Basic Brisket Smoke

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Thanks Dutch,

Yeah mate, bloke is a bit like the pommies saying 'chaps' or 'fellows.'

We dont do that sort of stuff down under.

It might be like you blokes using guys and dudes.

Ask an aussie if he is dude or a bloke and always you will get back "a bloke".

We are not guys, although these things are creeping in.

A group of blokes could be called a bunch of fellas,
or they are a mob of your mates. This means really close friends, well sorta.

End of culture exchange ; back to the smoke.
 
Gunny,
:oops: :oops: :oops: Please accept my most humble apologies if I offended you. I can assure you that I had no intention of insulting you. When you made the comment that the meat was "stout", I took you to mean overly smoky, which generally is due to creosote. I think most of us have had, and will continue to have creosote problems from time to time, i.e. if we're cooking w/ a woodburner. I just kinda figure it goes w/ the territory.
If you're serious about feeling insulted I'm glad you said something so that I can clear up the misunderstanding, and I would invite you to do the same anytime in the future should I happen to accidentally step on toes.

BTW, why is it Gunslinger, do you do western shoots and such?

Good Luck, and Good Rig Building,
Tim
 
Hey Grumpster,
Do you suppose that there is such thing as right or wrong? If so, the true test would be "Is it good Q when it's done?" Suppose?

BTW, If I were doing flats, that's probably the way I'd do 'em too. Flats take a little more skill than packers, they're not quite as forgiving.
wink.gif
 
DDBBQ, you didn't offend me. I wrote that in jest. One thing I've noticed about this forum is that no one really says anything to offend. I was just having fun with ya. Just like I knew "blokes" was not to be offensive, but I did want to know what it meant. I wanted to put a smilie with that, but I wrote it from my treo and I can't do smilies with that phone. So consider this :P part of that post.
 
Hey DDBBQ! Sorry I have not responded to you on this, but I got sick last weekend. I checked in now and then, but I haven't posted because to be quite frank, smoke made me want to barf. Everything had that effect. I got severely dehydrated and lost 25 lbs from not eating or drinking. My appetite is slowly coming back though.
Anyway, years ago I was heavily into Cowboy Action Shooting. I've been selling firearms for 19 years now, and since I've always done it from a small town I just have become known as "the local gunslinger." People used to come to me from all over the region when they needed "old west", Civil War, WWI and WWII firearms. Many people all over the country enjoy reenactments from these eras and the Revolutionary War era, which I never got into. My forte was old west and WWII. And while I haven't had time for it in a number of years I really used to love the Single Action Shooting Society's cowboy action events.
That's it in a nutshell.
 
I am smoking a brisket and it has been cooking now for about three hours, The temp it already at 148. Am i doing something wrong? I did not think the temp would get this high this fast. The brisket is pretty flat and long (about 9-10 lbs). Is the temp going up so fast because it is so thin (about an inch and a half)? Any help would be great.
 
That does seem pretty quick. What was the temp. of the meat when you started? What is your pit temp.? I expect it stalled out at the plateau. Also, be sure you insert your probe as close to center in the thickest part of the brisket that you can. Are you sure your thermometer is reasonably accurate?

I know this is done now but maybe it will be some help next time. How did it turn out?
 
My advice, don't do flats. Do whole packer trims. Don't worry about overcooking, worry about drying out. If doing a flat, be sure to foil it after a couple hours. In fact, set it in HD foil to keep all it's juices and fat as it cooks, flip it after an hour, then again after another hour, then close it up. It will reach a plateau, they say 190* for slicing, and 200* for pulling or shredding, but you can still slice a 200* flat. You just have to slice it thicker, and if it's good and juicy, that doesn't hurt a thing.

Good Luck, and Good Smokin',
Tim
 
I have a few basic questions on the cooking procedure.

I have a vertical smoker, natural gas, with a wood box and a water bowl.

With this setup do I still want to put a pan under the brisket?

Do I flip if using the pan or if I'm not using the pan?

Should I foil during the last couple of hours or just foil after pulling it out to let it rest?

Score or not to Score?

What about wood? Is smoking with mesquite the entire time too much smoke or should I mix it with oak or something? Do you actually smoke through the whole time or do you cut off the smoke at some point and just heat?

Thanks guys for the help.
I'll post some pics when I get it done this weekend.
-JP
 
We all have our own methods of smoking brisket. W/ my method, I don't trim any fat at all. I sear the meat until black on all sides and ends, then put it in a foil pan to smoke. I wouldn't score the meat, that would just make it easier to dry out the meat. Being in a foil pan, the bottom side isn't exposed to the smoke, so flipping the meat would be desired. With all the fat on the brisket, it's going to be hard to oversmoke the meat, and so long as you don't get too much smoke goin at once, you shouldn't have any problem. Be sure to look for the thin blue smoke, and vent off any white billowy stuff. I have done tons of brisket w/ 100% mesquite, but I;ve never cooked on a vertical gasser, so I can't really speak to questions that involve that particular type of unit, I can answer general questions though.

BTW, in a poll that I did, I found that alot more people don't sear than do. I've done both ways and find that the flavor is much beefie if seared and then cooked in it'sown juices.

Hope I've been of help.

Tim
 
Thanks Tim,
You are the first I seen that sear the meat. How do you sear it? In a pan or on a grill?


I would think that no matter what your hardware setup is, using a pan should be a good idea, which means I could flip it and letting smoke cook into to all sides.

I've also seen brisket just cooked directly on the grates with the fat side up and no flipping is involved.

Any thoughts anybody on this?
Thanks,
JP
 
My smoker has a flip up lid on the top of the firebox w/ a grate under it (that's by design just for briskets). You can also do it on a c'coal grill. I've not seen a gas grill that gets hot enough to do it right. It takes pretty good flames. I always start it fat side down. The melting fat sends up some pretty good flames.

Here is one important thought as to whether or not to smoke it in a pan: If you just put it on a rack, a 13# brisket will dump over a quart of it's slurpy good beefy (soon to be smoky-beefy) juices into the bottom of your smoker rather than reabsorbing into the meat, and that's not including the slurpy good smoky beef fat that goes along w/it.

It's a no brainer for me.

Tim
 
That's a good point about the pan. I will definitely be using the pan.

That way the meat can be flipped and all sides can be smoked.

The smoker I have is a vertical smoker with NG burner at the bottom that I converted from propane. The smoke box is above that, water bowl, then 3 rakes above that. I can get to about 300° on a cool day. If the wind is blowing and it is cold outside, I have a hard time getting it to 250° though. However, it is the only smoker I could fit on my patio with my grill, so I will have to make do.

Thanks again,
JP
 
It sounds like a good one to me.

225* -250* is all you need for brisket. Any cooler, and you run the risk of creosote condensation.

Tim
 
Deb,
Bear in mind that there is only indirect heat. I smoke it for 2 hrs fat side up (afew juices come out and a little fat renders) then I flip it so that the bottom gets a good dose of smoke for 1 hour. (a few more juices come out). Then I cover with foil and cook for about another 5 hours. (lots of fat renders, lots of juices come out of the meat, but they can't dry out because the foil holds them in.

PM me if that doesn't answer you ?s

Tim
 
I will because I can!
wink.gif


Hey SmokyOky, a few questions on your method...

When you cook your brisket in the foil pan, do you monitor the meat temps at all, or just go by the times you stated?

When it is finished, do you wrap it up in towels?

How long do you let it sit?

Thanks!
 
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