Brisket - need feedback

[va_connoisseur]

Greetings Fellow Smokers

I braved the record temps in Northern VA yesterday to smoke a brisket I have had in the freeze for a couple weeks. Thawed it, marinated overnight in Dr. Pepper, added a salt/pepper/cayenne spice run and set it on the WSM at 250. I used a coffee/beer mop.

It was a smaller brisket, 5.5 pounds. I expected a much longer smoke. She was at 190 within 7 hours. Not stall or anything. I ran her fat side down on the grates the entire time and only put her in a pan for 30 minutes at the end to further baste.

While everyone liked the meat, I was disappointed. The smoke ring was small and while moist, I was looking for more flavor. Well, guess it back to the drawing board.

Any suggestions? I typically do fat side up, could that have contributed to the smaller smoke ring?

 

[benswholehogbbq]

Hey Now from a fellow NOVA smoker here in Clifton ( Centreville, really ).

Anyway, if you say it lacked flavor, did you inject and or marinate the brisky ? And in terms of the smallish smoke ring, I gotta' say, 7 hours is a damn quick smoke. No stalls ? Some of us would LOVE to have one smoke that quick, but then again, maybe not.

But really, if the folks you were feeding were happy with it, isn't that the most important thing ? It looks fine. It seems to me that we doing the smoking are often our own worst critics.

 

[fourthwind]

At that temp, I am not suprised it was done in that amount of time.   I often find that smaller flats like that do not come out as good as the larger one's without marinating or injecting.  I like to inject the smaller flats with beef broth mixed with cajun seasonings.   Another method would be to smoke it in a foil pan, and collect the juices after about 4 hours.  Reserve the juices, and pour over the meat after the slicing.  Personally I prefer to smoke fat side up.  

As for the smoke ring, that is a chemical reaction.  You can get great smoke flavor without having a massive ring.  Soaking your wood will help you get a bigger ring, but dont count a big ring as a measure of success.  There are cheater ways of doing this with types of salts, but this is why the KCBS no longer judges meats by smoke rings.

 

[va_connoisseur]

Ben,

I'm right around the corner (or down 28) in Dumfries. I figured I was being hard on myself but I was expecting more "pop".

Fourthwind,

I'm just venting. I am not sure what I was looking for and considering it was scarfed up like free ice in Hell, I shouldn't be mad. LOL. The next time I will keep it lower, around 225.

 

[keithace]

maybe change up the mop?...also did you wait to do the mop? you could have washed off some of the rub...

 

[tnbarbq]

I cook my briskets fat side down,  at 250 +/- ,  and usually come out with a nice deep smoke ring.  I don't use a mop or sauce it at all.  I do use a simple rub and wrap in heavy foil after 4 hours or so, depending on the size.  I have found with my smoker, the fat cap helps insulate the meat from the dry heat from the firebox.   

 

[rbranstner]

My first Brisket was a small flat like you had and it was done in 5.5 hours running at 225 smoker temp. The smaller thinner briskets take far less time. I did inject mine before smoking it and also when I foiled it and there was tons of juice in mine. I used a beef broth, V8 and spices mixture and it was really good. Try a bigger brisket next time or inject it and see if you like it better.