Hoping to smoke a brisket on a 22.5 grill. Using charcoal for heat and oak for smoke (hickory seems to bitter). Using two red brick to hold charcoal on one side and meat on the other side. At what temp should the dome of the grill be? And how many hours should I apply oak (for smoke) to the charcoals? I always over smoke it, to the point its bitter.
I am going to try to get the point of the brisket. At what temp should I pull it off the grill? I was going to use a rub, appling it over night then cook the next day. Would the be OK?
Thank you.
Buckie is one of our experts on Brisket...I'm sure he'll chime in soon here!
Here's a link from the Brethren that looks pretty helpful too!
http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=57882
Here's a few that I've done ~~>
http://weberkettleclub.com/forums/food-pr0n/brisket-prawn/
http://weberkettleclub.com/forums/grilling-bbqing/ok-finally-brisket/
But, I ain't no real live expert..............
In finding those two ^^^ there's 6 pages of "brisket' stuff by just searching that word only.....
Aawa did this one ~~>
http://weberkettleclub.com/forums/grilling-bbqing/real-time-prime-brisket-performance/
& there are others that have done fine specimens too............
To your questions:
Dome temp would depend on how hot, generally, you'd like to cook & the difference between that & the grate temp, if this is known.....
For me, butts, briskets & MOST larger cuts, for long smoke or to pull, 260f (right at grate / meat level) is a good central temp to aim for......not too hot where it gets away from ya, but good enough to speed things along....
assuming the dome might be 35~40 degrees hotter that grate, maybe aim for 300......people have also said they will level out & read somewhat closer as the cook goes along.............
As to amount, that might be more of a personal taste thing ......6~7, or a few more, chunks like in the links above seems to get it about right for me & those I'm feeding.............if it runs good & clean (thinner, blusish smoke & not too much billowy white foggy stuff)
Good luck on a point only, may be hard to find, but I'm cheerin' for ya.....that's the best part !!!
This one is point only ~~~>
http://weberkettleclub.com/forums/food-pr0n/bob's-beef-o-rama/msg20382/#msg20382
Internal temp will most likely end out around 195~205f......I go by if the temp probe slides like into warm butter....real easily......
Youcan rub the night before, but be careful if it's a salty rub it can screw with the moisture of the piece if left on a long time.....I usually just rub while the coals are lighting / kettle coming up to temp & it's just fine................
Jeff, 1Buckie, Thank you for the information. I will put it to good use, I will try to make you proud.
There's this great brisket thread where a member cooked a brisket and the results were OK. They said that it wasn't as tender as they liked and they said it was overdone. However, an expert chimed in (Aawa?) and said that an overcooked brisket was kinda dry AND crumbly when cut so that persons' brisket was actually undercooked. I thought that was a good learning point.