We gave smoking a brisket a try on the Big Green Egg this weekend. It was our first attempt at smoking Texas brisket in a BGE. The results were tasty, but not close to the ideal Texas texture and flavor we were hoping for. A few issues marred our attempts, but the man was staunch about doing it his way. He did spend a good 8-10 hours at it, but the end result was undercooked. We learned a great deal about how the Big Green Egg did a better job of maintaining temperatures over long cook times.
A salt rub the night beforehand is key to investing a brisket with flavor, and something I’ve learned to do during my smoke experiments with the Weber kettle. Previously, I did my dry brine and rubs in one step, then let the brisket rest overnight before hitting the grill.
Using a combo of pecan and oak lump, my man finished his brisket at 198F, which seemed too low to me. The dome temp on the BGE never exceeded 270F at its highest, and remained mostly on or below 250F. Unfortunately his coals did die out within the first 4 hours of the smoke, and he failed to use the convEggtor indirect heat plate during that time. So while the brisket nearly approached the right color, it just didn’t have enough time or strong heat to form a good crust.
The result was a mildly smoked, slightly chewy piece of roast beef that needed an electric knife for slicing. It was a decent freshman effort, and I have a nice flat to use in my brisket chili recipe.
