It has been a minute but I am back with a brisket!

[motown45]

Put this guy in the fridge last night. Goes on the smoker at midnight tonight. First time doing a brisket on an Akorn with charcoal and wood chunks. Wish me luck!

 

[JLeonard]

Shoot, I'm in for the finish!

Jim

 

[JLinza]

I'm in... good luck

 

[motown45]

Question for all. I am really worried about having to add heat later in the night so I decided to go with this minion method. Here is what I have stacked on the sides and will put a whold chimney of lit coals in the middle tonight. Does this look okay? Too much? Too little?

 

[motown45]

Shoot, I'm in for the finish!

Jim

What do you think about the amount of charcoal on my method below? Too much or too little?

 

[BigW.]

Do you have an therm with a low temp alarm in case fire goes out/cools down in the middle of the night?

 

[JLeonard]

What do you think about the amount of charcoal on my method below? Too much or too little?

I am unsure of your cooker. I'll let more knowledgeable folks weigh in.

Jim

 

[motown45]

Do you have an therm with a low temp alarm in case fire goes out/cools down in the middle of the night?

Yes. I run probes for ambient and will run one from the flat and one from the point so I can monitor. This smoker has a ceramic plate that goes above the coals to disperse the heat evenly. I will have a pan underneath for drippings and moisture. I am going to inject beef broth tonight about an hour before I put it on. I just worry that either its going to run too hot because I put too much charcoal in there or it will run out and then I have to move everything to get to the coals! LOL!

 

[motown45]

I am unsure of your cooker. I'll let more knowledgeable folks weigh in.

Jim

It is a poor man's green egg. LOL!

 

[tallbm]

Yes. I run probes for ambient and will run one from the flat and one from the point so I can monitor. This smoker has a ceramic plate that goes above the coals to disperse the heat evenly. I will have a pan underneath for drippings and moisture. I am going to inject beef broth tonight about an hour before I put it on. I just worry that either its going to run too hot because I put too much charcoal in there or it will run out and then I have to move everything to get to the coals! LOL!

Hi there and welcome!
As long as it is not burning the brisket, it's ok if it runs hot. Brisket is one of those cuts that doesn't care about the temp so you should be ok.... as long as you aren't burning it hahahaha :D

 

[mike243]

Most folks make a gap in the charcoal and light 1 end, if you dump a basket of lit in the middle it's all going to go up at the same time. Most of the time I see folks making 3 rows of charcoal with wood set on it in spots. good luck.

 

[mike243]

charcoal minion method without basket - Bing

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[motown45]

Well the beast is on at 11:45 and here is hoping for a good night of smoking! Had a little tree frog come up and see what I was cooking!

 

[motown45]

Three hours in and hit the stall. Wrapping and sitting her for the night. Happy Fourth to everyone and see you all in a few hours!

 

[motown45]

12.5 hrs later, took her off at 197 degrees and having her rest in the cooler until the party this afternooon. Will post sliced picks later!

 

[motown45]

Well here is the final product. I was a little disappointed in how it came out. I will say that everyone loved it and there was none left. I only got to eat what I call the pitmaster privilege cut as I set it out to be served. Felt it was a little dry and didn't get the bark I wanted. I definitely will do some things differently next time. Lower temps and not rest it as long as I did (3.5 hrs in the cooler). At the end of the day, flavor was great, family and friends ate all of it, and it's the Fourth of July in the greatest damn country in the world!

 

[jcam222]

Flavor great and all were happy is a win!! Most of us are our own harshest critics.

 

[tallbm]

View attachment 699898

View attachment 699899

Well here is the final product. I was a little disappointed in how it came out. I will say that everyone loved it and there was none left. I only got to eat what I call the pitmaster privilege cut as I set it out to be served. Felt it was a little dry and didn't get the bark I wanted. I definitely will do some things differently next time. Lower temps and not rest it as long as I did (3.5 hrs in the cooler). At the end of the day, flavor was great, family and friends ate all of it, and it's the Fourth of July in the greatest damn country in the world!

It still seems like a success!

You pulled at 197F but was that in the flat and did you check for tenderness? The thickest yet center most portion of the FLAT muscle is where the temp probe should go. If you temp the thick point muscle it will lie to you always. It's always hotter and tender well before the flat. The flat is the problem child and the thing to check for tenderness.

A brisket is only done when it is tender, never by time or temp.
A dry and not so tender brisket is a sign of being undercooked... yep undercooked.
A dry and crumbly or overly crusty brisket is overcooked. My guess from what you describe (pulling at 197F) and looking at the pics. is that your brisket was undercooked.

Finally, you will read where a ton of people mention things like "wrap at 165F" BUT they fail to explain important things.
Like the reason they wrap is to speed up the cook by forcing through the stall. This doesn't make the brisket taste any better it does the opposite and is done to simply speeds things up.
They also don't mention that when a brisket stalls around 165F it may sit there for a couple of hours. They don't say "after 2-3 hours at 165F while in the stall, wrap the brisket". Wrapping right at 165F vs 2 hours of a stalled brisket at 165F are a night and day difference that people so not mention or often do not undrestand.

I always suggest that if people want or need to wrap a brisket to do so around 180F. This will give you bark, more amazing BBQ flavor, and avoid the dreaded roast beef flavor issue.
I don't even wrap my briskets at all because I find the flavor and bark to be superior vs any wrap method I ever tried.
I just simply plan the time it will take to stall be done because to me flavor is a million times more important than wrapping to speed up through the stall.
Also wrapping too early will result in a roast beef flavor vs a smoked BBQ flavor and as you noticed, little or less bark.

I have a feeling that you can drastically improve your next attempt by just putting the probe in the proper spot of the flat muscle, using the meat temp to check for tenderness (at 198-200F stab all over with a wooden kabob skewer) and keep letting the internal temp rise until it probes tender ALL OVER (no resistance), and finally wrapping well after 165F.
A brisket won't care what temp you cook it at but it will matter if you change the other 3 things just mentioned.

We all go through this with a brisket. Keep at it and soon you will be nailing it! :D

 

[motown45]

It still seems like a success!

You pulled at 197F but was that in the flat and did you check for tenderness? The thickest yet center most portion of the FLAT muscle is where the temp probe should go. If you temp the thick point muscle it will lie to you always. It's always hotter and tender well before the flat. The flat is the problem child and the thing to check for tenderness.

A brisket is only done when it is tender, never by time or temp.
A dry and not so tender brisket is a sign of being undercooked... yep undercooked.
A dry and crumbly or overly crusty brisket is overcooked. My guess from what you describe (pulling at 197F) and looking at the pics. is that your brisket was undercooked.

Finally, you will read where a ton of people mention things like "wrap at 165F" BUT they fail to explain important things.
Like the reason they wrap is to speed up the cook by forcing through the stall. This doesn't make the brisket taste any better it does the opposite and is done to simply speeds things up.
They also don't mention that when a brisket stalls around 165F it may sit there for a couple of hours. They don't say "after 2-3 hours at 165F while in the stall, wrap the brisket". Wrapping right at 165F vs 2 hours of a stalled brisket at 165F are a night and day difference that people so not mention or often do not undrestand.

I always suggest that if people want or need to wrap a brisket to do so around 180F. This will give you bark, more amazing BBQ flavor, and avoid the dreaded roast beef flavor issue.
I don't even wrap my briskets at all because I find the flavor and bark to be superior vs any wrap method I ever tried.
I just simply plan the time it will take to stall be done because to me flavor is a million times more important than wrapping to speed up through the stall.
Also wrapping too early will result in a roast beef flavor vs a smoked BBQ flavor and as you noticed, little or less bark.

I have a feeling that you can drastically improve your next attempt by just putting the probe in the proper spot of the flat muscle, using the meat temp to check for tenderness (at 198-200F stab all over with a wooden kabob skewer) and keep letting the internal temp rise until it probes tender ALL OVER (no resistance), and finally wrapping well after 165F.
A brisket won't care what temp you cook it at but it will matter if you change the other 3 things just mentioned.

We all go through this with a brisket. Keep at it and soon you will be nailing it! :D

I appreciate the feedback! I had one probe in the point reading 165 and the flat probe was 167. That was when I wrapped at 3am. When I checked at 8am the temps had only jumped to 172 and 170 respectively. Which made me think along the lines of what you are saying and don't wrap it so soon due to the length of the stall. One question i have for you, if you don't wrap, do you mop or spritz every hour or do you just let it go? I was mopping every hour until it his those temps and I wrapped.

 

[tallbm]

I appreciate the feedback! I had one probe in the point reading 165 and the flat probe was 167. That was when I wrapped at 3am. When I checked at 8am the temps had only jumped to 172 and 170 respectively. Which made me think along the lines of what you are saying and don't wrap it so soon due to the length of the stall. One question i have for you, if you don't wrap, do you mop or spritz every hour or do you just let it go? I was mopping every hour until it his those temps and I wrapped.

I don't mop or spritz or anything, all of that is not needed for this cut of meat. I just let it roll unwrapped the whole team but my smoker can allow that.
My smoker is an MES40 so it is amazing at keeping moisture in. I never need to have water in a pan, or add any liquid for most cuts. The exception would be for something that is leaner like a chuck.
With something like a chuck (or a brisket flat only) I smoke unwrapped until about 180-190F. Basically I go as long as I can go before it starts to show signs of drying. In these case I add a couple ounces of water and wrap tightly in foil.

There's a saying that goes "if you're lookin your not cookin".
I believe that mopping, spritzing, and all of that is way more myth and legend than being useful. I could see mopping towards the end if you want a wet BBQ item but no need to do that very much at all.
With your smoker not being as moisture tight as mine you may still want to paper wrap but waiting until way later in the smoker would definitely help :D