My wife's nephew has an industrial sized freezer and is kind enough to keep the bargain briskets my Mrs. snaps up when they go on sale. Once or twice a year, we will double up and smoke one brisket for us and one for him. Since we only have a small barrel smoker, that means 2 separate smokes. We cranked out the first one on June 26. Even though this brisket has been sitting in the freezer for almost a year, it came out perfectly tender, juicy, and with nice smoke flavor.
We did the second one on June 26 and Russ came over to get a lesson on brisket trimming. I just do what Aaron Franklin does on his videos, only not as well, as I have done a lot fewer than he has! We trimmed the fat cap down to about 1/4 of an inch, cut off any sharp edges, and smoothed out the overall form to make it as aerodynamic as possible. The only seasoning I use is Don Green's "All 'N 1". We have an extra step of cutting our briskets in half to fit in our little smoker.
I put the fatty end on the top grate (more heat) and the flat on the lower grate above a water pan. I smoke it hard for 6 hours, then into a big cooking bag in the oven to finish it off. It cooks for about an hour a pound until the internal temperature reaches around 202 degrees. Then it goes into a towel lined cooler for at least an hour, sometimes overnight (the Vencil Mares method). The results are buttery smooth, tender, and juicy.
