08/14/2025
My first brisket
Costco brisket, packaged.
12.43 lb prime
Fat cap, after trimming. Brisket was seasoned and then refrigerated overnight (and then some). Put a thin coat of light soy sauce over the whole thing and seasoned liberally with the rub.
Bottom side, after trimming
Trimmings in a tray, totaled 4.375lb (so net 8lb brisket on the smoker)
Arrangement of the charcoal (B&B briquettes with hickory lumps) in the OKJ Bronco
Brisket goes on the smoker. Rub was a mix of 3 parts salt, 3 parts pepper, 1 part garlic powder, and 1 part paprika with a bit of cayenne thrown in.
Photo is six hours in, when I pulled the brisket to wrap it. To this point, I was spritzing with a 50% dilution of apple cider vinegar every 45min (or thereabouts). Temperature in the smoker was pretty well controlled throughout, always between 215 and 245, save for a few minutes when it spiked to 250 before I wrangled it back down. Meat was reading 173F / 165F when I pulled it.
Back on the smoker after wrapping and pouring on the tallow cooked out of the cuttings. Smoker leveled out at 235 about 20min after closing it.
After another ~2.5hrs, brisket was reading internal of 193F/198F. I couldn’t really tell if it was probe tender through the paper, but went with it. At this point, it was 5am and I wasn’t expecting the crowd until noon, so I set the oven to 170F and tossed the brisket (still wrapped) in.
Final product, after a total of 6 hours in the oven, 1.5hrs in a cooler wrapped in a towel, and 20min in the cooler but with the lid open. Absolutely no complaints whatsoever. Made some burnt ends with the uncut chunk that were absolutely divine. (Why would anyone not use the moist side for burnt ends?!)
In total, it was 16.33 hours as follows:
6 hours in the smoker, unwrapped
2.5 hours in the smoker, wrapped
6 hour hold in the oven at 170F
1.5 hour cooldown in the cooler wrapped in a towel with the lid closed
0.33 hour cooldown in the cooler wrapped in a towel with the lid open
I wish I’d taken more (any) photos before and after trimming. I feel like that was the worst part for me. Before we actually sliced and ate, I was VERY concerned that (1) I’d taken off too much meat (35% net weight removed!) chasing an “aerodynamic” form and/or (2) I’d not taken enough off the fat cap. I’d love any/all feedback I could get on that side.
Otherwise, my only complaint was that the rub was a bit too salty. In the future, instead of 3:3:1:1, I might go for 2.5:3:1:1 or so.
