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Kosher Brisket - How is it best smoked in a water barrel smoker?

by Scott
(Evanston IL)

Hi, I was given a Charbroil water barrel smoker on loan recently and I smoked my first brisket for the holiday weekend. I used a basic dry rub on a 10 lb brisket and smoked it about 5 hours over hardwood. It came out tasty but chewy.

My instinct was to smoke it longer than I did over low heat, but the friend who gave it to me said it would dry out. Brisket can be tough to start with though and kosher brisket has less liquid in it than non-kosher brisket so breaking down the fat and connective tissue is even more important I suspect for flavor and tenderness. Does anybody have any tips from experience what to do to make it a more tender end product? Would a mop sauce be a better choice here for some reason? Is there a better ratio of time smoking or heat temp for Kosher meat than what is recommended for non-koser cuts? Any insights would be appreciated.

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Kosher Brisket - How is it best smoked in a water barrel smoker?

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starstarstarstarstar 		kosher brisket smoking
by: Scott

So the difference between a typical holiday brisket for RH and a smoked one is primarily sweetness. My smoked ones have a flavor of the rub and the wood while my holiday oven ones pick up the flavor of what ever liquid dominates the cooking. I would make the following suggestion for smoking one for the family at RH: use a wet mop on it and serve with plenty of sauce, preferably a sweeter one give the holiday. IF they haven't had smoked brisket before, a dry smoke will seem very unexpected in flavor and may not go over as well as it would at a Shabbat dinner. My 2 cents.
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starstarstarstarstar 		More on this brisket, please
by: Anonymous

What recipe did you use to make this Kosher Brisket? I am doing one in September for Rosh Hashanah. I know how to cook the meat in the Weber Bullet. I just am not sure how to make it a holiday brisket the whole family will eat.
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starstarstarstarstar 		Yer Brisket.........:)-
by: Old School BBQ

Scott, here's what I do. Now understand,a brisket is a brisket, and even trimmed(I'm supposing is what you call Kosher?)is still a tough piece of meat that has a lot of collagen,fiberous and connective tissues throughout the muscle. My rule of thumb for smoking the Brisket is:(at 220*F average temp. in the smoker)1.5hrs per pound of uncooked weight.Yes, sounds like a long time but it takes that long slow process to melt the toughness.

Now, I don't trim, and use the whole "packer" Brisket,and I don't use as I feel the moisture from the cooking of meat and fat is enough to keep it juicy.I'm not saying a water smoker is useless,just I don't use them. Along with the juices evaporating when it hits my tuning plates and the moisture in a good aged wood,it's not needed.

As for your problem,try extending the cooking process to at least 1 hr. per pound of meat(trimmed/Kosher).Then wrap it in fiol,tightly and place in an empty ice cooler for an hour and enjoy.

Hope this helps you and SMOKE HAPPY:)-

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