New Hell Bender smoker.

[rbnice1]

Pork butt cook number 2!
Pretty small butt but i was busy all week and couldnt get in to grab a brisket. Kinda glad I didnt.
Im still having issues getting it stable. I open it up a little and it goes way up and I close it down and it gors way down. I really need to modify the door so I have better control of fresh air vs combustion air. IE air from top/middle/bottom entering the burn chamber. That said it wasnt bad minus the mis-step on my part for not moving the coals around after the fire up and just throwing wood on top. Its done and currently resting till it goes in the fridge tonight then will get pulled in the morning. So final pics wont be till tomorrow.

 

[rbnice1]

Turned out great! To me the same as last time.

 

[rbnice1]

This weeks protein of choice!

 

[rbnice1]

I have to say, this was the stangest brisket I have ever trimmed. It had super thick hard fat seams places I have never seen before and the shape was weird. It was 17 pounds. I bet I trimmed 4 pounds of fat off it, and not pictured 3.5 pounds of meat/fat that I will grind later.

 

[rbnice1]

so this cook was a big odd do to some odd temps, but I added a couple holes on the door to try to make it more controllable. While it was more controllable the smoke was a bit heavier then I like. That said even tho the brisket took crazy trimming it was very good. lol.

I think I have a few things I want to try out next. But I want to think on them a bit more.

 

[rbnice1]

So running a second brisket today. It looked much better then the last.

 

[rbnice1]

This time I decided to try smaller wood and different configurations to see if I could get more even temps with smaller spikes and better smoke.
I think I am finally dialing it in. Smoke looks great very light, and worse temp spike was 290F. I am adding a small chunk of wood every 30 minutes. I still cant believe how hot this smoker runs with as little fire as I am running. In this pic the smoker is at 245F. I am running the back vent 1/2 open, then front vent 3/4 open, the door top vents open, and the stack damper 2/3 open.

 

[rbnice1]

Just pulled it. Probed tender. We will see in 3-4 hours how it turned out. My original plan was going to be to cook it yesterday and let it rest over night.(ohh and not have to wake up at 4am. lol) But work interfered.
This cook was much better then last week. I still need some mroe work but I cant wait till we cut this up.

Here was the cook log. The big dips were spritz's. Till I wrapped at 5hours. The only big spike I could have actually arrested if I shut it down some but I wanted to see how it did and honestly as short as that spike was im ok with it.

 

[rbnice1]

Ok so the cook went fantastic...... Other then pulling it a bit early the smoker performed great. That said the brisket was bad... not cant eat bad, but the flat was tough and dry. Which was odd since normally its dry but super tender or tough but juicy.

I did go ahead and cut it all up and split it into 3 large tupperwares. I split each to 1/3 lean, 1/3 middle, 1/3 point,
I was mopping about it all day bummed because the cook went so good.

So I took 1 of the tupperwares out of the fridge and put the contents into a vacuum bag along with a table spoon of smoked wagu tallow.

Set the sous vide at 185 and let it go for 3 hours. Again this was just an experiment since the results were not great.

Well let me say it was amazing. My kid tested a piece and didnt believe it was the same brisket as yesterday. I am now reheating the other 2 tupperwares worth to then freeze for the parents!

 

[tallbm]

Ok so the cook went fantastic...... Other then pulling it a bit early the smoker performed great. That said the brisket was bad... not cant eat bad, but the flat was tough and dry. Which was odd since normally its dry but super tender or tough but juicy.

I did go ahead and cut it all up and split it into 3 large tupperwares. I split each to 1/3 lean, 1/3 middle, 1/3 point,
I was mopping about it all day bummed because the cook went so good.

So I took 1 of the tupperwares out of the fridge and put the contents into a vacuum bag along with a table spoon of smoked wagu tallow.

Set the sous vide at 185 and let it go for 3 hours. Again this was just an experiment since the results were not great.

Well let me say it was amazing. My kid tested a piece and didnt believe it was the same brisket as yesterday. I am now reheating the other 2 tupperwares worth to then freeze for the parents!

Glad to see you got it fixed.

Dry and tough for a brisket = under cooked.
When probing make sure you probe all over, especially the flat because the point will very likely be tender way earlier and is hard to mess up. The point is not a good indicator of tender, the flat is what gives you problems.

I always recommend people put a few temp probes aiming for the thickest yet center most portion of the FLAT muscle, never the point.

When probing by stabbing be sure to stab all over the flat with something like a kabob skewer, especially in the thickest center most area of the flat.

As you have discovered a tough dry flat can be saved simply by cooking more. It is tough and dry because the collagen has not broken down to become juicy goodness and when boken down the meat is tender to not have that invisible tough stuff holding the meat so firmly together :)

Keep it up and you will be nailing em consistently after a while.
Also I would recommend waiting until an internal temp (IT) of the meat of 180F before wrapping and seeing how good it tastes then. I'm interested in what you learn from trying this :)

 

[rbnice1]

My intention was to wait till 180 before the wrap but the outside was looking pretty good and i was concerned about it. I also realized after I pulled it I meant to put it back in flat side toward the fire after the wrap and didnt. Also I did probe the flat in 3 or 4 spots. It felt really loose with no resistance but the results dont lie. It needed another hour or 2.

 

[tallbm]

My intention was to wait till 180 before the wrap but the outside was looking pretty good and i was concerned about it. I also realized after I pulled it I meant to put it back in flat side toward the fire after the wrap and didnt. Also I did probe the flat in 3 or 4 spots. It felt really loose with no resistance but the results dont lie. It needed another hour or 2.

Practice makes perfect. I'm sure the next one will be much better :)

 

[bill1]

...It is tough and dry because the collagen has not broken down to become juicy goodness...

Cook more for more juice always seems a little counter-intuitive to this old hamburger cook but its true and is the secret to pork success!

 

[rbnice1]

Ok so on to the next round of cooks!!!

I took vacation for a long 6 day holiday weekend. I started last weekend with some ribs. They turned out good but ribs are ribs... perfectly cooked for my liking.

 

[rbnice1]

Then the main event! Third or forth? attempt at a brisket! I have to say this smoker was much easier to maintain temps this time. i can only account it to slightly cooler ambient temps and it was overcast all day on both cooks. It wasnt super controlled but well with in what I expect. Some of the spikes I did on purpose and some of the drops were from spritzing.

 

[rbnice1]

I am trying a texas style rub and a hybrid cook based on some other research. It stayed on the smoker till I hit 190f. Then pulled and wrapped. I then would have put it in the oven at 160f, but after testing last week my oven sucks. lol. So I put it in a vac bag and into a cooler with my sous vide at 160f till tomorrow for dinner.

The bark looked really really good. And again the smoker ran fantastic. Was very happy. I wish my trim was better but out of any one eating it I doubt anyone but me would know there was any issue. So here are the pics! I realized this morning when I was ready to do it that I was out of pickles.... I really wanted to try thinned mustard with pickle juice. Maybe next time!

 

[tallbm]

I am trying a texas style rub and a hybrid cook based on some other research. It stayed on the smoker till I hit 190f. Then pulled and wrapped. I then would have put it in the oven at 160f, but after testing last week my oven sucks. lol. So I put it in a vac bag and into a cooler with my sous vide at 160f till tomorrow for dinner.

The bark looked really really good. And again the smoker ran fantastic. Was very happy. I wish my trim was better but out of any one eating it I doubt anyone but me would know there was any issue. So here are the pics! I realized this morning when I was ready to do it that I was out of pickles.... I really wanted to try thinned mustard with pickle juice. Maybe next time!

Looks great to me, how'd it taste and come out in the end?

 

[tbern]

Looks really good, nice job!!

 

[rbnice1]

Looks great to me, how'd it taste and come out in the end?

Dunno its still in the warmer till dinner tonight! :P

 

[rbnice1]

Ok so pulled it out and sliced it up..... Fantastic.. pics do not do it justice. flavor is strong. I was a bit worried about it being pepper heavy but it isnt. its just a bit strong smoke. Tender as hell and moist as much as possible. I think I would pull it a bit sooner for less smoke but other then that awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!