. the Smoky Mountain was a great start but moving onwards and upwards massively improves the tastes. Plus I can get 17 chickens on mine. https://prosmokebbq.co.uk/
- follow Wilsons bbq on socials - it is UK based so at least the accent doesn't grate after too many watches and it is all done very well.


Also, if you get into it, realise that you will mess up at least the first 2 or 3 Briskets you do. My first one was dry, tough and awful. It happens.

Great tips, thanks for sharing. Never come across Masterbuilt before - look great!

[pokethepope]

This website is great for BBQ - https://amazingribs.com/tested-recipes/beef-and-bi...

[Booyakajon]

10 hour smoked brisket done on Sunday. The gift that keeps on giving!

[witten]

Booyakajon said:

10 hour smoked brisket done on Sunday. The gift that keeps on giving!

Where did you get the meat?

[Booyakajon]

It was a 2kg brisket from Morrisons (for convenience). Will try the local butchers next time to compare

[MarkJS]

Use the snake method on the Weber. I was a bit worried it would work for me but actually worked a treat.