For me, brisket is more of an event than a meal. Usually I’ll make it when we have friends staying with us for the weekend, and it’s an excuse for us to have beers at 6am once the meat is in the smoker. We all take turns watching temps and fuel, and having the extra hands helps with wrapping and stuff.

Another option is smoked top sirloin roast aka picanha. It has a thick fat cap and lots of marbling into the meat. Traditionally, it’s cut into steaks and grilled on a skewer, but i also like to smoke it whole and sear off the fat cap at the end. Prep is fairly simple, remove some of the fat cap (down to about 1/2") score the rest almost to the meat, season the whole thing with salt and pepper, then in the smoker at 250F. I will then take the fat trimmings and cut them down into small pieces and put them in the smoker to render into tallow. After about an hour or when the meat is 130F, I’ll wrap in pink butcher paper using the tallow that I just rendered. From there, I just watch until it hits about 155F. At that point, you can let it rest and eat, but I like to throw it on a hot grill fat side down to get a good crispy sear on it. Slice it in thin strips like brisket, it melts in your mouth.