Smoking my first brisket today (well, tomorrow morning, early)

[MikeFishes]

I know, I know, it's not a fish. But, I figured I'd give it a try. This is what I'm following:
http://www.deejayssmokepit.net/brisket.htm

I'm using a dry rub that shouldn't be too bad (Bears Brisket Rub in the recipie book), but we'll see. I suppose after you slice it all up and slap it on a bun with some bbq sauce, it shouldn't matter too much.

Tomorrow early AM I'll be stoking up the smoker for about 4-5 hours. :chef:

One thing that I did read was that you can rinse your meat in fresh water to lower the salt content. I figured that would work out nicely when brining salmon makes it too salty. Should work fine, the same principal as brining, but shouldn't undo the chemical changes in the meat (except maybe dry brines pulling out moisture). After all, that's what they do with brining pickles and olives, right? (well, at least olives, they use fresh water to leech out the chemicals they use in the brine)

Cheers!

[racfish]

Well Mike Wheres the pic and my sandwitch?

[MikeFishes]

Okay, so here's what I did. My wife picked up a Corned Beef Brisket, which isn't exactly your traditional BBQ Smoked Brisket. So, I picked up a regular brisket from Costco. After reading about smoking a brisket, I found that a smoked corned brisket is just pastrami. I like pastrami, so I smoked that as well...

The top one is the corned brisket and the bottom one is the regular brisket brined. I smoked it for about 3.5 hours then just left it in the smoker at 250 for about 3 more hours. Turned out nice. I think next time I'll smoke a bit longer and then wrap it so that it stays a bit jucier.

Here's what it looked like on the plate...


The Pastrami is really good. I just put it in a tupperware container and slice it cold. Heat up the meat in the microwave if I want a warm sandwich. Not bad at all.

So far I've done salmon (twice), Chicken, and Brisket. Next I want to do chopped pork.

[dubplate]

Mike, thanks for the link. Lots of great info there at deejays smokepit. Tons of recipes i want to try now! The brisket and corned beef you smoked looks great as well! I know what your saying about wrapping it :thumright

[Rich McVey]

:chef: Looks Great. Im gonna try the smoked corned beef, sounds really good

When I have something Im concerned with drying out to much, I make sure to put it on the rack right above the water. Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast is a prime example. Thankfully my water tray is almost as wide as the box.

Keep up the good work, I look forward to hearing about future smoker exploits.

[racfish]

mmmmmmm mmmmmm looks great.The smoked corn beef deal sounds really good.Its just like having a pre-brined roast to smoke.I think I'm gonna try this myself.Nice pics.

[The Quadfather]

Okay, so here's what I did. My wife picked up a Corned Beef Brisket, which isn't exactly your traditional BBQ Smoked Brisket. So, I picked up a regular brisket from Costco. After reading about smoking a brisket, I found that a smoked corned brisket is just pastrami. I like pastrami, so I smoked that as well...

The top one is the corned brisket and the bottom one is the regular brisket brined. I smoked it for about 3.5 hours then just left it in the smoker at 250 for about 3 more hours. Turned out nice. I think next time I'll smoke a bit longer and then wrap it so that it stays a bit jucier.

Here's what it looked like on the plate...


The Pastrami is really good. I just put it in a tupperware container and slice it cold. Heat up the meat in the microwave if I want a warm sandwich. Not bad at all.

So far I've done salmon (twice), Chicken, and Brisket. Next I want to do chopped pork.

MIke, in the lower meat item, is that a electronic thermometer that you keep in the meat while smoking?

[Rich McVey]

Quad, My smoker has a "Meat Probe" gotta make sure its clean before each use. But its hooked into the main circutry and has a button on the control pannel. Can check the internal temp of the food without opening the door.

[Bodofish]

So Mike if you want to do pulled pork next what I do is start with some pork butts, bone or not, smoke it for 5-6 hours then pop it in a crock pot with a big onion and what ever kind peppers and chillis you want. leave it in on low for 12 hours or so and when you open it up..................sorry gotta go the the store, I'm gitt'in the hanker'in.

[MikeFishes]

MIke, in the lower meat item, is that a electronic thermometer that you keep in the meat while smoking?

Yeah, just picked up one from Target for $15. It's the best way, that way I don't have to stab the meat and poke holes in it to let the juices run out. I actually would like to get another one or one with two probes, one for the meat and one for the smoker temp. They have BBQ ones with those.