I decide to again try a rub but this time I'm gonna buy one instead of trying to make it. After all, I'm clueless and once you buy all the ingredients in trying to make one yourself, it's probably cheaper just to buy the pre-made.
I go to the store in search of a brisket. What I learn is that:
1) Briskets are huge
2) They're expensive
What I know is:
1) I'm cheap
2) I will probably screw this up
What this bit of information, I decide on is just the flat half of the brisket, it's cheaper and smaller. Hopefully this will also cut down the on the cook time as I don't think I have the skills for 12 hours of smoking yet.
Timeline:
10:00pm the night before - Unwrapped the brisket and sprinkled it with the rub. Wrapped it in plastic wrap and put it in the fridge.
8:30am the next day - Took the brisket out of the fridge and put it on the counter to come up to room temp. Started a chimney full of coals
9:30am - It's pretty windy today so I relocated the smoker to the back porch. Coals are ready so I put them on top of about the same amount of unlit ones plus 4 chunks of cherry. Add the brisket, sprinkle one last time with rub.
9:40am - Temp is 225, this is the target.
Every hour I spray with apple juice
5:30pm - Internal temp of brisket is around 180 (not really sure as my probe malfunctioned after it got to 175). Fork goes in and out of meat easily and looks tender. Off grill and wrap in foil for 30 minutes.
Next up, hopefully some ribs, the wife has been asking for these since we bought the smoker.