[thebigbaker]

Oh, I didn't take anything you said as an insult.  I couldn't believe that someone would do the things they do to a brisket to cook them.  Yet, I gave some of those a try (cooking in an aluminum pan, simple beef broth marinade and injection) and my briskets have turned out better than just salt and pepper.  Honestly, as I was trying these for the first time, I had already made up my mind that they wouldn't turn out good.  I remember as I was smoking the brisket, I was regretting trying these methods and messing up a good piece of meat.  Yet, I was shocked at how well it turned out. 

[gmac]

Well, good or bad I went with a more complex rub (heavy salt and pepper and lighter onion, garlic, paprika, cumin, thyme) with a bit of brown sugar in it.  Could be good, can't see how it could be that bad either.  Worst case it'll all get drenched in sauce to cover my sins and since it's my first brisket, I'll plead inexperience to explain the sauce.

Gonna put the two of them on about 11 tonight.  They are both close to 10 lbs so at 9 tomorro AM, that will be 10 hours and I'll see how they are coming.  I may wait until later but I don't know.  Don't want to be up all night.  If I could have gotten bigger ones, I would have but 10lbs was the biggest my store had. 

Once they are done, I'll pull them off and wrap them and put them in the cooler as many have mentioned.  I am guessing that warming it back up is not as bad a sin as drying them out.  Only one of our guests considers himself a BBQ'er but he also considers himself an expert in pretty much everything else so I'm sure he'll find a flaw.  Everyone else will eat some meat, drink some beer and have a great time regardless of whether it's "authentic" or perfect or not.  I'm also throwing 10 lbs of sausages on the grill to smoke in the afternoon so if people don't like the brisket, they can have sausage and if they don't like sausage, screw 'em.

I'll add some pics as the process continues.  Wish me luck.

[thebigbaker]

I'm sure it will turn out well and it sounds like it will be tasty.  Like beer, there's so many ways to do great BBQ.  I remember at a bbq competition event, there was a group that did their brisket w/ Greek seasoning, something I never would have thought of.  Holy crap was it good.  They had fresh home made flat bread, tzatziki sauce and feta.  I wasn't able to pull the recipe from these guys, so I not sure I'll ever attempt it myself, but wow was this good. 

Looking forward to your pics!

[euge]

I was trying to remember who turned me on to smoked chuck and it was Mark. Thanks Mark! My life will never be the same...

[tschmidlin]

Can't wait to see the pics, good luck gmac!

[gmac]

Here we are 10 hours in.  I'm surprised by the amount of liquid in the foil pan.  I think I'll pull them out and let the finish on the grate to "bark up" the bottom a bit. 
They started lower than I had intended but when I got up at 5 to check on them, they were sitting nicely at 250. Internal temp in the flat right now is about 164.

[euge]

I see what you meant now by using the bricks. Bet that works quite well- I used to place large rocks in my old drafty smoker to help maintain and hold heat.

Briskets look good were they in the pan the entire time?

[gmac]

Briskets look good were they in the pan the entire time?

Yes, in the pan since last night.  Gonna pull them out now actually.
I think the bricks (the bottom one is actually a patio stone that sits on the ring) are why it was lower than anticipated last night.  That's a lot of stone to heat up.

[thebigbaker]

Just drooled all over my keyboard.  Those look great! 

[gmac]

Sorry guys.  In the rush to feed and "water" 35 or 40 people, I didn't get a picture of the final results.  But, the brisket was a huge hit and everyone seemed to like it.  Two 10 lb briskets and 20 lbs of sausage disappeared in quick order.  I did the sausages on the egg too after the brisket was off.  Smoked them for an hour. They were awesome too.  Kicked two kegs of APA and put a real dent in my keg of cider too.  My head hurts.

Thanks for all your help and advice.  I can see more brisket in my future. 

[euge]

Haven't done any beef in a long while so...

Inspired by this thread I bought a 4lb boneless chuck roast- the fattiest one there. I tied it and liberally coated with kosher salt and fresh coarse cracked pepper. Tried a modified Myron Mixon brisket method but also went by temp.

It went straight into the egg at 290F and smoked for 2.5 hours until the inserted probe read 158F. It was then placed into a roasting pan and covered tightly with foil and left till the meat reached 205F. I then closed the dampers and let it rest until internal read 155F. Took around 7 hours start to finish.

A taste test revealed excellent results. The roast was chilled and will be sliced. Had some with ramen for breakfast. Fantastic smoky beefy flavor.

[euge]

I can see more brisket in my future.

It makes great chili too. Spaghetti. Sandwich meat. Makes corned beef and pastrami. Very versatile brisket is...

Glad it was a success!

[tschmidlin]

Sounds great, too bad there are no pics.  I'm talking t you too Euge!