Weekend smoke

[WaterRat]

Temp wise showed it was done? I'm still learning, only been smoking for a little over 6 years
Taste wise everything is amazing, my sauce is even better than amazing. Best batch ever

Only 6? lol, I'm a baby in comparison. Temp can be a tricky thing. When we're cooking big butts, ribs, brisket, things where we need to break down those tough proteins - it needs time at a certain temp to break down. For instance if I cubed up a chucky and tossed it in my chili pot, it would likely be at ~200°F in the first half hour - but would still be as tough as a shoe - but 4 hours later - ya boy!

There are really good cooks here, far better than me that can cook to temp, but that's on their system that they know really well and have tons of cooks on. The rest of us? - Poke, prod, jab, tear off a little chunk, wiggle the bone, to see if that sucker is done - you won't hurt it. Use temp to know you're in the right neighborhood. On my smoker chuckys, butts, and short ribs have never been done till 205°F+ Part is simply thermal mass, my cooker generates heat fast - and I bet your's does too. So you get to temp faster but it hasn't had the time at temp.

Hope none of that sounds preachy, just sharing my thoughts, it seems like lots of people on a rather regular basis post that they got X meat to Y temp but it still wasn't as tender as they wanted - so poke, prod and probe it till it's done!

Again, that sauce looks great!

 

[kerstingm]

Almost ready to wrap,
Looking good, cooking at 225, using Treager brisket pellets (oak, maple, & Pecan)

 

[kerstingm]

Only 6? lol, I'm a baby in comparison. Temp can be a tricky thing. When we're cooking big butts, ribs, brisket, things where we need to break down those tough proteins - it needs time at a certain temp to break down. For instance if I cubed up a chucky and tossed it in my chili pot, it would likely be at ~200°F in the first half hour - but would still be as tough as a shoe - but 4 hours later - ya boy!

There are really good cooks here, far better than me that can cook to temp, but that's on their system that they know really well and have tons of cooks on. The rest of us? - Poke, prod, jab, tear off a little chunk, wiggle the bone, to see if that sucker is done - you won't hurt it. Use temp to know you're in the right neighborhood. On my smoker chuckys, butts, and short ribs have never been done till 205°F+ Part is simply thermal mass, my cooker generates heat fast - and I bet your's does too. So you get to temp faster but it hasn't had the time at temp.

Hope none of that sounds preachy, just sharing my thoughts, it seems like lots of people on a rather regular basis post that they got X meat to Y temp but it still wasn't as tender as they wanted - so poke, prod and probe it till it's done!

Again, that sauce looks great!

Thanks for the info, I welcome all assist.
My clue that you were right on more time at temp was the bone not twisting out, the other two twisted out as the butt fell apart.
By adding the fire bricks it really helped getting to temp and holding it, before the bricks it took forever to get to temp and would still swing all over
It's working like a champ this weekend

 

[RNMike]

I think Warer Rat is on the money. I did a 12 lb butt last weekend. 13.5 hours at 250 degrees. I wrapped at 165 & pulled it off the Rec Tec at 200. It was perfect! The butt fell apart!
Your food looks amazing, enjoy!

 

[kerstingm]

About to wrap, this is taking forever. I know you can't rush a brisket.

 

[lemans]

Every piece of meat is different. It’s fine when it’s done. Don’t rush!!

 

[kerstingm]

I think I'm done with briskets after this weekend. Besides one butt out of the three I smoked came out amazing. Still the one that wasn't perfect or still pulled okay, all three taste great
I can't say that about my brisket, taste wise it was great, I can't brag about that is was that perfect tender fall apart cook that I had with my butts.
I know my pork (still have lots to learn and always will as will we all) briskets are a whole different animal so speaking.

 

[RNMike]

I’m a little afraid of trying my first brisket myself. I’m sure I’ll try it at some point, but I’m not brave enough to try it on a party day.

 

[kerstingm]

I’m a little afraid of trying my first brisket myself. I’m sure I’ll try it at some point, but I’m not brave enough to try it on a party day.

This was my second full untrimmed brisket I smoked, I have smoked several corned beef briskets that came out amazing. I am not saying this one wasn't okay, but that's all I can say it was only okay. For what it cost I can get three or four pork butts. I know (or at least feel like I do) what I'm doing with my pork.