LET'S TALK BRISKET!!

[Preacher Man]

I'm pretty new to smoking and have learned a ton from this forum. 2 weeks ago I found a Gen1 MES30 for $50 on Craigslist (used once). I really wanted to do a brisket in it (not my first brisket ever...but I've never done a good one). I read every word of this thread earlier in the week - great stuff!

I started at 3 am - named my brisket "Genesis" (for being my first in the MES30). She was a massive 17.88 lbs packer.
To make it fit, I separated the point and flat. I rubbed her with SPOG and placed the point fat side up on the top shelf, and the flat fat side down on the lower rack.
One probe of my Maverick 733 was on the very top rack to measure smoker temp, and the other in the thickest part of the flat.
My target temp to smoke was 230°, but it actually averaged out lower than that. I had a little trouble at first getting the temp evened out, but I never had any spikes one way or another.
I smoked it with oak pellets with from my 12" AMZNPTS until 12:30 pm when I wrapped the flat in pink butcher paper. I wanted a thicker bark on the point for burnt tips so I waited until 3pm to wrap the point.
I pulled it at 5:23 pm after a bamboo skewer went through it like a hot knife through butter. I'll include my temperature chart for everyone to see.

After letting it rest on my counter for a little over an hour, I sliced it at 6:35 pm. It was juicy. It was delicious. It was tender. A pencil thick slice held up under it's own weight, then easily pulled apart with a very light pull. It didn't have a smoke ring, but no matter - the oak tasted great on it.

And then as it started cooling off it quickly got dryer and dryer and dryer. Any ideas why that happened?

And is that a second stall that happened around 2:30pm when it went from 194-189?

 

[oldsmokerdude]

Welcome to the forum preacher man!!

As far as drying out goes, it looks like you sliced the whole flat at the same time? If so, that will definitely dry out the meat; only slice what you need and leave the rest intact. But regardless, the meat is at it's peak soon as it comes out of the cooker and starts to degrade in tenderness (slightly) and juiciness (more noticeable) immediately. This process is accelerated by slicing the meat.

That said, the brisket looks pretty amazing to me! Nicely done.

 

[meatallica]

Nice brisky Preacher!

 

[ab canuck]

Nice looking brisket Preacher. Like.

 

[Preacher Man]

Thanks for the compliments, fellas.

Is the brisket getting dry as it cools a fairly regular thing for most guys on here?

Also, what about that dip in temp at 2:30 pm on the graph? Should I have pulled it then, or was that a second stall (never heard of that), or just some weird thing that I should shrug my shoulders at?

 

[gnarlykaw]

Not to hijack the conversation from ya preacher, but I wanted to post up my brisket from this morning...
Newer smoker to me, OJH. Im coming from electric SH. the brisket was 7.98lb, and my plan was to go HOT! average temp was 255, and I pulled it at 174, and placed it in a pan, and covered it, and readjusted the probe. if i can figure out how to upload the graph, i will, but had a pretty quick spike in temp. at one point it was 1/10th of a degree a minute! it stabled out a bit, but still was moving pretty quick. it was done in about 6 hours! 194 was the magic number for this piece, and i must have stabbed it 20 times, cuz i couldn't believe it! pulled the pan, and left it on the counter for a couple of hours, while i waited to finish up the Mac&cheese. The smoke ring was ok, and it was DONE! it was juicy, tender, and my family ALL agreed it was perfect! I did the higher temp due to I wanted it done by dinner. well, dinner turned into a big lunch instead!

 

[theyankeesmoker]

Preacher Man , looks like you nailed it. To oldsmokerdude point, you only cut what you need. My first brisket was nice and juicy, I sliced the whole thing, and it got as dry as the Sahara after a few hours. Never did that again and it's been juicy even after a few days.

Never heard of a second stall. Did it get colder? Get windy? Could be the elements