Brisket - how low can you go?

[heislord5]

It's impossible to achieve stick burner flavor on a pellet smoker no matter how long you leave it on.

You may be right. But I think I have options to go lower and slower that might make it possible. If you bring meat to 140 internal and then smoke at 160 "super smoker" setting for 12 or 15 hours before wrapping....I think I may be able to achieve it. Especially if I make a point to do some spritzing to pull in more smoke.

I'm planning to smoke another for Christmas. Will post back if I have success getting optimal smoke flavor on pellet grill.

 

[TNJAKE]

You may be right. But I think I have options to go lower and slower that might make it possible. If you bring meat to 140 internal and then smoke at 160 "super smoker" setting for 12 or 15 hours before wrapping....I think I may be able to achieve it.

 

[noboundaries]

Hardworking brisket is not lazy steak muscle. Brisket is filled with tough connective tissue called collegen that supports the weight and movement of the animal. That collegen must melted by heat over time to make the muscle tender and juicy. If undercooked at a low temp, collegen-filled muscle will taste dry and tough.

Your 17.5 hour initual smoke obviously achieved the melted collegen state. Your proposed second process is going to be one dry and tough Brisket. But hey, you only learn by succeeding and failing. Give your second process a try.

 

[heislord5]

Hardworking brisket is not lazy steak muscle. Brisket is filled with tough connective tissue called collegen that supports the weight and movement of the animal. That collegen must melted by heat over time to make the muscle tender and juicy. If undercooked at a low temp, collegen-filled muscle will taste dry and tough.

Your 17.5 hour initual smoke obviously achieved the melted collegen state. Your proposed second process is going to be one dry and tough Brisket. But hey, you only learn by succeeding and failing. Give your second process a try.

Thanks for the insight. I’ll probably post back how the experimentation goes. I’m seeing some information saying 140 degrees to begin breaking down collagen and other information saying 160. So it will be a good experiment.

 

[801driver]

I have an all electric smoker which does not give me as much smoke flavor as I like with larger chunks of meat like PB for instance. I smoke at 225' for an IT of about 200 to start poking and may have to take it up to 205 or a little more if needed. When done, take it out to rest in a cooler a few hours and pull it. I then put it in a large open foil pan, refire up my cold smoker with more little wood chunks and when they get ready put the pans back in for about 20 min. Not long enough to heat it back up, but long enough to get some additional smoke into it. I then stir that all together and let it equalize in flavor. I slice my brisket leaving space for smoke to penetrate and do the same. Nope will never get a "smoke ring" that is not what it is, but I do not have anyone complain about what I smoke and I do not have to tend it all night to get it to the table.

 

[gmc2003]

Mainly because I'm smoking on a pellet grill and would like to maximize the smoke flavor. While the one I did yesterday was very juicy, very good and had a beautiful smoke ring, it could have used a little more smoke flavor. I want to achieve full "stick burner" flavor so on a pellet grill I think lower and slower will be the trick.

You could also try spritzing your brisket every so often. The moisture will help the smoke adhere to the meat.

Chris

 

[SmokyMose]

I have an all electric smoker which does not give me as much smoke flavor as I like with larger chunks of meat like PB for instance. I smoke at 225' for an IT of about 200 to start poking and may have to take it up to 205 or a little more if needed. When done, take it out to rest in a cooler a few hours and pull it. I then put it in a large open foil pan, refire up my cold smoker with more little wood chunks and when they get ready put the pans back in for about 20 min. Not long enough to heat it back up, but long enough to get some additional smoke into it. I then stir that all together and let it equalize in flavor. I slice my brisket leaving space for smoke to penetrate and do the same. Nope will never get a "smoke ring" that is not what it is, but I do not have anyone complain about what I smoke and I do not have to tend it all night to get it to the table.

Now that's an interesting twist. Theoretically you could just cook it in an oven like that....

 

[Marknmd]

Haha - reminds me of the time I threw a bunch of pecan chunks in my kitchen oven. My wife was out of town, of course. I can't remember what temp I had the oven, but it wasn't that hot - it can be set as low as 150 F. But I had it set hotter than that. Maybe 200? I don't know. Anyway, after an hour or so I smelled smoke, and opened up the oven and it was packed full of smoke - the smoke billowed out into the kitchen. The Pecan wood wasn't on fire, but it was smoking. Fortunately, it's a convection oven with a fan that blows the air outside, so I turned the convection on and lowered the temp and all was well in the end. However, all that smoke took me by surprise because I've put chunks in my smokers for various reasons and I never noticed them smoking. But OTOH, it's already smoky in the smoke chamber, so maybe I just didn't notice? Does this mean I can theoretically smoke something in my kitchen oven? Eh, probably not. Haha. Anyway, the oven wasn't ruined. Actually, after the smoke cleared out, the oven was fine. Didn't even look dirty. Didn't smell bad or anything. Wife never found out. :-)

 

[Marknmd]

I've never had a problem with over-smoked food except once, when I smoked some slices of bacon. Can't remember how long I smoked them, but they were inedible. Other than that - the more smoke, the better!

My usual method is to start the fire, and when it's burning nice, add some (more) heated wood and then put the meat on. Boom. The cook chamber is barely above ambient air temp, but there's plenty of smoke. Some might say "Oh, you can't do that, that's dirty smoke!" but I don't agree that it matters in the end, and it speeds up the cook (to my surprise, I found a moderator on the AR site that does this same thing, so there are at least two of us in this world that does it). I also like to randomly add to the fire the hard fat that didn't render left over from my tallow melting process - or - even some wet slimy gooey fat that I might have laying around. Smokes up nice. Some call that "fat smoke." My target temp for the cooker is 225 F to start. As the cook chamber hits around 175 F, I'll start trying to slow it down a bit until it hits 225 F. I'll stabilize it there with nice clean, thin blue smoke which I'll keep for the rest of the cook. When the meat IT gets to around 150 or so, or otherwise hits the stall, I'll hike the smoker to 275 F or so. This will keep the meat temp progressing nicely once it gets past the stall. 275 F will also give you pull back on the pork ribs which will plump them up, if that's what you're doing.

I like the smoke tube idea for a pellet smoker. You could even get two or three of them.

Good luck

 

[TripleLindy]

Now that's an interesting twist. Theoretically you could just cook it in an oven like that....

I’ve cooked many briskets doing just the opposite: letting the bark form and finishing in the oven. Once the bark has formed and especially if wrapping, there’s no more smoke flavor being added. At that point, heat is heat.

 

[801driver]

Now that's an interesting twist. Theoretically you could just cook it in an oven like that....

Well, I guess that could be done, but I do not think it would be the same as the quite a bit of smoke penetration I get while cooking and the smoky bark I get from the entire smoking process. Only sometimes I like a little more smoke, so add it at the end after pulled or sliced. Most of my meat gets packaged and frozen for meal sized thawing and reheated later so there is time for the added smoke to redistribute. My Smoke-It brand of electric smoker has very little air flow 3/8 hole in the bottom, 1/2 at the top and is sealed very well so I do not think a smoke tray or tube would stay lit. I have opened and added little wood chips during the smoke also at times which helps also.

I feel my method gets some smoke flavor all the way to the middle of the center meat of a large chunk like pork butt after pulling which may not happen with all smokers.

And along your line of thinking, I do frequently mix up a pan of chex mix covered with a coating of butter and seasonings to put in the smoker till it is back crispy again adding smoke, which is similar to your statement. Yep, if enough of us throw out what works for us, hopefully he will find the best way to find what works for him. Thanks to all out here and Merry Christmas.

 

[SmokyMose]

Well, I guess that could be done, but I do not think it would be the same as the quite a bit of smoke penetration I get while cooking and the smoky bark I get from the entire smoking process. Only sometimes I like a little more smoke, so add it at the end after pulled or sliced. Most of my meat gets packaged and frozen for meal sized thawing and reheated later so there is time for the added smoke to redistribute. My Smoke-It brand of electric smoker has very little air flow 3/8 hole in the bottom, 1/2 at the top and is sealed very well so I do not think a smoke tray or tube would stay lit. I have opened and added little wood chips during the smoke also at times which helps also.

I feel my method gets some smoke flavor all the way to the middle of the center meat of a large chunk like pork butt after pulling which may not happen with all smokers.

And along your line of thinking, I do frequently mix up a pan of chex mix covered with a coating of butter and seasonings to put in the smoker till it is back crispy again adding smoke, which is similar to your statement. Yep, if enough of us throw out what works for us, hopefully he will find the best way to find what works for him. Thanks to all out here and Merry Christmas.

Have you thought about mixing a bit of Liquid Smoke with some broth and injecting?
Merry Christmas to you and yours!

 

[801driver]

Not really considered doing that, not sure how I might avoid strong spots and that also sounds like a lot of trouble to go to. Just adding a few little pieces of wood (about 1 oz) in the little heater tray, plugging my smoker back in and when the bitter heavy smoke clears just setting the pan in for about 20 min works well for me.

 

[heislord5]

Have you thought about mixing a bit of Liquid Smoke with some broth and injecting?
Merry Christmas to you and yours!

I've actually been thinking about using liquid smoke as my binder when seasoning.

 

[heislord5]

I’ve cooked many briskets doing just the opposite: letting the bark form and finishing in the oven. Once the bark has formed and especially if wrapping, there’s no more smoke flavor being added. At that point, heat is heat.

There's some disagreement out there that once the bark forms some say it doesn't stop taking on smoke.

 

[DougE]

There's some disagreement out there that once the bark forms some say it doesn't stop taking on smoke.

If you wrap it, it will stop taking on smoke. Bark, no, that won't stop smoke intake.

 

[DougE]

A piece of meat left open on the smoker will absorb smoke until the point that it is inedible.

 

[TripleLindy]

Yep - you guys are correct. Here’s what Meathead has to say on the subject:

Does meat stop taking on smoke?​

There is a popular myth that at some point the meat stops taking on smoke. Sorry, but meat does not have doors that it shuts at some time during a cook. There is a lot of smoke moving through the cooking chamber although sometimes it is not very visible. If the surface is cold or wet, more of it sticks. Usually, late in the cook, the bark gets pretty warm and dry, and by then the coals are not producing a lot of smoke. Smoke bounces off warm dry surfaces so we are fooled into thinking the meat is somehow saturated with smoke. Throw on a log and baste the meat and it will start taking on smoke again. Just don’t baste so often that you wash off the smoke and rub.

 

[DougE]

Yep - you guys are correct. Here’s what Meathead has to say on the subject:

Does meat stop taking on smoke?​

There is a popular myth that at some point the meat stops taking on smoke. Sorry, but meat does not have doors that it shuts at some time during a cook. There is a lot of smoke moving through the cooking chamber although sometimes it is not very visible. If the surface is cold or wet, more of it sticks. Usually, late in the cook, the bark gets pretty warm and dry, and by then the coals are not producing a lot of smoke. Smoke bounces off warm dry surfaces so we are fooled into thinking the meat is somehow saturated with smoke. Throw on a log and baste the meat and it will start taking on smoke again. Just don’t baste so often that you wash off the smoke and rub.

Fact checking what other sites say by what is said here is probably the best way to do it, not the other way around. With the combined knowledge of all the members here on SMF, both past and present, it is the best resource on the net, bar none.

 

[TripleLindy]

Fact checking what other sites say by what is said here is probably the best way to do it, not the other way around. With the combined knowledge of all the members here on SMF, both past and present, it is the best resource on the net, bar none.

I hear you, but I’ll always go with Meathead if I’m in doubt. No offense to all of the great experience that’s on this site, I’m sure, but I’ll roll with the science (Professor Blonder!), proven research methodology and in-depth explanations.