Newbie: Smoked Brisket With Poor Results

[mayweather]

Hi guys, 

So i smoked some brisket for the first time last weekend with some poor results in my opinion. I had a PID controlling the temp at 225F. Given i did not want to cook a whole brisket i cut the brisket in half and smoked just the point half. My assumption was that given i was only smoking half the brisket that i would be done in 6-7 hours. To my surprise it took me a full 12-13 hours to get this up to 195F temp. I believe i made many mistakes along the way and would like some feedback from experienced people. Below i have outlined the process and appreciate any feedback and advice:

1) Waited for smoker to heat up to 225F. Once up to temp i placed the brisket on the middle rack. I had one large water pan down below to diffuse the burnt pucks and provide moisture. The Pan was large enough to last the entire cook and still be full with water. 
2) Temp cabin probe was at the front of the bottom rack to maintain a steady 225F using the PID. 
3) I let the brisket smoke for a full 3-3.5 hours without touching it. I noticed the PID does take a long time to get the smoker up to temp once the door has been opened. After 3.5 hours i opened the door and sprayed the brisket with apple cider vinegar. 
4) Continued smoking process until brisket internal temp reached 160F. Took out of smoker, wrapped in foil and poured Apple Cider Vinegar over brisket. 
5) Turned smoke off, and left in Bradley smoker with just the oven on until internal temp of Brisket reached 195 degrees.
6) Took out of Bradley and left the brisket wrapped in foil on my kitchen bench top to rest for a full 1 hour
7) Took brisket out, cut in thin slices to serve. 

Now i'm not saying this was a disaster, but it wasn't anything like what I've seen from people on YouTube. The brisket was a bit moist in some parts, but dry in other areas. The meat also had a bitter taste to it, that seemed like it was coming from the apple cider vinegar that i poured into the foil to let it steam until it reached temp. In my opinion this was a mistake as i think drenching the brisket in cider vinegar ruined the taste. The seasoning i used was a mix of salt, pepper, onion powder, mustard powder, and cayenne pepper.

The wood pucks i used were cherry wood. I decided to try this as i had never used cherry before, but there was no smoke ring, and not much of a smokey flavour. 

I appreciate any advice on how i can improve my brisket making process and where i went wrong?

 

[noboundaries]

MW, you hit the nail on the head that vinegar was your problem.  Please, never put vinegar on a brisket again, either in the mop or the wrapping.  Ever.  My stomach did a flip flop when I read that.   

I have used sweet, aged balsamic vinegars on braised brisket, but it was a small amount (1/2 cup) to complement a full bottle of red wine.  Sweet, aged balsamic is a completely different animal than ACV. 

Everything else seemed fine.  Next time, you can add beef broth to the mop and/or wrapping if you are going to wrap at the stall.   

 

[smoking4fun]

Another problem may be that you cut off the point - the flat tends to dry out a lot faster and sooner than the point.  Try smoking the whole thing together next time (and I second the comment about NO VINEGAR ON A BRISKET).  When smoking a brisket, keep it simple.  When I smoke one, I trim it down, toss on some salt and pepper, toss it in the smoker and don't do a single thing until it hits 200*...at that point, I check the tenderness of the point and flat - if it passes the probe test, it's time to rest for a bit (unless the wife sees me pull it out of the smoker, then it gets no rest and straight to her stomach).  Briskets like simple preps...and you'll be rewarded for going simple with awesome flavor.

 

[mayweather]

Thanks all. I probably should have said i have the Bradley Digital 4 Rack Smoker. I bought this as i'm a beginner so it will help me work on the techniques, wrapping times, seasoning, saucing etc and try and master all of that before i start fiddling around with coals and wood and managing the fire. 

The unit does a good job and i have a PID controller that manages the internal cabin temp for me. My takeaway based on peoples feedback here is that i will get rid of the ACV next time round and also let the meat internal temp reach about 200-205F before taking it off to rest. 

I will report back with my results :)