I attempted my first brisket the other night. It turned out pretty good, but not without some stress during the cooking.
I was using a Masterbuilt propane vertical smoker and was smoking a 5.25 lb brisket. I put the soaked wood chips in a small cast iron skillet in the bottom instead of putting the chips directly on the burner. It did not produce as much smoke as I was expecting.
After reading many posts, I decided I would smoke it in a pan until it got to 170,then put it on the rack until 200, and then put it in a cooler for about an hour. Well, after it got to 170 I took it out of the pan and put it on the rack. But the temp proceeded to drop to about 145. I thought my thermometer might be wrong but I used another one it was the same. After cooking it for about an hour that way the temp did not rise very much. So I was starting to panic. I put it back in the pan and covered it with foil to see it that helped. It starting rising again and I ended up taking it out at 195 deg and let it rest on the counter for about 30 min.
I told my wife that there was about a 25% chance that it would be good and to be prepared to order a pizza. But I cut into it and it turned out great. Although a little on the dry side but not too dry.
Any tips on it not being so dry next time.
Thanks to all the threads already out there, they helped a lot.
Here are a few pics.
I was using a Masterbuilt propane vertical smoker and was smoking a 5.25 lb brisket. I put the soaked wood chips in a small cast iron skillet in the bottom instead of putting the chips directly on the burner. It did not produce as much smoke as I was expecting.
After reading many posts, I decided I would smoke it in a pan until it got to 170,then put it on the rack until 200, and then put it in a cooler for about an hour. Well, after it got to 170 I took it out of the pan and put it on the rack. But the temp proceeded to drop to about 145. I thought my thermometer might be wrong but I used another one it was the same. After cooking it for about an hour that way the temp did not rise very much. So I was starting to panic. I put it back in the pan and covered it with foil to see it that helped. It starting rising again and I ended up taking it out at 195 deg and let it rest on the counter for about 30 min.
I told my wife that there was about a 25% chance that it would be good and to be prepared to order a pizza. But I cut into it and it turned out great. Although a little on the dry side but not too dry.
Any tips on it not being so dry next time.
Thanks to all the threads already out there, they helped a lot.
Here are a few pics.
