very first brisket (with QView)

[hardwoodalchemy]

I'm not one to toot my own horn very often, but today I smoked my first brisket - 12 pounds of USDA Prime beef rubbed down with my own blend of spices and smoked over mesquite for about 7 hours in my WSM 22.5. I'm in no way exaggerating when I say that it was, hands down, the best brisket I've ever had. That's saying a lot since we lived in TX for a few years and I love to eat. Super moist, super tender, and oh-so-flavorful.

brisket.JPG

• hardwoodalchemy
• Sep 13, 2016

 

[hardwoodalchemy]

By the way, that's just the point. Haven't even touched the flat yet.

 

[dirtsailor2003]

Looks great!

 

[mike5051]

  Looks amazing!

Mike

 

[SmokinAl]

Wow that's amazing!

Your first brisket & it came out that good.

Great job!

Al

 

[hardwoodalchemy]

Thanks for the compliments and the points!

@SmokinAl - yes, my very first brisket, but I have been reading, reading, and reading some more, plus learning my WSM by smoking pork butts, chickens, turkey breast, and pork loin.

I also expect that the success is due in part to the really great piece of meat (Prime instead of Choice). We actually bought it from Costco some months back but have kept it frozen until now because I didn't want to waste it. Had it been Choice (or maybe worse yet, Walmart special), I probably wouldn't have had as much wiggle room for imperfect timing and method.

Something I did different this time that I think also contributed was using the "fuse" or "C" method instead of modified Minion. The temperature was significantly more stable than I've been able to get out of the modified Minion.

Next smoking project will be 3 whole chickens stuffed with kielbasa, a turkey breast (stuffed with who knows what at this point), and at least one pork loin -- all smoked over apple. If I have enough room, I'm going to try out some bacon wrapped brats.

 

[thebig1]

Hardwood, I have to say that just from the view of it, it looks absolutely amazing!!!!  Well done Sir!

Chad

 

[mike5051]

What was the smoker temp to get it done in 7 hrs?  I may have to re-think my brisket cooks.  They take more then an hour per pound when I smoke em.

Mike

 

[hardcookin]

Nice job with the brisket...nice looking smoke ring also!!

 

[hardwoodalchemy]

 
What was the smoker temp to get it done in 7 hrs?  I may have to re-think my brisket cooks.  They take more then an hour per pound when I smoke em.

Mike

A few things contributed to that time frame:

• I separated the point from the flat before putting in in the smoker
• Smoked @ 235F for most of the time in the smoker
• I foiled when I hit the stall
• After foiling, I shut down the vents because I was worried that having the smoker open was going to cause the temps to spike. Then I got sidetracked and forgot it for a little while...
  
• When I realized that the smoker had begun to cool, and because the brisket was foiled and had already gotten all the actual smoke it would get, I opened the vents and got the smoker to about 260F.
• By the time the meat got to 188F, my family was getting really antsy to eat, so I put it in the oven to bump it the last few degrees
• After getting it to 203F, I put the meat in a cooler -- insulated between several layers of old towels -- for an hour

Summary: separated point from flat, foiled, and used oven to finish faster

I doubt that you're missing anything. I'm sure it would have taken longer if I'd kept the smoker at 235F the entire time, and especially without having it in the oven for the last few degrees.

Hope that helps.

 

[mike5051]

Thanks for the explanation!  It backs up the folks here that say once you foil, it doesn't matter where you finish or if you raise the temp.  My last two briskets have been too tender, falling apart when slicing.  I took them to 205+ IT looking for probe tenderness and then wrapped and rested.  I will try a brisket and pull it off earlier and let it rest up to probe tenderness.  Thanks again, hope mine ends up like yours!

Mike

 

[hardwoodalchemy]

 
Thanks for the explanation!  It backs up the folks here that say once you foil, it doesn't matter where you finish or if you raise the temp.  My last two briskets have been too tender, falling apart when slicing.  I took them to 205+ IT looking for probe tenderness and then wrapped and rested.  I will try a brisket and pull it off earlier and let it rest up to probe tenderness.  Thanks again, hope mine ends up like yours!

Mike

Yes, sir! And, yes, I agree with your assessment.

I don't know what the temperature curve does when you hold it. I'm sure it depends on the mass of the meat, starting IT, surface temp, remaining moisture content, insulation efficiency, length of hold time, and probably some other stuff I'm not considering. Maybe one of the brisket experts can chime in here about temp at which to pull in order to hit the desired IT, or whether to wait until the meat hits the desired IT before holding. Brisket SMEs, please pick up the white courtesy phone.

 

[crankybuzzard]

 
Yes, sir! And, yes, I agree with your assessment.

I don't know what the temperature curve does when you hold it. I'm sure it depends on the mass of the meat, starting IT, surface temp, remaining moisture content, insulation efficiency, length of hold time, and probably some other stuff I'm not considering. Maybe one of the brisket experts can chime in here about temp at which to pull in order to hit the desired IT, or whether to wait until the meat hits the desired IT before holding. Brisket SMEs, please pick up the white courtesy phone.

Not quite the SME on this, but I can say that I pull at 195-200, wrap and rest.  I wrap the brisket in foil, then wrap that in a wool blanket and place it into a room temperature Igloo cooler.  I've pulled at 9:00 PM and done the above, and it was too hot to touch bare handed in the morning.

With the blanket and foil in place, and then placing it into the igloo, my thoughts are that you are basically placing the brisket into an envelope that will hold the present heat for a while, and then slowly decrease over time.  During the fall of the temp, the brisket has a chance to "reconstitute" a bit.

Again, just my thoughts...

As a test, I'll try and smoke a brisket this weekend and after wrapping, leave my Tappecue probe in place to see what the temperature actually does during the "rest" period.

 

[hardwoodalchemy]

 
Not quite the SME on this, but I can say that I pull at 195-200, wrap and rest.  I wrap the brisket in foil, then wrap that in a wool blanket and place it into a room temperature Igloo cooler.  I've pulled at 9:00 PM and done the above, and it was too hot to touch bare handed in the morning.

With the blanket and foil in place, and then placing it into the igloo, my thoughts are that you are basically placing the brisket into an envelope that will hold the present heat for a while, and then slowly decrease over time.  During the fall of the temp, the brisket has a chance to "reconstitute" a bit.

Again, just my thoughts...

As a test, I'll try and smoke a brisket this weekend and after wrapping, leave my Tappecue probe in place to see what the temperature actually does during the "rest" period.

Thanks, sir! Nothing like some really good food in the name of science.

 

[hardwoodalchemy]

I just posted this over in a General Discussion thread, but figured I'd post it here as well.

The rub "recipe" I used was actually a hybrid of three or four different rub recipes, subtracting and adding ingredients, and changing some of the quantities / ratios.

¼ cup cocoa powder
¼ cup very finely ground coffee
½ cup brown sugar
¼ cup fine sea salt
2 tbsp ground black pepper
1 tbsp ground Thai white pepper
2 tbsp sweet Hungarian paprika
1 tbsp smoked paprika
1 generous tbsp chipotle powder
2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp cumin powder

Notes:

• I will be cutting down the amount of coffee next time. Not because of the flavor, but because we've found that we have trouble sleeping after eating the brisket. The effect is very similar to eating a couple generous handfuls of chocolate-covered espresso beans. Nothing immediately noticeable, but before long you realize that you're not tired at all. The effect - for us - is quite pronounced and has a duration of a few hours.
• I would encourage anyone who decides to try this recipe to not follow it blindly. Be creative, take a risk, make it your own. Discovery is one of the great the joys of cooking, IMO.

 

[disco]

Points for a beautiful brisket first time out!

Disco

 

[tbrtt1]

Nice! May all your briskets smokes be this good.