• If you bought the brisket refrigerated, pop into the freezer for 30-60 minutes for trimming - as it's much easier to trim when it's slightly frozen.
• Take the meat out of the packaging, pat dry with a paper towel.

Trim the Meat with the Following in Mind

• Remove hard fat that won't render.

  Trim fat cap down to around 1/4-1/2" fat cap.

  Make the flat muscle the same thickness so it doesn't dry out.

  Shape the meat so it fits on the kettle.

  If you need a better guide to trimming, scroll up to my linked article.
• Once trimmed, use the listed ingredients PER SIDE and season in layers - so salt first, pepper second, seasoned salt third.
  1 tbsp Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt, 1 tbsp 16 Mesh Black Pepper, 1 tbsp Dylan's Lawry's Copycat OR Your Favorite Seasoned Salt

Setup the Weber Kettle with a Charcoal Snake

• I prefer a setup of 2:2:1 - so 2 rows of charcoal, another 2 rows and then 1 row on top.

  I find that this creates a hotter fire and results in cleaner smoke (thin blue).
• Then take around 20-30 briquettes out and light with a charcoal chimney.

  Return these back to the start of the snake.
• In the center of the snake use either a foil pan filled with water OR something like the Weber vortex. This will work as our heat deflector.
• Then add wood chunks around the perimeter - I used post oak.
• Put the grill grate on the grill and then put the brisket in the center with the fat cap up and the point muscle pointed at the fire.

Checking on the Brisket

• In general, I like my brisket to have:

  5-6 hours of smoke.

  ~170-180F internal at the thicket part of the flat.

  Bark is dark, like a meteorite.

  The fat is squishy, pillow-y, and tear-able
• Once all these things happen, take 2 sheets of arms-length foil and put the brisket in the center with the fat cap up.
• Crinkle the foil around the edges of the brisket creating a foil boat.
• Put this in your Kitchen oven, smoker, or in my case electric smoker set to 250F.

  At this point all we're doing is reaching tenderness and I prefer not to use charcoal to do that - I'd rather use electricity which is cheaper.

You Now Have 2 Options

• 1. Smoke to Tenderness, Rest for 2 hours, then Eat.

  2. Smoke to Near tenderness, hot hold overnight, eat the next day

If Option 1

• Cook the meat till around 195-205F throughout; The probe should glide in and out of the meat with ZERO effort.

  Then rest in your kitchen oven (while off) and allow the meat to come down to 145-160F internal before slicing against the grain.

If Option 2

• Cook until 190F in the thickest part of the flat.

  Then wrap completely with foil and transfer to your electric smoker or kitchen oven without a rest.

  I know from testing that my Electric smoker set to 175F will keep the internal temperature of the meat @ 150F (for food safety).

  The next day, unwrap the meat, slice and enjoy.