Hello All,
My first time here on the forum. I've been learning to smoke on a Big Green Egg this summer and came to my first failure yesterday with a brisket point. It was overcooked, crusty bottom (I had fat cap up) and crumbly. So sad!
I was following guidlelines from Aaron Franklin's book and various posts online. I expected 1.25hrs per pound, 5lb flat so about 6.25hours. Some said to wrap at half way point, some said at 150-160F and Franklin's book said when the bark is ready. Then I was going to finish it to 205F, but probe it for tenderness to make sure it was ready. I used smoker temp of 275F and had a water pan underneath.
I did not open the smoker until the half way point as recommended, but by then it was already 180F and no bark and definitely not tender. I was fixated on the bark so left it on, but at 5hrs, it was still not tender (although I question this now), still no bark and was up over 200F. I wrapped at that point, let it go another hour or so and took it off. It felt soft, was easy to probe and had only gone up to 212F. Rested for an hour.
So disappointing! Here are my conclusions and I wonder if anyone can help me make sense of this.
No bark - my understanding is that it is rub, but mostly the time that develops the bark. I concluded that when smoking a small piece (5lb), it is just not possible for it to be in long enough to develop a bark unless the cooking temp was set much lower?
Time/Temp to wrap - assuming the bark will not form at this temperature for this size cut of meat, should temperature always be used as the indicator to wrap vs bark development (Franklin's recommedation)? This would have been 1.5 to 2hrs into cooking which just seemed so early in the process!
Total time - I suspect that this point cut would have been done at 3-4hrs if I had wrapped it at 160F. That is far less than I had read. Is this because of the smoker temp of 275F? And/or that the point is so much thinner that a packer cut? Is that 1.25hrs/lb apply only to the packer and/or flat cuts?
Doneness - Most folks say to call it by feel vs temperature. And some said they have gone way past the often reported 205F value so I thought my final value of 212F was probably ok. QUestion is - was the overcooking due to not wrapping it early enough or because it went to 212F? I'm thinking it was the wrapping point as that would create a moist environment.
Wow! Long post, but I'm learning so much. Any tips or answers would be much appreciated!
My first time here on the forum. I've been learning to smoke on a Big Green Egg this summer and came to my first failure yesterday with a brisket point. It was overcooked, crusty bottom (I had fat cap up) and crumbly. So sad!
I was following guidlelines from Aaron Franklin's book and various posts online. I expected 1.25hrs per pound, 5lb flat so about 6.25hours. Some said to wrap at half way point, some said at 150-160F and Franklin's book said when the bark is ready. Then I was going to finish it to 205F, but probe it for tenderness to make sure it was ready. I used smoker temp of 275F and had a water pan underneath.
I did not open the smoker until the half way point as recommended, but by then it was already 180F and no bark and definitely not tender. I was fixated on the bark so left it on, but at 5hrs, it was still not tender (although I question this now), still no bark and was up over 200F. I wrapped at that point, let it go another hour or so and took it off. It felt soft, was easy to probe and had only gone up to 212F. Rested for an hour.
So disappointing! Here are my conclusions and I wonder if anyone can help me make sense of this.
No bark - my understanding is that it is rub, but mostly the time that develops the bark. I concluded that when smoking a small piece (5lb), it is just not possible for it to be in long enough to develop a bark unless the cooking temp was set much lower?
Time/Temp to wrap - assuming the bark will not form at this temperature for this size cut of meat, should temperature always be used as the indicator to wrap vs bark development (Franklin's recommedation)? This would have been 1.5 to 2hrs into cooking which just seemed so early in the process!
Total time - I suspect that this point cut would have been done at 3-4hrs if I had wrapped it at 160F. That is far less than I had read. Is this because of the smoker temp of 275F? And/or that the point is so much thinner that a packer cut? Is that 1.25hrs/lb apply only to the packer and/or flat cuts?
Doneness - Most folks say to call it by feel vs temperature. And some said they have gone way past the often reported 205F value so I thought my final value of 212F was probably ok. QUestion is - was the overcooking due to not wrapping it early enough or because it went to 212F? I'm thinking it was the wrapping point as that would create a moist environment.
Wow! Long post, but I'm learning so much. Any tips or answers would be much appreciated!
