Doing my first brisket - not hopeful

[jasonvr]

Hunted all over yesterday to even get my hands on a brisket.  First place (Smart 'n Final) had one but it didn't feel right.  5 more grocery stores and found another, but they wanted $70 for a 7lb brisket, so I passed!  Finally got a reasonable 8lb flat at the 7th place.

Seasoned with something I found at Smart 'n Final - Pappys.  Seemed like a reasonable mix of spices

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• jasonvr
• Apr 8, 2017

Recently got an AMNPS for my MES and used it for the first time on this smoke.  It was prefilled with Pitmasters Choice.  After reading so many threads about it going out for people, I was super worried.  Microwaved and stirred the pellets a couple of times to dry them  Used a small kitchen butane torch to light the AMNPS. Got it lit without a problem, let it burn for a while and had a very nice glow to it.  Blew it out and a little puff could get it to relight, so I thought I was doing good.  Heck, even the evening breeze as I walked it to the smoker relit it.  Pulled the chip tray out a bit.  But here's where I think I made a mistake.  I also pulled the loader tub almost all the way out because it didn't seem I was getting much smoke with it in.

Finally got the smoker up to temp and everything loaded in at 1:45am and started to nap on the couch.  Set temperature to try to keep it at about 220, but I think it ended up closer to 205-210 overnight.  Checked a bit later (2:30'ish) and was still getting smoke, so it seemed things were going good.  Then at about 3:45 I woke up and checked it again and smoke was BILLOWING out of the MES.  I opened it up and it was a disaster.  Thick smoke everywhere.  After only 2 hours, 2 entire rows of the AMNPS had been burnt and the third was scorched.  Both rows were still glowing red.

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• jasonvr
• Apr 8, 2017

At that point I just removed it, set it somewhere firesafe and let it burn itself out overnight.  I putt some apple wood into the tube so that I would still have some smoke since it was early on in the cook.  

My wife woke up to exercise at about 5am (she's nuts) and at that point I put some more wood in and inserted the temp probe on my ET-733. Temp read 147.  At that point I figured it was time to actually be in bed instead of the couch, and I knew I had some time and could monitor remotely.

Brisket seemed to stall at about 154 and stayed there quite a while.  At about 9:45, it started to exit the stall.  Temp rose to 156 and I spritzed with apple juice.

Temp finally got to 169 at 3pm and I removed to triple wrap in foil.  Spritzed again with apple juice.  So at this point I am 13:15 into the cook for an 8lb brisket.  Much longer than expected and it's not even done.

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• jasonvr
• Apr 8, 2017

Time is now almost 5, and temp has gotten to 187 (15:15 total cook time)

More updates to come. Plan on pulling it and putting it into a cooler wrapped in towels to rest at about 203 degrees.

 

[b-one]

Hope it turns out,what temp are you currently smoking at? Triple wrap may not be helping either.

 

[jasonvr]

Still trying to keep it in the same temp range (220-225'ish), but without adjusting the temp on the MES, seems to be running hotter (according to my Maverick) after I foiled.  Seems to cycle up to as high as 239 and down to the mid 220's.  But I'm wondering if the probe is touching the foil and it is causing a false high reading

Triple wrap seems OK.  Getting about a 2 degree rise in the foil every 8 minutes on average. It took forever to get to 169 without the foil

 

[jasonvr]

OK, brisket got up to 196 at 6pm.  Tested with tip of my Lavapen and it went in quite easily, so I pulled it from the smoker.  Toweled it and put it into the cooler for an hour.  Temp dropped into the low 180s by then. 

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• jasonvr
• Apr 9, 2017

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• jasonvr
• Apr 9, 2017

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• jasonvr
• Apr 9, 2017

Had a decent amount of foiling juices (you can see them in the bowl).  Meat cut pretty easy and the bark stayed on for the most part.  The remaining fat cap was like flavored butter on the top of the meat.  Just completely melted as you ate it.  Meat did seem to have a lot of smoke flavor, possibly because of the AMNPS mishap in the beginning, but my guests seemed to like it  Everyone took leftovers and I still have a bit over 2 lbs left for myself.  Definitely seemed juicy as I cut it (you can see juices on the cutting board), but I wouldn't necessarily classify the meat as moist.  Not dry, but not dripping

Overall, not the disaster I was envisioning after seeing what happened to the AMNPS and overall I'd say a successful first brisket.

As a side note, I smoked the brisket with the fat cap down, but when I foiled it, it was fat cap up.  Not sure if that did anything specific, but didn't seem to have any negative effects either.

 

[jcbigler]

Looks pretty decent, and a good job for your first brisket.

I would try upping the temp next time to the 250-260 range, I think you'll find that it cooks in a much more reasonable time frame by just turning the temp up 30 or so degrees. And I always smoke with the fat cap up.

 

[SmokinAl]

It sure looks good for your first brisket!

Next up is brisket chili with the leftover piece!

Also next time you may want to get a full packer brisket, they stay much more moist then just the flat.

Al

 

[ab canuck]

Well with all the troubles and concerns you had through your cook, it sure looks like it turned out good for you. I find that I am continually learning every time I am smoking, always tweeking and refining the process until I am happy, then do it again trying to duplicate results. It is always enjoyable when the time permits. Way to go....

 

[mike5051]

Nice job!  That slice looks great!  Could you pull the slices apart easily?

Mike

 

[jasonvr]

 
Nice job!  That slice looks great!  Could you pull the slices apart easily?

Mike

It definitely sliced pretty easy, and each piece could easily be pulled in half by hand if that's what you're talking about

I am guessing I need to get a better slicing knife.  I have a good Wustof carving knife, but I think I need something like this:

 

[mike5051]

That's what I'm talking about.  If the slices hold together, but can be pulled apart easily, the connective tissue has been broken down.  There is a fine line between perfect and fall apart brisket.  I often end in the fall apart category, but it is always still moist and tender.

Mike

 

[chilerelleno]

Looks like it turned out pretty good, good job for your first brisket.

POINT!

 

[disco]

Beautiful Brisket Bro! It looks great!

As for the AMNPS igniting, I used to smoke in an electric smoker (Bradley) and 220 F was about the limit I could cook at without igniting the pellets due to the wide swings in temperature. I had a lot less problems when I put the AMNPS on the top rack near the air vent I put a foil pan under it because it can drip ash. I had practically no more flair ups and the smoke still seemed to circulate well.

Points for a great post with lots of detail!

Disco

 

[sauced]

Great job.....even with your problems. Brisket looks delicious, nice job!

Points

 

[noboundaries]

Excellent thread!  Should help those holding back to not fear the brisket. 

 

[weev]

looks good to me     and  I always find more fault with my food than others do   I always think well if I could just do it just  little better    

I needed to get a better knife also so I read a bunch of reviews and picked this one out 

 
figured I would try it if it was a waste it was cheap enough but I think it works great 

 

[kc5tpy]

Hello.  Looks good to me!  mike5051 is correct.  FINE line.  I have done brisket for years but each one is different.  I follow the same basic steps for each brisket but sometimes it is "slice perfect"; other times it is fall apart.  I firmly belive it is the meat you start with.  I DO NOT  believe spending more for a brisket insures a better quality.  I think it is more "luck of the draw".  IF you find a rancher who only sells 1 breed, fed in exactly the same way, butchered at 16 months old ALWAYS; you may have a chance of a perfect brisket more often.  Supermarket brisket is "iffy".  What breed?  How old??  What fed??  I CAN tell you American beef and British beef tastes different.  American beef if usually fed out with corn.  British beef is fed out with grass OR barley.  A ribeye tastes like a ribeye right?  No it doesn't.  There is movement going on here that says let's butcher beef at 2-3 years old.  Now I would think as I assume most U.S. folks would think that old of an animal wold be tough and "chewy".  I have not got to taste any of this beef but I do see the idea.  The meat is well fed and allowed to develop in flavour.  Think of ageing beef and the difference between spring lamb and mutton.  I do know that if you shoot and eat an older deer the flavour is more intense.  Is that a good thing??

Sorry for the rant.  Just trying to pass on info.  My point was I think it is down to the brisket you get most of the time.  Keep Smokin!

Danny

 

[pumpkinseed]

For needing a better knife, try getting a good sharpener instead.  My MIL's economy set of knives were quite dull. Took my power knife sharpener over and they're so much better.  Reminds me, I should bring it over this weekend.  It has been a while.

I have a chef's choice and it works really well.

 

[jasonvr]

Thanks for the kind words all!  Just had some more leftovers for dinner.  Didn't even warm it up, just ate it cold with my hands.  Still really good :)

I have a feeling I may get asked to do another for my sister-in-law's 40th bday.  But for that I'm going to need a full packer and I have no idea how to get that in an MES30.  I'm guessing I'm going to have to separate the flat from the point.  Time to do some more research!

 

[ynot2k]

 
Thanks for the kind words all!  Just had some more leftovers for dinner.  Didn't even warm it up, just ate it cold with my hands.  Still really good :)

I have a feeling I may get asked to do another for my sister-in-law's 40th bday.  But for that I'm going to need a full packer and I have no idea how to get that in an MES30.  I'm guessing I'm going to have to separate the flat from the point.  Time to do some more research!

It takes mistakes to learn.  Don't expect to make the "perfect" brisket right out of the box.  Took me 6 years to make ONE excellent brisket.  Now I make 15-25 a day.

BBQ is patience.  Relax.

Jeff

Jeff's Texas Style BBQ

Marysville, WA

 

[mneeley490]

Good job!  Since you're in CA, try Cash & Carry for reasonably priced brisket. They sell them as whole packers, but my local one sells Angus brisket for $2.58 lb. They also come on sale quite often.