Texas Style Brisket

Smoker:  Traeger

Costco Prime Brisket, 17-19lbs (untrimmed weight) seems to work best

Using HD cheap but real hardwood Red and White Oak pellets.  

Medium trim meat side,  Preheat Traeger to 225 with Super Smoke (not really sure this does anything note worthy other than burn more pellets).  Final weight ends up being 15-16lbs.

Binder:  Yellow Mustard

16 Mesh Pepper--generous coating, (more pepper does in fact catch more smoke!), then Meat Church Holy Gospel, dust with Lawry's season salt

After 20ish briskets, I'm a fat-side down kinda guy.  A few factors to consider:

1. The fat melting when on top will run off--just like spritzing it.

2.  If your trimming of the fat-side isn't even, I've seen the brisket start to "warp" with fat-side up.  

3. The pseudo-bark in a pellet grill did favor fat-side up.

4. Temps have been squirely with fat-side up for me--flat 5 degrees less than point....how??!?

After letting the rub penetrate for 30-45 min, brisket goes on (again for me, it's fat-side down).  I put the temp probe in the into the flat, a few inches from the point/flat split.  Be careful not to put the probe into the connective fat between the point and flat--this will give you lower probe temps.  I think the fat's evaporative nature cools it.  

Some YouTubers advocate 165-175 to crutch.  After trying the front end I def prefer crutching at 175 or when the brisket starts to loosen (sometimes just north of 175).  This seems to give more smoke to the seasoning and helps to develop the pseudo-bark a bit more.  I've wrapped with apple juice, water, and apple cider vinegar.  I haven't tasted a difference.  

1. Water evaporates fastest but it's there to soften the paper--the fat will take over if you have it wrapped tightly.

2. Apple Juice works just fine but you have to clean you spray bottle.

3. Apple cider vinegar (dilluted by 50%) works better than water and is shelf-stable so you fellow lazies can leave the bottle between smokes.

After the crutch I leave the temp at 225 if I have time.  I've bumped it to 275 once in a pinch but didn't actually notice a huge difference.  The biggest finishing element for me is taking the internal temp to at least 203 (point and flat).  My experience is that 197 leaves the brisket too "tight".  Testing for doneness:

1. Aaron Franklin, "OG brisket god" will tell you to poke your fingers into the bottom of the brisket ( I almost understand this now but really?)

2. Jirby, trained under Franklin, so he goes with feel as well but more holistically.  Because he does huge batches, they all come out, he compensates by letting tighter briskets rest closer to 130 internal before proofing.  

3. Meat Church and a few others us the poking method where the probe should encounter little-to-no resistance as a mark of doneness.  This seems to work well for me.

I let the brisket rest for about an hour at room temp in the paper, then put it in a foil pan on a rack (to keep it out of the fluids).  I pour a cup of water below the brisket, cover the pan with a towel and set my oven temp to 160.  I've kept it in this steam batch for 5-6 hours with no issues.  Proofing this way allows me to set the timeline for the brisket instead of leaving the bbq demons an opening.