Grilling and smoking thread.

Advice? Hmmm....Brisket you say? I think I just might be able to help For your first brisket I wouldn't buy one that is too large but I would suggest that you buy what is called a packer. All that means is that it a whole brisket. A whole brisket contains 2 pieces, one is called the flat and the other is the point. The flat is what a lot of places sell and it looks like you would think......flat. It is the skinniest part of the brisket. The point is the thicker part of the brisket and it is what you can cut off after it cooks and chop up into cubes and put back on the smoker to make burnt ends but we'll venture into that later down the road.

If you want to make your first go at a brisket using just the flat, there's no shame in that. Whatever you decide to do treat the meat the same way. I would inject it with a little mixture of beer, low sodium beef broth and some worcestershire. Make a rub using pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, cumin, paprika and apply liberally to brisket and let it rest in the fridge for 2 hours. Notice there's no salt in the rub, that's by design. I always salt separately just before putting the meat on the smoker. I do this with pork, beef, chicken, whatever. The reason is that if you let salt sit on the meat too long before cooking it wicks out the moisture and we don't want that.

Set up your smoker to do what it does, I recommend going real low, 225 or so. You're cooking to temperature, not time so it'll be done at 190° or so. I usually pull mine off the smoker at 190-195 for brisket. In an electric smoker you're probably going to want to pull it off at 180° and put it in an aluminum pan with a little beef broth to cover the bottom of the pan and put foil over the pan and back into the smoker. This will keep it from drying out. You'll lose some texture on your bark but it'll be a juicier product.

Slices from the flat (lean brisket)


Slices from the point (fatty brisket)

Also, another question. Am I correct about using hickory for the smoke? I usually use pecan or apple for pork, but I'm completely new to beef and have heard that hickory or mesquite is better.

Yep, Regular Guy. It's a modified Texas Crutch. Electric Smokers are a more dry, less humid environment than a Kamado or an offset smoker so let it ride to almost done then by putting in a pan with broth, you'll also catch some of the drippings and that will help steam the meat to keep from drying it out as much. Unlike ribs which cook much faster and will not lose as much moisture, this brisket will take a while so we just want to keep it moist.

As for wood, I use 2 woods and 2 woods only. Hickory and Apple. Every time I smoke I use equal amounts of both. You CAN use a little mesquite but be careful. A little goes a long way and if you get too happy with it, you'll end up with a bitter taste imparted on the meat. Not good. If you want to do a TRUE Texas brisket, smoke with post oak ONLY and use dalmation rub (kosher salt and coarse ground black pepper). BTW, for the salt above, use kosher salt. The larger crystals let you see how much you're applying.

You can use a water pan in your electric smoker, a little apple juice is good to use but good ole plain water is just as good and you don't have to worry about any sugars scorching.

And....you're welcome!

NP, show some pics when you do it!

Im fairly grilled

gonna be doing some pulled pork and most likely some ribs this weekend. Ill post a pic afterwards

Alright, this thread needs a little pizza therapy. Tonight I baked a Pan Pizza on the grill. Turned out nice. Buttery and cheesy!