Finally ripped the band aid off and smoked my first brisket during this winter freeze in Austin.
Attempted to run it at 225 til the stall, probably pulled it a hair early. Wrapped with butcher paper and tallow. It stayed in the stall for quite some time. I left to workout and the pit dipped under 200, so I bumped it up to ~265 to finish the meat.
Rested for 3 hours in my yeti…felt rushed overall but I started at 5:30am and by 8:30pm I was ready to eat haha
Definitely feel like I trimmed too much. My heat was all over the place (weather was not my friend here, first time smoking anything in freezing conditions).
Overall – it was edible and I was happy to see some juices flowing! A little drier than I prefer but I'm happy for my first attempt. Open to suggestions to improve moving forward though – thanks!
by TxStinkBait
4 Comments
Personally… I dont usually trim the softer fat from the underside of the brisket. I mostly take off the hard fat and trim down the point, and take the rough edge off. I also try to flatten the brisket a little to make it cook evenly. I wrap mine at 165 degrees and cook till I get a certain texture (very soft when poked with a thermometer probe) and rest for about an hour.
The hard fat doesnt render correctly, but the softer fat does and provides flavor and keeps the brisket juicy.
You did a good job. But, in my opinion, you were a little overzealous when trimming the fat. Some fat is good.
Bark and smoke ring look great! Haven’t cooked a brisket on the KJ yet, working my way up. What’re your plans with the leftovers?
Funny, I’m new to KJ but have smoked a ton on stick burners (not yet confident enough with KJ to transition yet). Congrats on your first run regardless, most people are too intimidated to even try. If you happen to have a stick burner, I may recommend doing a few that way but I realize I am biased. Your first looks a helluva lot better than mine! Keep us updated if you get the process refined – I’m in Houston so definitely interested since we are used to the same style
YouTube -> search ‘chuds bbq brisket’ Texas bbq with everything from the trim to rest