Brisket used to scare me, the cost of the product and the amount of time needed to cook one was a risk/reward proposition. I have recently conquered my fear, after the price dropped for the product and with experience of cooking a few. I have completed a few recently with the hot and fast method, but last night I did a midnight smoke. The brisket was purchased from the local GFS and it was choice cut of beef. I trimmed the majority of the fat off of it as recommended and seasoned only with salt and coarse pepper.

 

 

 

 

For a long smoke, you want to ensure that the product does not dry out, so the water pan was filled with water to help during the long cook. To start the cook, I put about 30 pieces of charcoal in the chimney starter and waited until they were fully lit. I filled the bottom chamber almost completely with unlit charcoal and then poured the lit coal on top.

 

 

 

 

The brisket needed some manipulation to get it on the cooking surface, but as I have learned from past experience it will shrink during the cook. I then threw several large chucks of pecan and hickory wood and monitored for the next couple hours to ensure the temp was stable. The smoker was running at just under 250 .

 

 

 

 

I went to bed with the intention of sleeping through the night, as a network engineer, I do on call support on a rotational basis. At 2:25 I was paged for a network issues, bad for sleep, but it allowed my to sneak a peak at the brisket.

 

 

 

 

I checked it again when I got up and it was still rolling at close to 250. When I returned from playing golf it had dropped to just over 200 degrees and the internal temp was 170 at the 13 hour mark. I then fired up another 30 hot coals and poured some more unlit coals in the smoker. I then added the lit coals and reassembled the smoker. With the added fuel, I also added more water to the water pan, and smoker was now running at just under 300 degrees.

 

 

 

 

It only took an additional two hours at the 300 degrees to rise above the 205 internal temp. I then removed the brisket and double wrapped in foil and placed in a cooler with towels. I let it rest for three hours before I removed it, and the internal temp was still 170 degrees.

 

Great brisket, fantastic flavor and very juicy. All in all, a really easy cook and nothing to fear at all.