The whole process reminded me of that Clint Eastwood movie from 1966...The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly.

I trimmed and seasoned the brisket (I used John Henry's East Texas BBQ rub) on Sunday evening, July 2. When I opened the Cry-o-Vac, I immediately thought the anaerobic odor was more than anaerobic, as in spoilage. The use-by date was July 4, so I knew the brisket was close to expiration. I cut off a small piece of lean and cooked it in a small pan. Besides being tough, there was no spoilage, so I knew I was good to go. My trimming was more like hacking. My mind was not in a good frame of reference due to its size, the perceived spoilage, and my self-doubt that I could pull this off for 16 people. I saved the fat for tallow, which I rendered and used later.

The Ugly

I knew this was a big brisket, but was not expecting this monster to be as big as it was as I began to trim it, season it, place it on an oven sheet, and put it in the frig overnight. I did not split it as some suggested as I'd never done that and did not want to introduce another variable that I'd not attempted previously. With all that said I came to one conclusion...I will never purchase a brisket north of 18 pounds again!

The Ugly Part Two (Putting the brisket on my 22" Weber Smoker)

I fired up the smoker on Monday morning around 9:30. I got the fire going quickly, and I had a decent amount of dry red oak that I interspersed with the charcoal. By 10:10 a.m. I was ready for the brisket. I placed it on the grill and immediately could see the brisket was hanging over both sides by about 2 inches. I compensated by re-setting the point to the edge of the grill, which meant the flat was hanging over on the opposite side by about 3-4 inches. I should have trimmed that part off but I opted to flip it up, which allowed me to put the lid on. The actual smoking went very well. I was able to monitor the temperature throughout the day, keeping it a bit more elevated (250-265 degrees) than I normally do. After 12 hours, the internal temperature in the point was 178 degrees. I wrapped it, slathering the butcher paper with beef tallow (thank for that suggestion Stringfellow).

At this point, I wimped out. I was too tired, and could not risk losing heat in the Weber overnight. I set the kitchen oven at 255, put the brisket in and called it a night. In hindsight, I should have set it at 225 (more on that below).

The Bad

I woke at 6 a.m. and immediately temped the brisket. The probe went in like butter, but as the thermometer exceeded 203 degrees I knew I had set the oven too high. At 209 I pulled the thermometer, as I just didn't want to know how high the thermometer would go. I let it set out for a couple of hours before I put it in my Igloo cooler to rest. For the rest of the day all I could think of was letting it go too long in the oven.

The Good and Bad

At 2:30 it was ready to serve. Much to my surprise, I could not unwrap the butcher paper without it falling apart. I've never seen a brisket do that, but I think I could have shredded the point with my fingers. As I suspected, the flat end that I had to curl up was very dry. On the flip side, the point turned out very well. Everyone except me (In my mind I'll never smoke the perfect brisket), thought it was fantastic (then again, none of us, including me, can say they're Native Texans). One highlight for me…I could not stop eating the burnt fat from the point. I think I'd take burnt fat/lean off the point any day over a perfectly grilled ribeye.

All in all, it could have been a disaster. That's why I love smoking briskets. I'm never satisfied, and each occasion brings that new challenge.

Thank you all for your comments and suggestions...and hope you all had a great 4th of July.