Stampede 1st brisket ever on the stampede, and it was a raging success!

[aamike68]

Hey folks! Bought a 12lb brisket USDA prime from costco the other day and decided to smoke one for memorial day. My in-laws were having a get together so the pressure was on! Not gonna lie I was really stressed out during this cook, I didnt sleep much and felt like I was staring at my phone app nonstop haha. This being my first brisket I felt like a total newb while trimming this thing. I looked up and researched so much but actually doing it yourself was difficult because I didnt want to cut too deep. (now after the fact and seeing the cook and cutting into it I know exactly what I need to improve on for my next brisket!)Used MEat Church the gospel, and holy gospel, applied quite a bit to both sides. Put the stampede fat side up on 180degrees xtreme smoke for a total of 10 hours, stalled for 3 hours at 145) then wrapped in butcher paper at 157F and bumped temp to 225 for 3 hours, then 250 for 2 hours, and 275 for 1 hour. probed at 200F and was like butter. I had to speed it up at the end because it was pushing dinner time. Pulled right off of the grill and into the cooler still wrapped for 2 hours. Was still steaming and hot to handle and perfect to serve up. I was so nervous because there was a crowd watching me as I cut into it, but once I cut into the point and those juices were spilling out I heard an audible gasp from a few folks haha!

Nothing but overwhelming compliments from all my family and friends, There was barely any left over and I was getting all kinds of questions about how I cooked it and what smoker I used, felt really good!
For my first brisket this turned out way better than I thought but I still have some improvements for next time. The tip of the flat was a little dry and tough but thats the lean so?? Also I got a pretty decent smoke ring but the smoke flavor in my opinion wasnt that strong. Bark was pretty good but heres a question for you pros. My butcher paper was leaking A LOT. I meaning I double wrapped it and my grease bucket was having a drop every second towards the end of the cook. Once I moved it to the cooler I added a third layer and once I moved it from the table to the cooler my hands were soaked. I didnt think butcher paper bled through like that? I thought it sealed up the juices too? Sorry for the wall of text, happy memorial day folks!

 

[cookingjnj]

That looks like an awesome cook. The fact everyone loved it, means you cooked something better than they have had in the past. Get used to that my friend. You will begin to hear that over and over and over again. Learning new techniques and learning what you can do better on the next cook is always the fun part and what keeps most of us hooked on this type of cooking. One thing about smoke flavor, in my opinion only, it is subjective, and might also be influenced on the day of cooking. I am sure you spent some time around the pit while it was doing it's thing. You were in and out of the smoke and the flavors coming out of the pit during the cook. I have always thought this puts a little sanitizer to our taste buds once the cook is done and we are eating. Your taste buds have become used to that flavor being exposed off and on for hours. If there were left overs, and hopefully there are, I have always found the smoke flavor stronger when eating the next day, even though others who ate the same dish say it taste the same as when it came directly off the pit. Just my opinion of course. Let us know if you taste a little more smoke off the leftovers.

More important, congrats, and keep those cooks coming!

 

[Infantryman]

Looks like you hit that one out of the park! It looks amazing..... I appreciate the detailed notes and love reading them. There's a bunch of different ways to do BBQ alright, there's no one way to do it in my opinion. Whatever works for you, that's the right way.

Learning new techniques and learning what you can do better on the next cook is always the fun part and what keeps most of us hooked on this type of cooking.

More important, congrats, and keep those cooks coming!

I completely agree.

 

[Ochosi]

That looks great!

For my first brisket this turned out way better than I thought but I still have some improvements for next time.

I feel this is me every time I'm cooking right now. I feel encouraged to try new recipes and techniques. At the same time as a new grill owner its a learning your grill as well. I can't wait to put a brisket on the grill now. It's great seeing everyone's awesome results.

 

[Roaniecowpony]

Congratulations!

It's the most difficult piece of meat I've cooked. Had some successes and some fails. I think starting with a good piece of meat is the most important followed by temperature management and the pellet grills do this better than most any other type of smoker. I tried some cheaper packers and I won't do one anymore if I can't get a good prime.

 

[Mastertech59]

Congratulations!

It's the most difficult piece of meat I've cooked. Had some successes and some fails. I think starting with a good piece of meat is the most important followed by temperature management and the pellet grills do this better than most any other type of smoker. I tried some cheaper packers and I won't do one anymore if I can't get a good prime.

Good quality meat is always going to give you better results. If you have a local butcher shop their going to have better quality meats than a super market, Sams or Cosco.

 

[Infantryman]

Good quality meat is always going to give you better results. If you have a local butcher shop their going to have better quality meats than a super market, Sams or Cosco.

Absolutely. With meat you get what you pay for alright.

 

[Mastertech59]

Absolutely. With meat you get what you pay for alright.

We have done the cheap meats in the past and for the most part they were ok but getting quality meats from a local butcher it's like well, I'll leave that up to your imagination.

 

[aamike68]

I'm learning so much from this new hobby. I honestly never noticed that there were 3 different grades of meat at the grocery store. I always just looked at cost or bought what was on sale. So much to learn but man this is just plain fun.

 

[tpack]

Sounds almost like my first brisket I did Saturday night. I used foil instead of butcher paper because I do not want to lose any of the juices when I wrap it. Congrats.

 

[ohredwood]

Your posts looks and sounds almost identical to mine. I did my first brisket yesterday, followed the recipe and times, temps to a tee. The taste on mine was outstanding, I did however use a smoke tube so it had extra smoke the first 2 hours going into it. I also used butcher paper, and wrapped it an extra time so double wrapped so to speak. When I poked it with my meat thermometer to test for tenderness at 190/195/and finally at 200, the probe didn't feel like real tender but I didn't want to leave it on any longer. I took it off grill and put into ice chest for 1.5 hours. When I put it on butcher block to unwrap, the paper was soaked in juices. I feel like a lot of the juice was in paper but not sucked back in brisket? End result, was very tasty, but more on the dryer side. Not sure what I should of done differently. Maybe let it sit another hour in the ice chest?

 

[TriGuy]

Now I am inspired to try a brisket for Fourth of July, my new Rec Tec should be here in about a week. Can’t wait, thanks for the detailed notes!