LET'S TALK BRISKET!!

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Please google search "better than sex brisket".
It's a great , easy to follow recipe and steps. My first one following that web page made it seem tooooo easy.
I wanna try the Franklin way next.
Wish me luck.
 
Yes. Has anyone on the board been to Franklins and tried his Brisket?
I wonder how peppery it is. For as much 50/50 he puts on
 
Yes. I have watched all his videos and I receved his book as a gift.
My question is has anyone been there and ate his brisket? Seems like a lot of salt and pepper
 
Well I have been to Franklins, in April, but after waiting an hour left when they told us it would be another 5 hour wait.  As far as how peppery it is that's typical for Central TX and is not unusual. 
 
Hi Folks.  So now we are talking about Franklins.  I don't mean it to sound EXACTLY like this but this thread was not started for Franklins.  I don't even know who he is or why we are discussing him.  This thread was started to help folks produce a good brisket.  There are MANY good techniques, recipes and "how tos" in the thread that CONSISTENTLY produce FINE QUALITY brisket.  Seems some folks are trying to reproduce Franklins brisket without even tasting it.  So because he is "published" he can cook a better brisket than gary s.?  Or oldschoolbbq?  Or etc., etc., etc.  All the contributors to the thread.  Without trying any method or recipe; including Franklins or the other guy....  Mixon?  I don't mean to sound grumpy and if I am out of line I hope a Mod. will feel free to delete this post but the members have gone out of their way to post many methods and recipes on this thread to help folks produce god smoked brisket.  To turn it in to a discussion about these two guys seems a slap in the face to the folks who offered help.  f you want to discuss Franklin, Mixon, or Billy Joe Jim Bob please start another thread and speculate on how they do it.  If you want to produce a quality brisket, start reading.  Keep Smokin!

Danny
 
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Hi Folks.  So now we are talking about Franklins.  I don't mean it to sound EXACTLY like this but this thread was not started for Franklins.  I don't even know who he is or why we are discussing him.  This thread was started to help folks produce a good brisket.  There are MANY good techniques, recipes and "how tos" in the thread that CONSISTENTLY produce FINE QUALITY brisket.  Seems some folks are trying to reproduce Franklins brisket without even tasting it.  So because he is "published" he can cook a better brisket than gary s.?  Or oldschoolbbq?  Or etc., etc., etc.  All the contributors to the thread.  Without trying any method or recipe; including Franklins or the other guy....  Mixon?  I don't mean to sound grumpy and if I am out of line I hope a Mod. will feel free to delete this post but the members have gone out of there way to post many methods and recipes on this thread to help folks produce god smoked brisket.  To turn it in to a discussion about these two guys seems a slap in the face to the folks who offered help.  f you want to discuss Franklin, Mixon, or Billy Joe Jim Bob please start another thread and speculate on how they do it.  If you want to produce a quality brisket, start reading.  Keep Smokin!

Danny
I will be starting the Billy Joe Jim Bob thread shortly.

Just kidding, and this is a good point. You have a good thread going here and there is no need to detour into recreating a specific recipe. I know since this thread was started (which I have read every post) my brisket game has improved.
 
Hello.  Thank you.  I just felt it was being Hijacked.  I think we can all learn from this; old and new.  I don't really care how Franklin is doing it.  I know many of you members are feeding friends and family some FANTASTIC brisket served with care and love.  I feel THAT is what SMF is about.  NOT competition.  The recipes and methods are here for all to see.  Friends, family and good food.  Add good health to that and what else is needed in life?  I am sorry if I sounded grumpy.  Have fun guys.  Keep Smokin!

Danny
 
Effort from many " members " have gone into this thread. Let's keep posts to those that either contribute information or ask questions on member techniques posted, as much as possible. While questions regarding non-member techniques is not prohibited, " Is Franklin's Paper Wrapping technique better than Foiling? "... Let's keep " Personal discussion "  to PM's or discussion in the Chat Room...JJ
 
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I just read through this entire thread.  Having ruined 3 briskets I am pretty sure my main problem is not cooking to doneness, and trying to hit a temperature.

I'm cooking on a pellet cooker, on "smoke" it varies from 180 to 225.  It dumps some pellets, makes a nice amount of smoke and climbs to 225, then idles down to about 180-185 and dumps more pellets.  I've done pork shoulders, pork ribs, beef ribs (finally got those right) and chicken and had good success with all of those.  

My first brisket I used a whole packer.  I didn't really know what I was doing on trimming it, and used a commercial rub.  I smoked it for maybe 4 or 5 hours, and when it wasn't to temp (by a long shot) I cranked up the heat to get it to 190.  Burnt on the bottom, tough and dry.

I tried a flat next, marinated in Moore's Marinade (heavy soy flavor) and used some sort of rub.  It was tough and very salty.  Ick, I gag just thinking about it.

The third one I ordered a prime packer from the local butcher, my wife picked it up and it ended up being a select flat.  I tried a commercial injection (I think it was phosphates) and did a better job cooking, but still to temp and not to doneness.  It was edible, sort of.

Now when I say "brisket" my wife says "don't!"

I want to get to a tender, juicy brisket with a nice crust.  I'm pretty sure I could foil it and get it cooked to done-ness but I want to try just going to completion without foil.  I'm going to mop though, I made a nice mop with vinegar and beer and a little Worcestershire sauce.  That really seemed to help the beef ribs I just made.  My experience with my pellet cooker tells me that it takes longer than I'd expect.  I guess the average temp in my pit is around  200*.  I just cooked an 11.5 pound pork butt, it went on last night about 10:30pm.  Starting at 7am today I spritzed it with apple juice every hour, and put it in a foil pan and sealed it up around 1:00.  It hit 195 and really soft doneness about 5pm.  I might have just slightly over-done it, hope not.  But my point is that my cooker is slow and I'm going to have to be patient.

In terms of getting a while packer cut, I don't have many options where I live.  There are two specialty markets, I'll need to call and see what they have...but I won't have a selection of briskets to choose from.  The local costco only carries flats.  I'm not ready to mail order a prime brisket from Snake River or someplace like that, not enough confidence that I won't turn it into shoe leather!
 
 
I'm cooking on a pellet cooker, on "smoke" it varies from 180 to 225.  It dumps some pellets, makes a nice amount of smoke and climbs to 225, then idles down to about 180-185 and dumps more pellets. 
I think this may be a problem. If your smoker has a setting that is another level higher I would try that. You want to keep a consistent temp, but some variation is normal. But if there is going to be a 20 or 30 degree swing in cooking temp, I would rather see it swing between 220 and 250. 

If it has a next higher setting try that, for the same amount of time and see how it turns out. 
 
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Unfortunately this is a 3 setting machine, the next step up swings between 300 and 350.  At those temperatures it doesn't produce nearly as nice smoke as the pellets are burning hotter.

Is brisket that much more sensitive?  Or is it that the lower temperatures are the concern?  My smoker works really well on pork shoulder and pork ribs...and even beef short ribs.  Maybe those cuts are just that much more forgiving.  I'm going to try and see what I can do, hope I don't ruin another big chunk of meat.

I'd like to upgrade my smoker, in part so I can cook just a little hotter.  It took me 18 hours to do a pork shoulder today.  It came out absolutely great, moist and loads of flavor, but a crazy long time to cook.  This is it at about 12 hours.

I won't go off track and talk about smokers I want to buy or build, other than to say I'd like to upgrade my gear this year.

 
For brisket you want the internal temp to get to 195-200 for at least an hour or so so it will break down the collagen, which is what makes it tender. If the smoker is swinging between 180-220 I don't think it's getting hot enough to get the brisket to that temp. 

What make and  model of smoker do you have? maybe someone here has the same kind and can give you some better advice. 
 
I have a Traeger model 70 with a 3 position switch (smoke, med, high).

I could upgrade the controller with one that has an actual temperature setting, but it's 5 or 6 years old and I hate to spend money on it.  I had to replace the firepot, controller and ignition rod last year...in retrospect that would have been the time to get an adjustable controller.  I don't have any problems getting a pork shoulder to 195 internal (or higher if I screw up), but I hear what you're saying about keeping it hot enough for the collagen to break down.

The pictures earlier in the thread with the grey lines were really helpful.  The last flat I did was like that -- with the distinct grey lines.  I didn't realize what I was looking at.  

I'm certainly going to try again with what I have and see if I can do a better job.  I need to replace my Mavericks remote temp probe as it died recently, thinking about one that will plot temp over time so I can get a better handle on what my pit is doing.
 
The 180-220 swings are ok, safety wise, 200°F smoking on Brisket is not unusual, but it will take quite a bit longer to reach that 190-200 IT compared to smoking at 225 or higher. Since Packers take awhile anyway, the added time may not be pleasant...JJ
 
Hi guys.  THANK YOU  to all the folks who have contributed to this thread!  I sincerely hope we have helped folks.

The temp at which you smoke brisket also has to do with the smoker you have in my opinion.  What and where is the heat source?  The "space" in your smoker; ie. can you do indirect cooking.  Think about the space between heat and grill on a UDS versus bullet.  Can you produce smoke at a certain temp?  I would expect electric smokers to produce a drier heat ( ? ) but folks are getting a good product using all sorts of smokers.  When I was young I did the all night smoke but now I like to cook and eat in the same day.  I use higher temps..  I don't worry to much about 350-375 BUT that works in my smokers.

When I started this thread it was to try to understand WHY so many new smokers were having trouble with brisket.  SO many folks smoke a good brisket with no problem so WHY can't others?  THAT was my question.  HOW do we help the new folks do it?  What are we doing that they are missing?  Well I got no REAL answer.  IF you read the entire thread you start to see a pattern.  With slight variations we ALL follow the SAME METHOD!   Read them again.  Yes, rubs, wrap overnight, inject ( all personal choice )  Nah! Nah! but BASICALLY they are the SAME method.  TWO things jump out at me!  NOT ALWAYS THE CASE BUT 1:  Folks with larger smokers or folks who can effectively use indirect cooking don't worry so much about temp and often smoke brisket at higher temps. 2:  The easy one!  Folks are cooking to temp rather than tenderness.  THAT I feel may be partly our fault.  How many times do we tell folks the opposite?  Cook to internal temp!  NOT TIME!  Brisket is the exception!  NOT time OR IT!  I know you may think I am crazy but if you read the thread again those are the only two things that stand out.  What type of smoker are you using; which dictates the cooking temp ( apparently ) and cook to tenderness.  So what works on an offset may not work on a kettle, bullet, electric, or gas.  So maybe we are not asking the right questions when offering help.  Maybe we need to put folks in touch with folks who have their type smoker to offer advice.  Only conclusions I can come up with.  NOT scientific!  Just my opinion folks.  Keep Smokin!

Danny
 
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