My First Brisket

[Cobra7]

Smoked my first brisket today. She was 14.5 pounds. Used salt and pepper as my rub at a 1:1 ratio and Hickory and Oak pellets. I smoked her at 225 on “super smoke” til she reached 165 internal temp. It took 8 hours. Wrapped in foil and smoked 2 more hours til she was 205. Wrapped in a towel and placed in a cooler for 2 hours to let rest. Turned out great. Maybe a little salty.

 

[Blip]

Well done! Looks beautiful

 

[RemE]

Looking good, now it's time to play with some fun rubs on the next one!

Brisket? I'm hooked!

 

[Timmy]

Looks good!!

 

[Cobra7]

I’m going to use Meat Church Holly Cow and butcher paper next time. I still prefer pork butts though.

 

[Timmy]

I like brisket better, i havent perfected them.(Yet), but do pork butts better.

 

[magoo40]

Fat side up or down?

 

[RemE]

Fat side up or down?

Age old questions.

Myron Mixon says fat towards heat, so down.

Texas says fat side up for better look and bark.

I've always followed the logic, fat side down but next brisket is going in fat side up.

 

[magoo40]

I tried fat side down for the first time this weekend, the first difference i noticed was with fat side up i sometimes get a hard surface on the bottom side, which didn't happen as I assumed the fat insulated it, also had excellent rendering as I did not trim any fat off just to see what would happen, I will try a few more before I make judgment.

 

[Cobra7]

Fat side up or down?

Down

 

[RemE]

I'll make the case for fat up in the Traeger. Using the middle rack has the meat up and away from the higher radiant heat below.

Putting nice rub on the fat side is then mangled and lost with the soft fat down on the grate.

So fat up will protect this delicate rubbed surface and let it bark up better.

 

[dflaher]

Looks great! Question from a novice (I've only done one thus far also): Is that a packer or just the flat?

 

[Francwa73]

I’m going to use Meat Church Holly Cow and butcher paper next time. I still prefer pork butts though.

You just posted exactly what I was going to recommend. I'm a huge Meat Church fan.. I use 2/1 ration of Holy Cow with Holy Gospel on top. Butcher paper was a life changer for me. You can find it for cheap on Amazon too..

 

[Francwa73]

Down

Texas Style, fat side UP!!

 

[Francwa73]

Looks great! Question from a novice (I've only done one thus far also): Is that a packer or just the flat?

From the looks of the 3rd picture, I'd say it's a full packer. If it was just the flat, there wouldn't be the fat line there (I think...)