Newbie Brisket Question

[demosthenes9]

Couple of points.  First, I'd have to disagree on thoughts that the cooking temps were too high.  Some people in competition cook at 350 degrees or even higher, even with brisket.  225 is a preference for many, but higher temps work just fine (and many others prefer them).

This might also be a good time to talk about the difference between temperature and heat.  While a cooking chamber may be at 250 degrees, some spots will be "hotter" than others due to the thermal dynamics within the smoker.  Think about this, if your oven is 250 degrees, you can stick your hand into it and hold it there for 3 or 4 seconds with no problems.  When you take your hand out, you are fine.    But, if you reach in and grab the oven rack which is also 250 degrees, you'll burn your hand instantly.   How could that be given that the air and the rack are both 250 degrees ?  It's because the air is less efficient at conducting (transferring) heat.

You had your water pan in the WSM. That acts as a heat shield/baffle.  Anything placed above it will be cooked via "indirect" heat.   But, there's a gap between the edge of the water pan and the sides of the WSM.   Looking at the pics, it appears that the part of the brisket that got crispy was the part near the outer edge of the rack.  This would have been due to that part being in "direct" heat as opposed to "indirect" heat.   Next time, I'd keep the brisket centered on the rack and if you want to throw chicken on, put the pieces along the outer edge ringing the brisket.

WRT smoke flavor.  Meat absorbs smoke best at cooler temps.   Looking at your fire, I'd wager that the wood didn't start smoking until well into the process as the 4 visible pieces are near the outer edge of your charcoal ring.  By the time you started putting out smoke, the brisket had reach a temp where smoke absorption would have been much slower.  Solution is to have some wood smoking before you even put the brisket on.

 

[bryce]

Thank you for the feedback guys, I'm getting closer but still learning.

I will try to keep the meat more centered. That's a good tip. I did push a couple chunks of wood closer than what was in the picture.  Thank you for the thoughts on heat vs temperature.

The middle was pretty good. In fact, it's all gone. It was moist and had good texture. Still some smoke flavor but prefer more.

Ribs next for me.

Bryce

 

[demosthenes9]

 
Thank you for the feedback guys, I'm getting closer but still learning.

I will try to keep the meat more centered. That's a good tip. I did push a couple chunks of wood closer than what was in the picture.  Thank you for the thoughts on heat vs temperature.

The middle was pretty good. In fact, it's all gone. It was moist and had good texture. Still some smoke flavor but prefer more.

Ribs next for me.

Bryce

Funny this is Bryce, with BBQ, you'll always be learning.    Learning and perfecting, it never stops 

.   I'm sure your next brisket will be better.    BTW< how long did the brisket sit out before you put it on the WSM ?   Was it still real cold like almost right from the fridge?  Or was it closer to room temp ?

 

[bryce]

I would agree Bryce,

I've done a few briskets on my WSM and they have come out well. I stress to keep the temp below 275 at all times, and lifting the lid will cause spikes.  The lack of smoke ring on your meat seems to indicate too much heat, low and slow at all times.  Your meat may have taken on too much heat before absorbing smoke, also could cause dryness and toughness.  Get a pork shoulder and start experimenting with leaving it alone!  Happy smoking

Mike

Funny this is Bryce, with BBQ, you'll always be learning.    Learning and perfecting, it never stops  :biggrin: .   I'm sure your next brisket will be better.    BTW

 

[gary s]

Since the title is Newbie Brisket Question her are some threads I posted on Brisket  May help 

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/...r-the-misconception-of-the-1-to-1-5-hour-rule

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/...st-on-misconception-of-the-1-to-1-5-hour-rule

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/174019/east-texas-style-brisket-ribs

Gary

 

[bryce]

Thank you Gary. I'll read through these today.

Thanks for taking the time to post these. I'm certain there's helpful information in them.

 

[gary s]

Your quite welcome. 

 

[timberjet]

I'm going to go with an over trimmed brisket. They must have had a over achiever cutting meat that day. Or just a lean brisket. But that still does not explain the bad tasting bark. You used hickory and cherry if I recall correctly? Hickory can be a little bit much for beef. Even so normally cherry imparts a very red color to the meat and I am not seeing that. Are you just putting your wood on top of the coals? If so next time try and mix them in at different levels more evenly throughout the basket. I am sort of at a loss though as you seemed to have done everything right. You know, sometimes you just get a bad hunk of meat. Still, I don't get it. It is very normal for WSM's and Weber kettles to get the sticky lid thing. I almost have to pry my kettle lid off with a crowbar some times. I think your smoker is getting broken in now and should start running better for you so maybe you won't have to use that steam generator in there. I really believe steam in the smoker caused some of the problems. It looks like the meat my have been pressure cooked in there. Well, I bet next time it will turn out awesome. Sometimes you can do everything right and still not get the best result. The wind might have played hell with your temps. Maybe you might need to come up with a windbreak of some kind for days like that.

 

[timberjet]

By the way Gary has the best Brisket tutorials around if you ask me. He has done Brisket since I was in diapers and I am 47.

 

[bryce]

Definitely helpful information and brings further clarity to the brisket smoking process. I feel confident I'll be able to pull out off on my next one after reading your links.

Have a good day Gary.

Bryce

 

[bryce]

I'm going to go with an over trimmed brisket. They must have had a over achiever cutting meat that day. Or just a lean brisket. But that still does not explain the bad tasting bark. You used hickory and cherry if I recall correctly? Hickory can be a little bit much for beef. Even so normally cherry imparts a very red color to the meat and I am not seeing that. Are you just putting your wood on top of the coals? If so next time try and mix them in at different levels more evenly throughout the basket. I am sort of at a loss though as you seemed to have done everything right. You know, sometimes you just get a bad hunk of meat. Still, I don't get it. It is very normal for WSM's and Weber kettles to get the sticky lid thing. I almost have to pry my kettle lid off with a crowbar some times. I think your smoker is getting broken in now and should start running better for you so maybe you won't have to use that steam generator in there. I really believe steam in the smoker caused some of the problems. It looks like the meat my have been pressure cooked in there. Well, I bet next time it will turn out awesome. Sometimes you can do everything right and still not get the best result. The wind might have played hell with your temps. Maybe you might need to come up with a windbreak of some kind for days like that.

The color and lack of smoke flavor really surprised me. I did just lay the wood chunks on top and will bury them next time.

Yes I'm at a bit of a loss as well.

Timberjet what do you mean by the steam generator?

Thank you for your feedback.

Bryce

 

[timberjet]

The color and lack of smoke flavor really surprised me. I did just lay the wood chunks on top and will bury them next time.

Yes I'm at a bit of a loss as well.

Timberjet what do you mean by the steam generator?

Thank you for your feedback.

Bryce

Water pan, Boiling water, steam.

 

[dukeburger]

Timberjet what do you mean by the steam generator?

 

The water pan. Assuming it's full of water.

 

[timberjet]

Your smoker was running hot for whatever reason and I am leaning toward too much moisture in the smoker. You may have pressure cooked that brisket to some degree. Also wet smoke residue will taste bad. Kind of like a numbing of the tounge and a bad aftertaste.

 

[bryce]

Water pan, Boiling water, steam.

Oh OK. I didn't have water in the pan.

Yes I think it was a lean piece of meat. Not sure what grade either.

 

[timberjet]

 
2.5 hrs in and decided to install the meat probe. I'm at 156 IT so she's cooking pretty fast. Unfortunately I've been between 250 and 260 smoker temp instead of the 240 I wanted (not sure how to get this smoker down low even with all bottom vents closed when full of charcoal.)

Anyhow, decided to flip it so fat cap down now.

brisket 11.jpg

• bryce
• Apr 11, 2015

Still smoking with hickory and cherry. Will probably wrap around 170 IT since it hasn't had much smoke on it yet due to the quick IT increase.

PS, should I wrap fat cap up or down?

Fat cap up to baste the meat and keep it moist as it cooks. You have the pan in there as a heat deflector so fat cap up. I think we might be right that brisket does not have much marbling to it at all.

 

[timberjet]

Still doesn't explain the bad flavor. You just used salt and pepper it looks like. Right? And injection of course.

 

[timberjet]

 
Your smoker was running hot for whatever reason and I am leaning toward too much moisture in the smoker. You may have pressure cooked that brisket to some degree. Also wet smoke residue will taste bad. Kind of like a numbing of the tounge and a bad aftertaste.

Ok we ruled that out.

 

[bryce]

The flavor wasn't bad it just didn't have enough so it was kind of bland.

Used equal portions of SPOG but only lightly... Not real thick. Injected with Swanson's better broth. Then hickory and cherry wood.

No water in the pan but I definitely need to clean it. Then put foil over it.

I think it boils down to a crappy piece of meat and I ran a little too hot too soon.

Thanks for helping.

 

[timberjet]

Maybe more wood next time? More smoke. Salt and pepper or spog is all I do to beef and it's always good. I like stuff really smoky myself. It's a process. You will get the hang of it all Bryce. Even selecting meat which can be pretty tricky.