7/10. I have to rate it fairly well as it was good, but I can't go too high as I believe there is room for improvement. It's either that or I don't know what all the fuss is about. I imagine it is the former, since there is obviously quite a lot to learn and involved in making really good slow cooked / smoked brisket, and there are a lot of very biased opinions about what to do and not to do. Do this. Don't do this. Do that. Don't do that.
Robbo, I'd be really grateful of your wife's recipe and tips, but here is what I ended up doing after much research. It worked pretty well for a first attempt, and I made very detailed notes as I went so, I now have a baseline to work from next time.
I went for a "mixed" rub by making a batch of copycat Lawry's seasoning salt, which I applied over the top of 16 mesh black pepper and ground sea salt. I used a binder / slather of American yellow mustard on the fat cap side only. The brisket sat on the bench coming to room temperature (mild dry brine) for only about 1 hour. On the rub I would comment that it was a bit too peppery. By comparison to the videos I've seen, I didn't use too much so I can only assume that Texas smoked brisket is peppery. I'll use less next time.
The cook. I was later starting the fire than I wanted to be by about 3 hours and as it turned out, I needed the extra time. I ended up finishing the cook in the propane BBQ with the lid down as I couldn't get the smoker temp high enough. This is apparently ok with some people who finish them in an oven but frowned upon by traditionalists. Oh well, it worked for me so I'm good with it. The biggest time issue was that I did well and truly encounter "the stall" and it lasted for just over 2 hours. All up it took exactly 8 hours to cook from room temperature to the target of 203' F. As it was later than anticipated I was unfortunately only able to give it a short rest. This is apparently not desirable, but I don't think it did too much damage.
By all accounts this was a very small brisket being a yearling piece of only 2 kg or 4.4 lb. At a cook time of 1.5 to 2 hours per pound it was about right to take 8 hours. It didn't have enough fat as I foolishly chose one that didn't. This is wrong and I've learnt that lesson.
I used an ACV / Apple Juice / beer spritz every 45 minutes after the first 45 and wrapped in tallowed and spritzed peach butchers' paper as soon as the meat broke out of the stall. You can wrap it when the stall starts and push through it faster (the Texas crutch method) but I chose to let it go by itself.
For smoke I used only 2 fairly small pieces of Pecan and 1 small piece of Cherry wood. This was adequate and there was plenty of smoke flavour, or possibly even too much for the small cut of meat. It carries a bit of bitterness in aftertaste. I used the water tray to control temperature and humidity. The problem with this is that you simply cannot raise the temperature above about 110' C until the water is all gone. This is great for a long slow controlled cook though.
Anyway, when it was carved it was juicy inside, displayed a clear 1/4" pink smoke ring and had a nice dark bark. Only one corner went a little dry, but I covered this with foil halfway through, so it wasn't too bad.
Just about everything I did is either recommended or frowned upon, depending upon who you listen to, but it wasn't bad at all, and I look forward to the next one. The bonus is that I have the bigger model smoker and I was able to do a chicken in it at the same time. I also finished this in the propane BBQ to crisp up the skin.
Topic: Smoked Brisket first attempt. (read 4,736 times)