My first Brisket

I have been cooking a lot of red meat lately, due to the new diet Byrd and I are on.  But there is one that I haven't cooked.  The brisket.  I have been scared of this meat for awhile.  I have heard it is difficult, temperamental, and easy to dry out, but I am a sucker for a good deal.  I was at the grocery store and  they had a special on briskets, so of course I bought one.  I chose a little one(2.49 lbs.) not wanting my first brisket to be too expensive, in case I ruin it. But once again I am up for the challenge, and have a great wife that is up for trying my experiments.  With not much of a plan in mind I used the only rub I keep around, Rut's Rub.  I have used this rub on ribs, butts, chicken, sausage and just about every other meat I can think of, but not red meat.  It was on hand and I like the way it tastes, so I went for it.  I have done a little research on briskets, so I at least knew the temperatures to look for.  I also decided to go with apple chips for smoke, because I had them on hand, why else.

I got my temperature right on the smoker and put it on.  I knew I had several hours until it would be done so I used a little of the cabbage I bought for a St. Patty's day treat to make my mom's slaw.  This is a really easy recipe that I love.  Shredded cabbage, thin sliced white onion, oil, white vinegar, sugar(well Splenda, still no sugar in the house, thanks diet) and celery seeds.  It needs at least 4 hours to marinate, better overnight, good thing I had plenty of time.  

In order to have a little more on the plate I thawed out some corn(no its not on the diet, but a FEW carbs won't hurt), added a little butter, salt and some of the afore mentioned rub to have a balanced meal. 

I pulled the brisket when the temp reached 160 degrees, I wrapped the brisket in foil with a little beer and apple cider vinegar in the bottom for steam.  Then put it back on the grill until it reached 190.  It took about 5 hours and 45 minutes.  I pulled it from the heat and let it rest while I cooked the corn. 

It smelled great.  I was really excited about my first brisket.  After it rested, for as long as I could let it, I pulled the corn off the grill.  Really should have given the corn more time, but hind site is 20/20.   So after it rested I sliced it, not sure if I did this the right way, but it looked and smelled great.

With everything ready to eat.

I added the juice from the bottom of the foil package back to the top of the sliced pieces.  It was better than I thought it would be.  I truly am happy with the outcome of my first brisket.  The slaw was good as usual. Now the corn, it felt hot and smelled good, but I guess it wasn't completely thawed when I put it on the grill.  Nice and hot on the outside and still frozen by the cob.  I am glad this was the worst part of my first brisket cook.