So back to Saturday evening. Fatties are done and now it's time to rub the brisket. Nothing too fancy, just a dry rub and it will sit in the fridge for a few hours to absorb the flavors. This year I got a 14 lb brisket and trimmed it down to almost 11. A nice untrimmed brisket will have a thick part to it. This is mostly fat and should be trimmed down to leave about 1/2" all the way over. This will even out the thickness of the meat as well, allowing for more even cooking. After doing some research, I also decided to score the meat diagonally. THis is to allow the rub to get to the meat on the fatty side as well as letting some smoke in.....As a spoiler alert...I didn't see any difference in the flavor, smoke distribution or moisture of the meat due to the scoring. I did decide to toss a beer into the bag with the brisket....beer always makes it better.
About now the pork is almost done. I take it out of the smoker and wrap it in foil. I put it in a pan with a little coke. This catches all the juices which I later pour on top of the pork after it's pulled. Unfortunately I realized that I didn't take any pics of the pork after it was done. I was quite delirious at this point and was having trouble remembering anything. It really is a site to see though.. this huge pile of deliciously smoked meat...good stuff. This year I refrigerated the pork and reheated it the next day. It saved me a TON of time when things would otherwise be very busy. After this I passed out and set my alarm for 3 am.
At 3 am I wake up and begin to check the temp on the smoker. It has absolutely no insulation, so it has to be adjusted based on the changed in outside temp....ex: night vs day. I was also amazed this year at how much I had to mess with the temp when I put cool meat in. It really screwed me. Once I am happy with the temp, I get the wood going and put the brisket in. I need to see smoke before it goes in to ensure that the meat properly absorbs it. Otherwise the pores close and it doesn't get deep into the meat as I would like. I used more mesquite on the brisket...really more than anything else. Mesquite is a "hard" smoke and can become acrid if overused. The meat goes in...and I set my alarm for 5 am.
5 am rolls around and I check the meat. More wood, more water and a little mop. I used beer, onions, apple cider vinegar and a mix of some other stuff. Back to sleep until 7 am.
