[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZxZpPnmyLuc&w=580&h=385]
How to Smoke a Brisket Flat
We start with an 5lb Angus Beef Brisket.
Mike trimmed as much of the fat and silver skin as possible from the top of the brisket. This gives as much of the surface area as possible for the rub to penetrate the surface. Rub will not penetrate fat so that is why it is lightly seasoned compared to the top of the brisket later in the video.
Next we brought the Fast Eddy up to temp to 250 and placed it on the top rack. We cooked with hickory pellets.
About once every hour we sprayed the brisket with a lightly water down beef base with some of our rub added in to give it even more flavor by emphasizing more beef flavoring and seasoning.
We pulled and wrapped the brisket in foil once the internal temperature reached 165-168. We added beef broth in the foil to give it even more flavor and to mix with its own juices making a great au jus.
We placed the brisket on the smoker for about another hour and a half until it reached an internal of 201. This brisket ended up cooking around 6 1/2-7 hour instead of 5. The meat thermometer should feel like butter as you probe into the brisket. We allowed it to cook a little longer because a few areas had resistance when probed. Always go by feel on brisket.
Once the brisket was pulled we allowed it to rest in a cooler for 2 hours allowing the juices to redistribute themselves throughout the meat.
**Never cut into a brisket ,or any other cut of beef for that matter, as soon as it comes off your grill or smoker. The juices will pour out and you’ll be left with a flavorless and dry piece of meat.
Lastly, we used an electric knife to cut the brisket. This particular one was purchased from Cabela’s and has been our go to brisket knife for ten years. It just cuts clean, consistent slices time after time.
We always mark our brisket by cutting an edge off at the tip of the brisket opposite of the grain. This will tell me in what direction to cut the slices when its ready. Always cut against the grain on a brisket . This will yield tender, juicy pieces of meat. If you were to slice with the grain the slices would be tough and chewy,
Slices were cut the size of number 2 pencils. This is the size we cut when we competed and is a good rule of thumb. A perfectly cooked brisket will hang over your finger without breaking. Then it should have a little pull and then it comes apart. Dipping it in the au jus imparts all the concentrated flavor from the cooking process adding even more flavor to your end result.
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