The grill is all cleaned up and ready to go, even if the weather hasn’t been cooperating. I did get to use it a couple of weeks ago, but the warm days are still sparse here next to cold Lake Erie. Today looks to be the best day of the week before more rain and cold arrive. I admit, I shopped as if it were the grilling season already only to find myself using the slow cooker or the oven for some things I would have preferred on the grill. One purchase was a packer cut beef brisket that I cut up into the flat and point pieces. Today I’m going to slow roast the point, the piece with more marbling, using the snake charcoal method with a few applewood chips thrown in along the way. Here’s one of many videos on YouTube on how to trim a brisket:

That video trims the fat, but leaves the two parts together, which would be way too much meat for us at one time, so I separated the two pieces, as this next video shows:

But, of course, the temperature never got up to the promised 66° and I fooled around too long in the morning and never got the meat on the grill until 11 AM. After 6 hours, and the snake about to burn out, I tested the brisket and it was at 175° and still a little resistant to the probe, so I wrapped it in heavy duty foil and put it in the oven for an hour while the sweet potatoes were baking. It all worked out and was tasty and tender.

A little foil under the thin end

• I just threw together a quick rub of kosher salt, smoked paprika, chili powder, brown sugar, and black pepper and let it sit for a few hours (overnight would have been better).
• I added 2 bottles of room temperature beer and a little boiling water to the drip pan to keep moisture in the grill environment.

Other than that, there’s not really a recipe here, just that old charcoal snake method and a big hunk of beef. I’m saving the brisket flat in the freezer for some real grilling weather.