I did my first brisket Sunday (second smoke ever), a 6.5 lb Angus Prime packer in my Masterbuilt Propane 2 door.
Didn't trim any fat, next time I might trim a little off but I can always trim after too.
Applied my Rub - Sugar free with lots of Black Pepper. Wrapped in Saran Wrap for the night
Woke up at 5:00am for the early am pit stop and figured what the heck, lets get this baby rolling. Got the smoker up to 250 with some Hickory Chips / Bits and added the piece of heaven to the 2nd from the top grate.
Smoking away nicely, Need Advice on how to add chips and not loose smoke as when I added them it seems to stop smoking for 20-30 minutes.
Panic attack #1 - The IT hit 170 in less than 4 hours, I was freaking out as it seemed way too fast, Re-inserted the probe and checked with another thermometer and all were very close to each other. Didn't know what to do so I dropped the temp down to 225 and the temp went down a little and then climbed back up after about 30 minutes to 172.
Pulled it out, double wrapped in foil and back in.
Panic #2 - Got to 205 in about 2 more hours, seemed way too fast. Now I'm at 6 hours and was expecting to go to about 9 hours. Still a little nervous so I let it go to 207 and then pulled, wrapped in towels and into the cooler for 2.5 hours.
After the rest, smells awesome
Sliced it up - great flavor, lots of juice, trimmed the fat off the back after these first cuts. Really tasted great, I wouldn't call it tough but it wasn't pull-able or falling apart.
I thought this would be way too much for 4 people but I was only left with 5 slices when done and everyone at work loved those today. I really like the point section - better flavor and juicier due to the additional fat I think, yum yum yum.
Lessons Learned, Questions:
Didn't trim any fat, next time I might trim a little off but I can always trim after too.
Applied my Rub - Sugar free with lots of Black Pepper. Wrapped in Saran Wrap for the night
Woke up at 5:00am for the early am pit stop and figured what the heck, lets get this baby rolling. Got the smoker up to 250 with some Hickory Chips / Bits and added the piece of heaven to the 2nd from the top grate.
Smoking away nicely, Need Advice on how to add chips and not loose smoke as when I added them it seems to stop smoking for 20-30 minutes.
Panic attack #1 - The IT hit 170 in less than 4 hours, I was freaking out as it seemed way too fast, Re-inserted the probe and checked with another thermometer and all were very close to each other. Didn't know what to do so I dropped the temp down to 225 and the temp went down a little and then climbed back up after about 30 minutes to 172.
Pulled it out, double wrapped in foil and back in.
Panic #2 - Got to 205 in about 2 more hours, seemed way too fast. Now I'm at 6 hours and was expecting to go to about 9 hours. Still a little nervous so I let it go to 207 and then pulled, wrapped in towels and into the cooler for 2.5 hours.
After the rest, smells awesome
Sliced it up - great flavor, lots of juice, trimmed the fat off the back after these first cuts. Really tasted great, I wouldn't call it tough but it wasn't pull-able or falling apart.
I thought this would be way too much for 4 people but I was only left with 5 slices when done and everyone at work loved those today. I really like the point section - better flavor and juicier due to the additional fat I think, yum yum yum.
Lessons Learned, Questions:
- Cook the next one at 225 to get a little longer initial cook.
- Pull when it hits 170, foil at 200-205, trust the MES-732 thermometer, I let it go higher both times.
- Anyone have thoughts on why it went to temp so fast? It was a Certified Angus Prime cut of meat so maybe the internal consistency of the meat had something to do with it?
- Maybe do a little fat trimming before the cook?
- Need to figure out how to add more chips to my 10" cast iron chip pan and keep the smoke going. If I put a couple pieces in the stock chip pan below the cast iron one they will start to smoke fast as it is closer to the flame.
- I need to do a larger brisket next time (cut in half due to the smoker size) as my family is a bunch of pigs :).
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