I'm no pitmaster by any measure. But I am aspiring to become decent at smoking meats, and so I have done quite a bit of research on smoking, brisket especially, as it is the hardest piece of meat to perfect. I'm salivating just thinking about a moist piece of fatty brisket.....
And the latest one I cooked was a dandy! Not quite La BBQ or Franklin good, but it was also not the best grade of meat either.
My tips:
1. Keep the rub SIMPLE: equal parts salt and pepper. Kosher salt, of course. Maybe some garlic powder if you're feeling froggy.
2. Heat depends on your smoker. I usually try to stay at 250 for my smoker, as it's pretty small. If you have a larger smoker, I might run it at 275.
3. All that stuff about "1.25 hours per pound" and what not is crap IMO. Meat quality and temperature of the meat at the time you put it on the smoker are important, and aren't considered in those suggested cook times.
4. For doneness, you just need to look at it and feel it. If the fat cap is sticky and caramelized, the meat is taking on a mahogany to almost black color (good bark) and when sprayed with water, the rub stays put, you're pretty much done. The meat should be kind of floppy. That means you kept it hot enough for long enough and slow enough that you broke down the cartilage and muscle fibers.
5. Trimming the brisket is key, too. HAVE to cut out the deckle and leave a nice aerodynamic shape for the smoke to flow over the meat evenly.
6. I'm tired of typing. There's a good book by Aaron Franklin called "A Meat-Smoking Manifesto." Buy it. Read it. The guy has smoked some of the best brisket I've ever had, although the stuff I had at La BBQ in Austin, TX was probably just as good if not better. But, he was inspired by the techniques used by Louie Mueller, whose daughter now runs La BBQ. That's probably more than you wanted to know, but I'm a nut about this stuff.
This mad respect for Central Texas BBQ coming from a guy who grew up near KC. Meat quality is definitely better in KC, but the simpleness employed by the aforementioned Austin establishments blows the KC approach out of the water IMO. Although, KC does sauce better. Not even close in that department.
Did I mention I like BBQ?
