I'm glad it turned out for you my friend!
Here's a little advice from a fellow piper, and an old Texan that's been smoking brisket longer than I care to remember. If you want your brisket to be tender and juicy... do this
Leave 1/8 inch of fat on the flat when you trim it up. No need to leave fat on the point, plenty of internal fat there.
Cook the brisket
fat side down. This prevents the meaty part from over-cooking and drying out. This is more noticeable on an offset smoker, but your heat is coming from the bottom I think, so it's still valid. There is a myth that brisket should be cooked fat side up so that the fat oozes down through the brisket. This does not actually happen as people think. It's just a myth... so smoke
fat side down, BUT save all the fat from trimming the brisket and place on splatter screen on rack above brisket.. over the meaty part. This fat will render down during the smoke and slowly drip beefy goodness down onto the meaty part which not only keeps it from drying out, but adds yummy fatty juices
Count on about
1hr smoking per pound. The only way you will get to temp on a brisket sooner than this is to crank the heat up to 270-300, and that is NOT low and slow smoking. You might as well roast it in the oven. (which is doable and tender, but not smoky, and not kosher lol.
Smoke the brisket at a temp of 225-230 until internal temp of the flat reaches 150, or until it stalls,
whichever comes first.
Use a remote thermometer and do not open the door (except to add wood chips etc.) until the brisket reaches temp. You have the advantage of being able to do this with that electric smoker. Every time you open the door of that electric smoker you dump all the heat out. Then it has to come back up to temp which just prolongs the smoke.
Once brisket reaches 150
or stalls, remove and wrap in parchment paper, or foil, parchment paper is better!
Return to your smoker and crank the heat up to 270-300
just until the brisket starts to climb out of the stall, then lower back to 225-230 and continue the smoke until internal temperature reaches
203. This is the temp at which your brisket will be tender and juicy, but not over cooked.
At this point you have several options...
1) If you're in a hurry to eat asap, remove from smoker, unwrap, let it rest 30-45 minutes, slice and enjoy.
2) If your smart, and your brisket was done several... 1 to 5 hours prior to mealtime... lower temp of smoker to 125 if possible. leave it alone until 30 minutes before mealtime, remove unwrap, slice, enjoy... or
3) Remove from smoker, wrap in foil, then several old towels, place in an ice chest until 30 min before mealtime, then remove, unwrap slice and enjoy.
4) If you want to firm up your bark, remove from wrap, place back on grate, set temp to 300 and cook for 10-15 minutes. Remove from smoker, let rest 30-45 min. slice and enjoy
Points to remember...
If it stalls wrap it up and get that heat up to break out of stall. The cause of a stall is the juices evaporating off the surface and cooling the brisket such that it is not cooking anymore given the heat applied to it. Wrapping it stops the evaporating process. Increasing the heat brings the temp of the brisket UP such that evaporating juices don't matter anymore and it can continue rise in temp until tender.
Leave the smoker closed. Only open when necessary. Use a remote thermometer. This just make the process so much easier. You always know what the internal temp is so you can spot the stall right away, which is important if you want to bust out of it, and get to temp asap, and they are very affordable these days.
Make sure you're slicing the brisket correctly... start on the end of the flat, slice across the grain on the flat, when you reach the point meat on top of flat rotate 90 degrees, continue to slice from big side to small.. until a few inches from the end. slice that off and into burnt end chunks.
If you're interested in learning to do some yummy pork candy (smoked pork belly) PM me for details. I'm sure I've already glazed some eyes over with this long-winded post. lol
Good luck to you brother. Smoking meat is a wonderful and satisfying endeavor.
Even after 50 years of doing it I still learn new stuff all the time.
So never give up and keep on smokin!
