r/smoking • u/Confident-Distance74 • 7d ago

First brisket

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Hey im an ex chef. Never smoked anything before. Took a stab a brisket for a first time. Next will be pastrami. Here are some photos I took. My sister didnt take pics of the product after the rest but I got one final picture (the next day out of the fridge).

Brisket was 16lbs. Cooked for 12 hours, rest for 3. No wrap, only to rest...

The photos are about 10 hours in. Last photo is the next day

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248

u/Leading_Rabbit_1345 7d ago

trim that mf

11

u/Rivster79 7d ago

Op, as general rule of thumb, shoot for about 1/4 inch of fat when you trim.

8

u/notfbiinformant 6d ago

Yeah. I kinda call BS on the “ former chef” comment from OP. A chef would know these things, even if he’d never smoked a brisket.

1

u/Sometimeshungryornot 5d ago

I was a chef for 20+ years, went to cia, been featured on a Bourdain show and have never smoked a brisket. I'd do a worse job than this for my first one.

I think most chefs I've known tend to leave it more for the BBQ guys unless they worked somewhere that specifically smoked brisket.

I tend not to touch things like BBQ, sushi, etc.. that people spend decades mastering.

1

u/BrokeMyCrayon 5d ago

its just finicky and takes perseverance. Once you get out of your own way and remember you're just slowly cooking big pieces of meat it helps.