My first beef brisket

I've finally gained the courage to try my first brisket. I went to Gartner's Meat Market out at 74th and Killingsworth to picke it up. I also picked up a 7 lb pork shoulder I'll be cooking along with a couple my nephew Paul is bringing over to prepare for a bachelor party he is hosting.

The butcher was a big help, showing me the difference between a flat and a full packer. I wanted the full packer so bought a 9.5 pounder. Here it is in the wrapper. It is "choice" grade.

First task is to trim it; it has a thick layer of fat.

Trimming one has been a stumbling block. Oh well, you can't make an omelet without breaking a few eggs. The goal was to leave a 1/4" layer. Well, in some places that worked and in others, not so much.

I trimmed some of the silverskin from he underside:

I trimmed off that bit on the lower left side after taking the picture.

I put it back in the refrigerator to rest and mixed up some of Meathead's Big Bad Beef Rub.

Around 7:00 Saturday night I'll inject the brisket with some beef broth, rub it and slap it on the MAK's upper rack over a water pan. It will cook at 225* overnight.

Here it is after it's been injected with beef broth.

Then a light film of vegetable oil and the rub is put on

On the smoker. That's a chunk of lemon with a smoker probe plugged through it. Two temp probes; I'll probably get confused. Like Lewis Carroll said "a man with 1 watch knows what time it is; a man with 2 watches is never really sure".  

OMG. That took a long time to cook. 7:30 at night until noon  Sunday. The temp was 15 - 20 degrees cooler on the upper grate than the built in probe measure. 

Here it is about 8:30 after I removed the water pan and moved the brisket ot the lower grill. I don't think I'll be making lemonade with that lemon.

at 10:00 in the morning it hit 181 so I put it in a pan with some beer; then covered with foil to let it steam a bit.

Out of the cooker at noon. Wrapped it in a double layer of foil and put in a towel filled cooler where it will sit a few hours.

Remember that little nub I trimmed off yesterday; I just ate it and its like buttah.

After sitting in the cooler for about 4 hours, I busted it out.

I split the point from the flat as best I could and sliced up the changes

The flat is on the far right; it's a bit tough. But the slices from the point and the thicker part of the brisket were like butter. I was pretty worried about this cook, but I'm pretty satisfied.

Dinner is served. Carla is up in Victoria with her sisters so I dined alone.