Okay, I thought I would post to see if any of you have had similar experiences with Brisket. This is the second time I have used my MES 30. I bought a 4lb Flat Brisket and from what I had read in these forums, they generally take about 1.5 to 2 hours per pound. The thing took close to 12 hours to reach an IT of 190 degrees! Here is how I prepped it and smoked it:
- Brisket had mustard/dry rub applied 24 hours prior to smoking. Left the 1/4 inch of fat on the bottom and inserted some slivers of garlic clove into the fat side.
- Smoking day 6AM - Brought smoker up to temp of 230 degrees with a water pan of hot water loaded. I have verifed that the temperature is fairly accurate with an external redi-check thermometer.
- Meat went on at 6:45AM.
- I decided not to spritz or foil on this smoke. I just kept the smoker closed and let it go. The only time I opened the door was a few hours in to insert a temp probe into the meat. I know a lot of people foil at around 165 degrees but I generally like the texture of unfoiled meat.
- I checked the accuracy of my meat probe with an instant read thermometer to make sure that I was getting a good reading