This is Bent's old brisket recipe that many find to be a good basic starter.

Get as big a brisket as you can. I try and get 14, 15, 16 lbers, they just seem to cook the best. 

Trim the real thick fat on the cap and the side, but leave the rest, I mean all of it.  What does not render in cooking, you just shave off before carving.

Inject beef broth, beef stock or bullion, mix in a good savory rub.  You should use about 24 oz of liquid and about 4 Tbs of rub.  Don't be afraid to throw in finely chopped garlic and black pepper if you like that taste profile, stir it up and let it set about 30 minutes, then strain through cheese cloth (phosphates are our friend if you have any).  Inject it all over.  If ya don't have an injector just forget that step. 

Pellet choice -- ahh that's the fun, and your guess is ad good as mine.  I like Hickory, Maple and Pecan if ya have it. 

Cook time -- I will usually figure about 15 hours for that size brisket, just a bench mark.  I will usually cook it at 200° for 3 hours then turn to 240° at about the 11-12 hour mark it should be between 155-175° internal temp.  I like to put in full size aluminum pan, add 1/2 cup of stock with 2 Tbs more rub.  If you have a remote probe, stick it in, tightly foil and put back on pit at 240°.  It should take about 2-3 more hours, set gage to 200°, when it goes off start poking and pull it when you like the feel (for family and friends should be like skewer in soft butter).  It should be fat side down all this time, or that is the way I do it.  Let it rest an hour in its juice on the counter top.

I think you will enjoy.

Oh Lord!  I'm so dumb!  (My mother used to say, "You're literal.") 

• Fat side down the entire time
• Cook it 200°F for 3 hours.
• Then turn it up to 240°.
• At 11-12 hours put it in a pan tightly foiled.
• After 2-3 hours look for 200° internal temp and skewer test.
• Rest it an hour still covered.

EDIT:  Is that a reasonable synopsis?

This recipe is so old, I would say the pan, liquid and foil is , more based on color and bark...I do not like bark, and that steam at the end mellos it out for me, so the hours maybe close...You just gotta figure out how much bark you like.  If you like it, this is not a recipe for those type people.

The rest of your synopsis is spot on!  I will note, I am not much of a fat trimmer any more, I figure that gelatin like substance will come of real easy when I am getting ready to carve it!

I leave a lot of fat on as well.i like fat

Many BBQ beginners (We were all once) are intimidated by the thought of cooking a brisket. Everyone should use this recipe for their first Brisket. This is fool proof way to get an excellent brisket every time!
I got this recipe from Bentley years ago & still use it to this day!

I've only been to two competitions in my life. The second one I got a first place trophy following this recipe. The GMG Mountain Man (I can't remember his name) came up to me afterward & complimented me on this brisket

Large briskets are sometimes hard to fit in zone 4 on my Fast Eddy PG500.  Not all briskets but some.  If you had to cut one to make it fit, how would you cut it?

I was thinking that I could start a piece at 200°F and move it to the upper rack at the 3-hour point.  I think I can find 240°F in zone 2 or 3 and finish it there while I put the second piece in zone 4 which will still be at 200°F.

Large briskets are sometimes hard to fit in zone 4 on my Fast Eddy PG500.  Not all briskets but some.  If you had to cut one to make it fit, how would you cut it?

I was thinking that I could start a piece at 200°F and move it to the upper rack at the 3-hour point.  I think I can find 240°F in zone 2 or 3 and finish it there while I put the second piece in zone 4 which will still be at 200°F.

I don't have nor have ever cooked on a PG500, but I would split the point and flat before cooking and do as you were thinking.

Paul,
Take a can like a 28oz Cento tomato can and set it in the middle of zone 4, on its side. Place your packer over it on a diagonal. Before you reach the panning stage it will have shrunk down and the can unnecessary.
This is an 18 + pound packer. It's 23 1/2" long and done in my FEPG500.
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It was panned up in Zone 2 for direct heat from underneath the pan.

"Bentley's Basic Brisket" .... Just follow the yellow brick road.



 

Genius idea!

200° in zone 4 should be ~290° in zone 2 on my pit.  Do you turn yours down to 170° to get 240° in zone 2?

Cook it in zone 3 with the point facing 2...Just not enough heat difference over 10-12 hours to matter.

10/4 ... Lower the zone 4 temp and you're using less pellets also. Run a remote probe and attached to the top of the pan. That should help tracking the temp. in zone 2.
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For those of you that know me, you will know that I could never cook a brisket!
I had help from all the experts and even took Danielle's (DivaQ) class and wrote down every second of what she did (seriously!)
Anyways, I still can't but I am determined to figure it out so a month ago I purchase 2 USAD Prime briskets. One is headed for the FEC this weekend and I will be trying this basic brisket recipe!
Will post the results, good or bad (but I am staying positive so it's going to be great!)
Dan

What is the issue with your previous briskets.

What is the issue with your previous briskets.

Dry as dirt, flavourless dust with salt and pepper, so bad my dog passed on it, so bad for so long I convinced myself that I didn't like brisket!
Bentley sent me his magic injection mix (yes we fought customs and shipped it here), I used Larry's method, internet methods, DivaQ's method, I could go on.
At this point I am thinking it was my meat. Up here it is harder to find good Prime briskets (slowly getting better). Anyways I have hooked into this meat guy and he supplies meat to the Franklin's BBQ of the North, Adamson's BBQ here in Toronto. I had their brisket a week after they opened and I fell in love all over again. Central Texas style that I grew up on and you consume it like a junkie on crack. It is literally the best brisket I have ever had in my life. I was lucky and he gave me some of his rub and the actual recipe!!  That's what will go on this brisket.
If this one fails I will just go buy Adamson's premade whole briskets and tell everyone it's mine
Sorry for the long drawn out post in the Basic Brisket thread!

Have you checked your grate temp compared to your controller temp, maybe it is running hot, I foil my heat deflector, it seems to mellow out the radiant heat off the heat deflector. I cook my briskets on the top shelf with drip pans under them on the cooking grates, they come out moist. Experiment & try this, I'm curious if it makes a difference. I have always done them this way.