SMOKED HAIR!!! YUM!!

I was SO excited yesterday to get set up for that brisket babysitting.  I've only cooked one other in my life and it came out tough as the sole on my old boots.  That's a pretty hard defeat to take considering the COST of brisket is sky high.  

I plugged the smoker in at 4:30 am.  I was wondering if it would even come to temperature since it was 31 outside.  

How you cook these not-so-tender pieces of meat depends completely on what type of smoker you have.  This is a Masterbuilt.  I also have a Bradley, which I absolutely LOVE.  There's hardly even any tending when it comes to Bradley.

On the other hand, the Masterbuilt has to be looked after constantly, like a terrible two year old.  Walk away for ten minutes and you're in BIG trouble.  SO ... according to the Masterbuilt Guru on You-Tube, the only seasoning it gets is salt and pepper.  Big sigh!  I just whipped up two cups of special rub that will now sit in the cupboard.

Once to temperature and with foil in the bottom to catch all the mess ( you know I'm NOT about cleaning) I shut the door and plugged in the wood chips through the handy dandy hole bottom right.

Two hours later I had to open the door to retrieve the OLD wood chips in order to make room for the new.  My Bradley is automatic.  No opening the door, no checking the chips, no adding more water soaked chips, but THIS one has to be monitored hourly.  

I tested the temperature and the brisket was still cold in the middle.  It wasn't quite getting up to temperature, so I gave it a nice quilt to keep it warm.  Surprisingly, it worked like a charm!!  Yes I was a tad bit worried about the quilt catching fire, but for once, the barbecue Gods were smiling down on me.

The smoking guru said 10-12 hours.  Dinner should be ready by 5:00, at which time I was going to donate half of it to the Chance household.  Just in case though, there should be a backup dinner plan.  You just never know.

While waiting, I put on my plumber's hat in order to fix this drain.  This is the only picture you get because otherwise you would lose your lunch.  I took out the stopper to find hair completely clogging the entire pipe.  It wasn't even MY color!!  How disgusting!!  What I would have given for a Honey-Do MAN to complete THIS job!!!  I think I washed my hands six times when done.  At any rate, the drain works like a charm now.

Having opened and closed the door six more times, "I" now smelled like smoked brisket.  Every time I moved around the house, all I could smell was hickory smoke.  I'm considering bottling the smell.  Maybe THAT would attract a gentleman for those honey-do's I don't want to tackle!!  Smoked hair ... YUM!!

At any rate, by 4:00 I knew dinner wasn't going to be ready on time.  It never did hit the 175 degree perfect-time-to-foil-wrap temperature, so I wrapped it anyway.  At least now, after nine hours, I wouldn't have to fiddle with the wood chips any more.

SURELY by 5:00 (12 hours smoking) it would be done.  I was looking for the elusive 205 degrees.  By 6:30 I was taking it out no matter what.  This is no longer fun and I smell terrible.

It looks pretty burnt, right?  Nope ... that's what brisket is SUPPOSED to look like.  I let it rest another 30 minutes before taking a knife to it.  You know what??  It's pretty darn tasty and as tender as can be.  I have to admit it is a little dry ... probably because I actually forgot about it the last hour and left it in too long while I was on the phone.  No matter!!  IT'S BRISKET!!!!

I wolfed down a couple of pieces for dinner while cleaning up the mess it all created.  No one EVER said smoking was a neat and clean pastime.  

Here's what I learned.  I would much rather have the barbecue flavor from the spice rub, so next time I'll give it a sugar shower before putting it in the oven.  Secondly, in spite of what the Masterbuilt Guru said, I think it would be better to place the fat side UP like the Bradley guy suggested.  I'm thinking it might not have been quite so dry.

At any rate SUCCESS on my first ever brisket, enough though it wasn't perfect.  Brisket sandwich anyone???