If you enjoyed this and would like to support my further experimentation with brisket

Brisket

I’ve tried to go cheap on the brisket with just a flat (I think Sam’s Club has them), but the whole briskets from Costco, while a lot more to handle, turn out better.

Rub

I’ve used a few rub recipes, but this time I returned to basically dry rub smoked brisket recipe:

• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/4 cup paprika (original is smoked, but we’re going to be using oak logs here, use smoked paprika if your smoke source is lighter flow like a pellet grill)
• 1/4 flaked sea salt
• 2 tbsp garlic powder
• 1/4 cup chili powder (double the original recipe but it worked?)
• 2 tsp ground black pepper
• 2 tsp onion powder

Trim

It may be just my luck, but I haven’t had an acceptable level of success with a brisket that didn’t require trimming. Get a whole brisket, and work your way around the surface. The fat cap is an obvious target, but if you get no more resistance from the surface than from a well-done (medium-well for thinner layer of fat) steak, then it’s trim enough. The sneaky and difficult to remove fat is actually in the folds/side of the brisket… you’ll probably feel a section of fat that’s about as hard as a wax candle… you’ll want to carve out the fat until the remaining fat gives you the same “medium-well” resistance level without carving off the meat. Maybe some day I’ll try with one of these.

Smoke

Heavy oak smoke for 3-5 hours in an offset smoker with split oak logs (from GFS in my case). Get up to >250ºF, and put the brisket in fat cap up and opposite the smoker sidecar. Adjust the venting and wood supply to keep in the 200-300ºF range, rotate the brisket about halfway (especially if you end up closer to 400ºF at any point.)

Grill

Put the far burner (should not overlap with the brisket) on the lowest setting, hopefully ~250ºF, with aluminum foil laid under and on the near side of the brisket to minimize direct heat. Monitor until the deep center of the meat hits 203ºF.

Chill (optional)

Definitely let your brisket rest for a few hours before serving, but if you need to store it for < 24 hours, chill it in the refrigerator wrapped in foil once it has cooled.

Back up to temp

If you’ve stored the brisket overnight, put it in the oven at 200ºF 4 hours prior to needing to serve it. Monitor the temp to make sure it gets back up to at least 140-150ºF. [Also, could set the oven **with convection off** to 225-250ºF to replace the grill portion of the cooking process… just be sure to start the smoking process about 2 hours per pound from when you think you’ll be ready to serve, including resting time]