Summary - I Have a MES 40 Digital Smoker.
And I Smoked a brisket & Learned some things.
I was focused on low n slow - and internal temps.
My Goal - Foil at 170 and pull it around 190.
It Stalled at 175 internal temp for 10 + hrs. Is that common/normal?
So I pulled it at 175. 26+ hours into the cook. 12 1/2 lb brisket
It was OK but not great. And Q view below.
The longer story-
So - I planned on smoking my 1st brisket - overnight and having it ready for lunch on Sunday.
I got what I'd call an inexpensive brisket. I didn't look too much at the cut - I just looked at the briskets and picked a cheaper one ( smaller one ) 12.5 lbs - because I'm not feeding an army this time.
Lesson one - I should read up on choosing my cut of meat better. The brisket had several really hard lines of fat - almost bone hard.
So I put on a simple dry rub with molasses and dropped it in my MES 40 Electric Smoker - at 225 - at 8 pm Saturday. With an internal temp probe. I added Applewood chips just or 3 times during the night.
Lesson two- probably not enough wood chips - It doesn't have a great smoke ring, but it tastes smokey.
So around 8 am Sunday- internal temp was 171. So I wrapped in foil. and let it continue to cook.
But at 8 am ( 12 hrs into it - ) No signs of dripping fat yet - is that normal ?
I checked it again at 11 and about every hour until 5. It never reached over 173 internal temp.
My Smoker is less than a month old and the temps stayed very consistent - according to the digital readouts. So I did some reading online - A 7 hour stall maybe ??
I cranked the temp. up to 250 at 5pm and let it go more.
I did open the door 2 quick times - to cook salmon ( since brisket wasn't ready and my crew was hungry for something from the smoker :)
But the internal temp stayed at 173-175.
So I read online that some folks pull their briskets at 170-180.
And at 10 pm (26 hrs into cook ) I pulled it off and put in an ice chest to rest for just over an hr. - mostly because I have to work in the morning and needed to know that I didn't turn it in to shoe leather with 2 overnights.
Then I cut it up.
Conclusions - its OK but not great. Smoke ring almost not there at all. Tons of fat still in the meat - probably needed more cook time.
Is that normal ? more than 26 hrs...or did I cook it too low ?
I know some briskets are different and take longer - but a stall at 170-175 for 10+ hrs...??
Next time I think I'll start smoking my brisket at noon. So I'll be able to finish it the following afternoon or night.
Here s the Q view. see the fat woven in the meat - I expected more of that to melt away.
And not a great smoke ring - I guess I need to add more than 2 rounds of chips.
it tastes Ok. We will eat it all week long...Speghetti with smoked meat sauce one night mmmm.
And I Smoked a brisket & Learned some things.
I was focused on low n slow - and internal temps.
My Goal - Foil at 170 and pull it around 190.
It Stalled at 175 internal temp for 10 + hrs. Is that common/normal?
So I pulled it at 175. 26+ hours into the cook. 12 1/2 lb brisket
It was OK but not great. And Q view below.
The longer story-
So - I planned on smoking my 1st brisket - overnight and having it ready for lunch on Sunday.
I got what I'd call an inexpensive brisket. I didn't look too much at the cut - I just looked at the briskets and picked a cheaper one ( smaller one ) 12.5 lbs - because I'm not feeding an army this time.
Lesson one - I should read up on choosing my cut of meat better. The brisket had several really hard lines of fat - almost bone hard.
So I put on a simple dry rub with molasses and dropped it in my MES 40 Electric Smoker - at 225 - at 8 pm Saturday. With an internal temp probe. I added Applewood chips just or 3 times during the night.
Lesson two- probably not enough wood chips - It doesn't have a great smoke ring, but it tastes smokey.
So around 8 am Sunday- internal temp was 171. So I wrapped in foil. and let it continue to cook.
But at 8 am ( 12 hrs into it - ) No signs of dripping fat yet - is that normal ?
I checked it again at 11 and about every hour until 5. It never reached over 173 internal temp.
My Smoker is less than a month old and the temps stayed very consistent - according to the digital readouts. So I did some reading online - A 7 hour stall maybe ??
I cranked the temp. up to 250 at 5pm and let it go more.
I did open the door 2 quick times - to cook salmon ( since brisket wasn't ready and my crew was hungry for something from the smoker :)
But the internal temp stayed at 173-175.
So I read online that some folks pull their briskets at 170-180.
And at 10 pm (26 hrs into cook ) I pulled it off and put in an ice chest to rest for just over an hr. - mostly because I have to work in the morning and needed to know that I didn't turn it in to shoe leather with 2 overnights.
Then I cut it up.
Conclusions - its OK but not great. Smoke ring almost not there at all. Tons of fat still in the meat - probably needed more cook time.
Is that normal ? more than 26 hrs...or did I cook it too low ?
I know some briskets are different and take longer - but a stall at 170-175 for 10+ hrs...??
Next time I think I'll start smoking my brisket at noon. So I'll be able to finish it the following afternoon or night.
Here s the Q view. see the fat woven in the meat - I expected more of that to melt away.
And not a great smoke ring - I guess I need to add more than 2 rounds of chips.
it tastes Ok. We will eat it all week long...Speghetti with smoked meat sauce one night mmmm.
