Did my first brisket this weekend, in the Kamado Joe clay BBQ. Let it sit overnight with a slight dry salt brine, then woke up early Sunday, rubbed the meat with a rub mostly pepper and bit of onion and garlic powder and freshly ground New Mexican chili powder, and had the temp up to solid and the meat on the grill by 7Am and removed the brisket by 8pm. The meat temp was 194, and I didn't do any of the "wrap in foil and stick inside of a dry cooler" or "Texas Crutch" tips that the books recommended, but it still came out great. The one nice thing about the clay BBQ's is that they seem to get past the "stall" where the meat temp holds for long while before getting to recommended temp.
Like others here, the book I used was "
Meathead" which has proven to be pure gold - it came recommended from SportsGuy and every recipe I've attempted, from ribs to pulled pork, has turned out amazing. He swears by the book and now so do I. The author's wife is a food scientist and the book debunks all the standard BBQ myths and tests various methods - his recipes and rubs reflect the results of the tests. The book explains so many things about BBQing I never knew and I've stopped using all my other "grill" books, and for each cut, it shows how to trim and prepare the meat, and what ingredients to include in a rub to maximize the cut. It also has multiple recommended methods for grilling depending on situation, and goes through each grill type and how to set it up for max. benefit.
It's a winner - buy and don't look back.
After 13 hours.
Cut off the ends and saved for later.
Sliced against the grain and served with sauce - it didn't need any, as the meat was juicy and flavorful on its own, and even the tasty Stubbs sauce we had on hand seem to detract.
Took all the burn ends and bits and pieces and chopped up into tiny bits and vacuum sealed, going to add sauce and serve over a nice brioche bun this weekend for seconds.
