Newbie trying a Brisket

i am sure your brisket will be fine JP. the coloration is from the spices, mine has turned different colors before too.

the name of the shop is lewisville meat market, but i am sure there has to be one simular to it in your neck of the woods. their usually little shops you do not notice till you know where they are. maybe look in the yellow pages under meat or something.

this shop also serves great bbq, pretty cheep too.

keep us posted through-out the day, i am interested in the pork tenderloin with the cherry. i usually smoke mine with pecan, recently i started adding oak. i do not get the opprotunity for many other styles for what ever reason. the place i get my wood from does not stock it.

remember one thing:

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Hi there Jody and good luck with your brisket cook, just remember one of the most important things low n slow , try to keep the cooker as close to 225* as you can and by the way I think buzzard would like some pics :lol: :lol:

buzzard- at our local H.E.B. grocery chain, they have apple wood and cherry wood chips. they also have hickory, pecan, and mesquite chunks.

Welcome JP -
Sorry I'm late - I must've missed your post these all night smoking marathons are a killer! Anyway check out Jeff's smoking ecourse should cover most of what you've been looking for in a good smoke!

Have fun!

large cuts of meat, ie brisket, will hit a plateau at around 140°. it will stay there for a while then rise more. just give it time, and don't raise your smoker temp. you did check the thermometer to see how accurate it is, right? i put mine in boiling water- it should read 212°. also, make sure your thermometer is at grill level.

Welcome to the glorious world of a plateau. All meat will reach a specific temperature where it will stop and just sort of hang out, this is known as the plateau. This is a good thing though, it is during this plateau that the heat energy from the smoker stops heating up the brisket and instead works to break up the connective tissues in the brisket. The longer the meat is in the plateau, the more tender the brisket should ultimately be. This is a normal occurence. The key is to simply plan for it.

That all depends on your smoker and the relative placement of the temp guage. The best is to have a thermometer at "rack level" to give you your most accurate temps. Some smoker thermometers are in the lid or away from the area your actual meat cooks, so perhaps a small oven type thermometer to set on the rack next to the meat would be good so you can see exactly what the rack temps are looking like instead of what the temps in the lid are looking like. Once you learn the variances in rack temps versus what your other thermometer reads, you can adjust your cooking temps accordingly.

Cooking other meats will only make a difference as long as the heat energy from the smoker is not enough to overcome them, but as long as you are able to maintain 225ish, there should not be a problem. As for turning it up a bit to cook faster, the problem here is you are reducing the amount of time your brisket breaks down the connective tissues and you will ultimately have a tough finished product.

You say that the brisket was dry, how long did you let it rest after removing it from the Smoker? The key is to wrap it up and let it sit for at least an hour to allow the juices to redistribute. If you slice it to soon after removing it from the smoker, the juices will all run out and you will end up with an overly dry final product.

My advice, make a night of it. Superbowl is in the late afternoon, so I would start the brisket off around midnight and make an evening of it. Spend the time reading through the old posts here on SMF. If your brisket gets done early, all the better! Wrap it up in foil and then wrap a towel or two around it and drop it into a cooler and cover it with an old blanket or towel or something to help hold the heat inside. You can keep a cooked brisket in a cooler for a couple hours and the longer it sits, the more the juices redistribute and some even think the more tender the brisket will become.

I did my fist brisket, a flat from Walmart, 3 weeks ago on a GOSM Vertical Smoker.. I put it on at 9:30 AM along with a prime rib. We monitored the temperature to try to maintain 225-235 degrees. The winter wether and snow didn't seem to help anything. We tried a marinate on the prime rib that my wife an I decided we would not use the next time (didn't care for the flavor). Anyhow, the prime rib came out after 6 hours. Then I put the thermometer into the brisket and monitored it. It came up to 138 degrees and hung there for what seemed like hours. About 11:00 PM it started to climb again and the snow started falling again. About 12:30 AM it got to 170 degrees. I took it off and wrapped it in foil and put it back in the smoker. Now, being tired and ready for bed, I figured that the brisket wrapped in foil could be finished in the oven and I could get ready for bed; so I brought it in and let the oven finish it. About 2:00 AM the brisket was up to 195 degrees. I took it out of the oven and wrapped it in a towel and placed in a cooler to "rest". I got up at 8:00 AM and took the brisket out of the cooler and sliced it up (it was even still warm). My wife was impressed. We had brisket for breakfast. It came out juicy and fairly tender. Although not as tender as I would of liked, it was not tough by any means. We took the leftovers and froze them in 3 packages for later. My brother and sister in-law came over later and tried some. They thought it was fantastic! Now they want to know when I am going to cook the next one.

JP4LSU -

The temperature hanging happens all the time with brisket and shoulders The "plateau" thing. You just have to start earlier or bare with it if you think it's worth it. Obviously everyone else here thinks it is!
Just gotta love it!

Welcome ddemerath -

So ... when are you doing it again?

Hey there, JP.

Ditto, Deb's comments..................you slipped right past me!

I am amazed at how many great cooks and contributors we have developed on this site now!!!! WOW! You guys and girls are the BEST! Before I can get to it, you've already sent a Newbie on the right path!

What I will say, is that it is unnecessary to "Marinate" a Brisket! A simple injection of Apple Juice (100%) with or without herbs and spices does a fine job. A good Brisket Rub is all the spices you really need. ***See my previous posts on my "Double Rub" technique.

As far as a Mop.......I prefer to Spray! DO NOT use any type of vinegar with Beef........it will dry it out (Pork is OK). Get a good spray bottle (not the $1 cheepo's) fill it half-way with pure Apple Juice a quarter way with cooking oil and the other quarter with Red Wine. That is my personal Brisket spray recipe. After about 3 to 4 hours in the Chamber (otherwise you will wash off that precious Rub), shake the bottle vigorously and give it a good spray approx. every hour or so (or whenever you open the chamber door or lid!).

Good luck, and let us know your results!

Jeff

Jeff -

I never thought to put Red WIne in the spray! I gotta try that!
Thanks

:o

100% Pure Apple Juice (not a juice "coctail") works in 2 ways. It adds a touch of sweetness from the natural fructose and the acid assists in the breakdown of collagen and muscle fiber of the meat. (It is a much weaker acid than vinegar, hence, no drying of the meat). It preforms this function both as an injectable and as as spray. The fructose, when sprayed, assists in the formation of "Bark" on the finished product.

A variety of fruit juices can be injected, especially with Pork. (I'd stick with Apple on Brisket). I prefer to use 100% Pineapple as an injectable on Pork. On my Pork spray, I substitute the Red Wine with Apple Cider Vinegar.

To me, Spraying is more desirable than using a mop, because nothing is touching the meat or rub itself except the ingredient - and it's easier to use.

If you are using a verical smoker with a door thermo - be careful that the probe on the inside of the door is not touching the meat. If it is a decent size vertical, install a second door thermo directly below it, close to the bottom rack. I also purchase inexpensive oven thermo's and hang them on the racks in variable area's of the cooking chamber, so you have a good idea of any hot-spots you may have (and compare them to your door readings) On a horizontal cooker, set them upright on the racks. I use 2 to 4 of them for each smoker I am using.

I hope this helps!

I think you'll like using the Red Wine on Brisket, Debi!

Jeff

PS: JP, please update your profile information for us, so we know a little bit more about you! Thanks!

I will try the apple juice next time. I thought about doing one this weekend but the weatherman is calling for temps around 0 with wind chills at -5 to -20 or so. I think I'll stay in and use the oven! I can always take a package out of the freezer and heat it up.

Jeff -

Just picked up another brisket tonight! Gotta try this.

Hello Jody,

I don't normally inject my briskets and I never rub them with mustard but other than that it sounds like you have a pretty solid plan. Double ditto on the Community coffee, I got 2 pork butts cooking tonight myself. You definitly want to let the brisket get to room temp before you put it on. Just plan on about 1.5 hours per pound plus 1 - 2 hours to rest and everything will be fine.

We've been using mustard on the butts and ribs. Like you said, Jeff, it acts as a great paste to hold the rub. Wonder if there is some other agent to rub on that doesn't have much inherent flavor? Tonto wants to use Worchester Sauce instead of the mustard on the brisket.....any thoughts? Has anyone ever tried this?

I use mustard on my ribs, and I sure didn't mean you shouldn't use it, just that I never have used it.
It is really just a binder to keep the rub on and it gives no difference in the taste as far as I can tell.

edit - Tonto, I have used worchectshire sauce and I have used Italian salad dressing on briskets. Both work fine. I'm sure mustard will work fine too.