I just smoked my first brisket last weekend. I was a little nervous about it because everyone says they are really tricky to get right, and its a pretty spendy slab of meat. Mine turned out fantastic! The meat was super juicy and tender. The only thing we didn't get quite right was the bark. Not sure why, but it really didn't get any bark on it at all. Not sure if it was beginers luck or what, but here is what i did:
24 hrs before going in the smoker I slathered it with mustard and made a rub of spices, kosher salt, brown sugar, etc. Let that sit in the fridge for 24 hrs. Take out day of cooking and let it warm up to room temp. Put on smoker and cook to internal temp of 160 where it will stall. (I smoked @ 225 degrees the whole process) once you hit the stall at 160, take it off and wrap in foil. I added a small amount of liquid to the foil before sealing it up tight. ( i used apple juice but anything should work). Put back on smoker and continue cooking until internal temp of 190-195. At this point check for tenderness. Mine was not done so i put it back in until reaching a temp of 205. I checked again and it was falling apart deliciousness! Everything I read said the meat temp is not the ultimate deciding factor of doneness. Just cook it until its tender. Once done, wrap it up in a heavy towel and let it rest in a cooler or your oven for at least one hr. Then carve making sure you cut against the grain.
It turned out great but like i said i had no bark for some reason. If anybody can tell me where I went wrong with that, I'd love to hear it!
