Need advice- Smoking Brisket (Q-View)

[wade]

It can stay wrapped in several layers of foil in the cooler for several hours so don't worry about that. It will still probably be hot when you go to cut it but if not then it can be gently heated again in the oven for a few minutes.

 

[laziebun]

Hit 195 and pull it off!

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• laziebun
• Apr 5, 2015

10 min rest and then into the cooler!

 

[wade]

Hi Laziebun - Just to be certain you are doing the right think with the cooler... You are putting it in the insulated cool box to keep HOT while it rests and not to cool it down... You do not need to let it rest before wrapping it and putting it in the cool box as it is actually resting all the time that it is in there.

 

[dukeburger]

Hit 195 and pull it off!

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• laziebun
• Apr 5, 2015

10 min rest and then into the cooler!

Looks yummy.

Did you check for tenderness or pull at IT....??

Your brisket may not be finished yet!

 

[laziebun]

Hi Laziebun - Just to be certain you are doing the right think with the cooler... You are putting it in the insulated cool box to keep HOT while it rests and not to cool it down... You do not need to let it rest before wrapping it and putting it in the cool box as it is actually resting all the time that it is in there.

Yup in an insulated cooler to keep warm. It's wrapped in two beach towels. I put a prob in to monitor the IT.

 

[laziebun]

Looks yummy.
Did you check for tenderness or pull at IT....??
Your brisket may not be finished yet!

Yup, I pulled it with an IT of 195 and did the toothpick test...felt like hot butter knife into butter to me, I think :|

 

[dukeburger]

Yup, I pulled it with an IT of 195 and did the toothpick test...felt like hot butter knife into butter to me, I think :|

Then you should be golden! Good stuff.

 

[acres87]

Hi Wade, curious, what is the wood of choice to smoke with in UK?

 

[wade]

It really depends on personal preference. We have a lot of our own fruit wood and of course plenty of Oak - however most of the woods that you use in the USA are readily available here from UK importers on the Internet. I tend to use charcoal with wood pellets and my stock wood is either Hickory or Oak. Sometimes I also use Mesquite however you need some robust meat to take the flavour.

 

[acres87]

Laziebun, as many have said, there are a lot of ways to cook a brisket.....some personal observations that do well in competitions, receptions in Montana (tastes can be regional)
1) I hope the McCormick seasoning works for you bought a bunch at a low price and was told it tasted "tinny"
2) I inject the night before with beef bullion and au jus mix, remove very minimal fat and rub with a glorified spg mix of our creation. Smoke to 145-150 F, take off separate point from flat and much of the fat just pulls off, then do points in cubes in our bbq sauce and KC type rub. Rub the flat in KC rub and smoke to 195 as you are. I use aluminum pans to keep smoker cleaner and do use a clean pan when doing the 145 degree cutting. I switched to pans when I caught a weasel licking fat out of my smoker.

 

[acres87]

I had a friend bring a load of pecan and mesquite from Arizona last year, used to love Mesquite but you are correct, so easy to lose the meat in the smoke. I do like the pecan, always was more into hickory. Hope you have a blessed Easter.

 

[laziebun]

Update: the IT in the cooler was at 158F and I didn't feel comfortable getting close to that 140F. So I ended up moving the brisket, aluminum still wrapped into the convectionl oven at 195F. We'll see how it turns out!

 

[timberjet]

I wouldn't be too concerned about that. You have cooked it all the way through so it's all good to go now. You got it through the danger zone.

 

[laziebun]

Well...unfortunately it was pretty dry. Not sure what happened. I'll have to give it another go in the future.

 

[dukeburger]

Might have been the move to the oven? Wait to see what some others think.

Any sliced pics?

 

[rmmurray]

I'm sorry it turned out dry. I would probably side with DukeBurger on this one. Still would like a Qview though.

 

[demosthenes9]

Well...unfortunately it was pretty dry. Not sure what happened. I'll have to give it another go in the future.

Was it dry and tough ?  Or dry and crumbly ?  

 

[laziebun]

I'm sorry it turned out dry. I would probably side with DukeBurger on this one. Still would like a Qview though.

It wasn't in the oven long.

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• laziebun
• Apr 5, 2015

 

[laziebun]

Was it dry and tough ?  Or dry and crumbly ?  

Definitely dry and crumbly.

 

[rmmurray]

Before I do anything, I usually check bearcarver's index page (just search bear's step-by-step) to see if he's done it before and I usually do a variation of his. I've never done a brisket, so I'm sorry that this is now an after thought. The only think I can think of is that when he foiled his brisket, he added about 9 ounces of liquid to it in the foil. That may be why yours ended up dry. You can see his brisket here:
http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/106097/brisket-flat-step-by-step-with-qview