First Brisket

I was invited to go to Lake LBJ for the weekend and I thought it would be a good idea if I brought a brisket for dinner on Friday. I had one in the freezer so I was ready to go.

Here it is before the smoke.

The brisket was around 9lbs. It was a packer cut untrimmed. I did do just a tad bit of fat trimming before I applied the rub. I did cheat on the rub and just picked up some brisket rub from the store. Next time I will create my own. I applied the rub and placed it in a big bag and placed it into the fridge for a rest.

On Thursday I got home from work and took the brisket out of the fridge. I then fired up the BDS. I put in 4 hours worth of smoke, a mixture of hickory and mesquite. Once the BDS was pre-heated I put the brisket in. I set the BDS for 210 degrees. This was around 5pm. After the 4 hours of smoke I then emptied out the drip bowl and refilled with hot water. I went to bed.

When I got up to check the BDS around 7am the IT was around 170. IT reached 185 around 11am. I then used the FTC method(Foil,Towl,Cooler). We left town around 1pm. We got to the lake around 6pm. When it was dinner time a little later I opened up the brisket. It was still warm.

I let the brisket rest for a little bit, and it was ready for slicing.

The crowd was pleased. One reviewer said "Best brisket I have had." Not bad for the first time.

Tri-Tip...well sort of

I went to a restaurant called Texas Land and Cattle. They have a smoked sirloin there that was pretty good. They dont say what cut of beef it is and I havent been there in awhile to ask so I did some research and it sounds like it is a tri-tip. Since then I have been on the search to find a tri-tip. These are not a easy cuts to locate in the stores. There are only 2 cuts on a whole cow. My search took me to a lot of various stores. I ended up at Whole Foods, which is really where I should have started. They have a great quality of meat. I asked the butcher there. He said that he could get a tri-tip cut but it would need to be specially cut, he did however say that he has a top sirloin that would be pretty dare close. I opted to go with that. There is a old style meat market in Lewisville that I am going to try next or just go back to Whole Foods and have them make a special request cut for the true tri-tip.

It was about 2 1/2 Lbs I just put some cracked pepper and dried thyme on the top and that was it. Pretty simple.




I smoked it for about 1 1/2 hours at a temp of 210-220 using hickory. When it reached IT of 135, I like mine med rare, I took it out. After a good rest I cut it open.





It was mighty tasty. I sliced it up pretty thin and enjoyed. I would have liked some more smoke flavor to it, but since it didnt stay in the smoker long enough that is why. Next time I will try to lower the temp of the smoker a little bit to prolong the smoke.

This weekend I am going to Lake LBJ, its close to Austin. I plan on smoking a brisket starting on Thursday night and take it for everyone to enjoy. This will be my first attempt with a brisket and also first time for a crowd so kind of nervous. I am sure it will be fine...:)