Weather was warm and sunny holding at about 75°F. Wind is light to moderate at about 12 mph. Towards the end of the cook a light drizzle began, but not enough to cool the cooker.
KISS - salt and pepper rub. I cut the brisket more or less in half to fit the 18 WSM.
This cook is going on the 18 WSM fired mostly with Stubb's briquettes and mostly oak with some hickory for smoking wood. Should throw a piece of mesquite in there as well. Using both ET-73 and ET-732 remote thermometers so I can get readings from both pieces of meat. One is much thicker than the other. A not over full charcoal ring kept the temperature between 275°F and 310°F for over ten hours (with no fiddling except opening an additional bottom vent when the brisket came off.)
| time | temp | comment |
| 11:15 AM | Lit cooker closed up - wait to come to temp. | |
| 11:35 | With cooker temps approaching 300° F (only one bottom vent wide open) time to put the meat on! (Bigger piece up top.) | |
| 12:55 PM | 270°/277°/138°/75° (lid/grate/lower/upper) | |
| 1:59 | 265°/275°/167°/111° | Threw on a piece of mesquite. |
| 3:23 | 265°/275°/178°/153° | Coming along nice! |
| 3:50 | With the bottom (smaller) piece hitting 180° I opened the cooker and wrapped it in white butcher paper. | |
| 5:35 | 275°/307°/207°/191° | I think I'll pull the small piece and wrap the big piece. |
| 6:25 | 320°/295°/.../202° | |
| 7:20 | 300°/.../.../212° | Bigger piece off - CI grate on and now for some bacon. |
| 7:42 | 250°/275° (lid/grate) | Stirred the coals a bit. |
| 8:00 | Put some butcher paper on the bottom rack and laid out the rest of the bacon. | |
| 8:30 | 280°/300° | Bacon nearly done on the top rack (CI) bottom needs a little more to go. |
| 9:00 | 285°/305° | Bacon on top done - on the bottom - not so much. Peeled off paper as best as I could and left on the top grate to crisp. |
| 9:30 | Rest of bacon off. |
About three hours into the cook - looking good so far.
Rested and sliced and ready to eat! A slice will support its own weight but pulls apart with a little more tension. And is moist. And tastes marvelous!
Possibly my best brisket so far.
I needn't do anything differently with the brisket next time. Perhaps serve with some fresh grated horseradish.
Bacon on the cast iron grate works well and takes advantage of the lingering heat from the charcoal. The bacon on the paper - not so good. Moisture puddled up and it stuck badly to the paper.
Bacon on the cast iron grate works well and takes advantage of the lingering heat from the charcoal. The bacon on the paper - not so good. Moisture puddled up and it stuck badly to the paper.
