I have been on a BBQ media bender.  I recently read the Franklin Barbecue Meat Smoking Manifesto, and have watched all available episodes of BBQ with Franklin.  The result is that I want to make a brisket so bad!  Traditionally I have done mostly pork, some chicken, and sausage on my smoker.  All of those are awesome, but after so many years of smoking, it is time to branch out.

I traded my beloved hickory for oak, my complex sugar heavy rubs for coarse salt and pepper, and my pork for a big hunk of brisket.

I got up at 6am to get this beast started.  I don’t like waking up early on the weekends, but this was totally worth it!  It went on about 6:30 and sat soaking up smokey goodness till about lunch time.

I started spraying it down occasionally with apple cider and checking for the level of bark.  I had some problems controlling the temperature on my smoker.  The base traeger I got has only 3 settings of temperature, low medium and high.  Low is lower than I want, and medium is higher.  Upgrading to a temperature controlled unit is high on my priority list.  I was getting through the stall and had the level of bark I wanted.  Next comes the wrap.  I went with the franklin method of paper wrapping instead of foil wrapping.

Once wrapped it went back to the smoker for the remainder of the afternoon.  I started poking and temp probing, and by 4:30 or so things looked done.  I pulled it and let it sit for a while still wrapped in paper.  I might unwrap next time, It took a long time to cool.  Finally, the cut.  I am no expert carver, and a really long knife would be helpful.  Still, I was able to identify the right side and carve properly.  This smells so good.

It was goooooooooood.  The temperature swings caused a few edges to be a little on the burned and dry sides, but otherwise it was a really good moist tender brisket.  Using only salt and pepper as a rub turned out great, why would you need anything more?  Not only does it provide some amazing dinners, we had brisket and eggs for breakfast.  Now that is a breakfast of champs!