First brisket in my MES

[smokeinalma]

Just finished my first brisket in my MES smoker.  I had (well, still have) an old propane fired one but it never worked very well, or I never figured out how to use it, and the one brisket I did in that was not particularly good.  Not inedible, just not very good.

Apologies in advance for no start to finish pics

3.75# flat which I used a homemade rub on, by which I mean I looked at a bunch of rub recipes online and used those as my guideline to make my own.  Smoked with hickory at 230, light spritzing with apple juice starting when the IT hit 145 (at which point I also stopped adding chips) then foiled at 160 until the brisket hit 195.  I did bump the temp to 250 after foiling despite the recipes not calling for that but dammit, I was getting hungry and it doesn't seem to have affected the finished product negatively.

So here's the brisket after unfoiling following a half hour or so rest.

20170910_195413.jpg

• smokeinalma
• Sep 10, 2017

And a couple of pics of the sliced product.

20170910_195709.jpg

• smokeinalma
• Sep 10, 2017

20170910_195810.jpg

• smokeinalma
• Sep 10, 2017

General observations:

Overall, I think things turned out pretty well.  The rub I made up added just a hint of sweetness and heat but completely let the beef flavor come through.  Texture wise, a few bits on the narrow end of the flat where a tad tough/dry but unless I'm mistaken, that's the burnt ends hence drenching them in sauce.  The center slices had a bit of pull to them but bit through cleanly which I think is the desired texture.  Great beef flavor however the smoke ring wasn't very visible and it did lack that hint of smoke I want.

So, a bit of advice if anyone cares to spare it:  Would either using a 'stronger' wood like mesquite help add a bit of smoke or should I have continued adding chips here and there until the foiling?  Also, after reading a few things on here about overloading the the wood hopper resulting in white, acrid smoke, I did only add a small amount of chips every 45 minutes or so.  Would just adding more chips each time, or more frequently, eliminate the need the smoke longer into the process or use a different wood?

Thanks in advance for any comments, hints or advice all.

 

[tallbm]

 
Just finished my first brisket in my MES smoker.  I had (well, still have) an old propane fired one but it never worked very well, or I never figured out how to use it, and the one brisket I did in that was not particularly good.  Not inedible, just not very good.

Apologies in advance for no start to finish pics

3.75# flat which I used a homemade rub on, by which I mean I looked at a bunch of rub recipes online and used those as my guideline to make my own.  Smoked with hickory at 230, light spritzing with apple juice starting when the IT hit 145 (at which point I also stopped adding chips) then foiled at 160 until the brisket hit 195.  I did bump the temp to 250 after foiling despite the recipes not calling for that but dammit, I was getting hungry and it doesn't seem to have affected the finished product negatively.

So here's the brisket after unfoiling following a half hour or so rest.

20170910_195413.jpg

• smokeinalma
• Sep 10, 2017

And a couple of pics of the sliced product.

20170910_195709.jpg

• smokeinalma
• Sep 10, 2017

20170910_195810.jpg

• smokeinalma
• Sep 10, 2017

General observations:

Overall, I think things turned out pretty well.  The rub I made up added just a hint of sweetness and heat but completely let the beef flavor come through.  Texture wise, a few bits on the narrow end of the flat where a tad tough/dry but unless I'm mistaken, that's the burnt ends hence drenching them in sauce.  The center slices had a bit of pull to them but bit through cleanly which I think is the desired texture.  Great beef flavor however the smoke ring wasn't very visible and it did lack that hint of smoke I want.

So, a bit of advice if anyone cares to spare it:  Would either using a 'stronger' wood like mesquite help add a bit of smoke or should I have continued adding chips here and there until the foiling?  Also, after reading a few things on here about overloading the the wood hopper resulting in white, acrid smoke, I did only add a small amount of chips every 45 minutes or so.  Would just adding more chips each time, or more frequently, eliminate the need the smoke longer into the process or use a different wood?

Thanks in advance for any comments, hints or advice all.

Hi there and welcome!

I think your first attempt was pretty good and as you stated there is some room to learn and grow.

I have just started tackling brisket all on my own recently.  I have helped with many brisket cooks but I am finding that the way I want to do it compared to the way my family does it (whom I helped) are two very different ways so there is plenty for me to learn and I am improving each attempt.

One thing to do on a cut like a brisket is to probe it with a toothpick or temp probe or something and when it slides in with no resistance then the meat is done.  Temp won't let you know it is  done but will indicate to you to start checking.  Only feel let you know when the brisket is done.

Also I would recommend you try and get a minimum of 5-6 hours of smoke on your next brisket before wrapping it.  

For brisket, I am finding that picking the most uniformly thick piece of meat and then trimming the brisket has been a much greater factor for improving my overall brisket than I imagined.  What I am finding is that I had to get over my fear of "losing" meat and simply cut away a large part of the flat that is much thinner than the thickest part of the flat. The idea is to try and keep the flat somewhat uniform in thickness or at least close enough.

If you look at the bottom portion of the brisket below you will see that I trimmed off a large chunk of the flat.  This is because it was thin and I made the cut so that the rest of the flat was almost all uniformly the same thickness.  See the difference in crustyness vs the 2nd picture below.

DSC_0526[1].JPG

• tallbm
• Aug 25, 2017

I should have trimmed the brisket below from the top left side where you it is kind of yellow  down to the bottom left side where it is yellow.  That whole crusty left side would have been trimmed away and the yellow section (starting left and going right) would have been the end of the flat.  KNOW I don't waste that meat I cut away.  I put it in the pan that sits below my brisket that catches the drippings.  The trimmed meat in that pan then braises and is super moist and tender.  This way it never burns up and gets too crusty like the left end of the bisket in the pic below yet no meat is ever wasted! 

DSC_0511[1].JPG

• tallbm
• Aug 12, 2017

I think that is it for the big things I can think of.  I have written up my brisket smoking info/experiences in detail here in case any of it is helpful to you.  I post multiple times in it with my brisket smokes so be sure to follow along for more and more info/details on what has and hasn't worked for me :)

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/266848/100-mesquite-pellet-smoked-brisket-with-qview

Best of luck! :)

 

[Rings Я Us]

Was going to say.. you can run chips and a pellet maze to get a bit more smoke on that.

 

[smokeinalma]

Thanks for the tips guys.  It basically confirmed what I was thinking from people who've got more experience, which is good as it means I'm on the right track.