Hi, new to this forum, and new to smoking. i smoked my first brisket today and it didnt comie out very good. looking for some tips on what i may have done wrong. i followed the instructions from this recipe.
http://dadgumthatsgood.com/smoked-brisket/
the ends of the brisket were nice and tender but the rest was a little tough. i expected it to fall apart and that didnt happen. ***If the ends/edges were tender but the rest was not, it was under-cooked.
details
brand new
Masterbuilt 20070910 30-Inch Electric Smokehouse Smoker
5 lb brisket ***Assuming this was a center-cut (lean trimmed flat cut)
taylor thermometer with lead in thickest part of the brisket. the read out sits outside the unit.
I did not put water in the water pan ***This should seal in the natural moisture using a dry smoke chamber.
used mesquite chips
smoker stayed steady at 225 degrees
brisket reached 165 degrees after 3 hrs. wrapped in foil and replaced in smoker
reached 195 after 2 more hours. total cook time 5 hrs. Should be very tender slicing at that temp.
removed and let it sit for 20 mins before i cut it. ***May need a couple hours to redistribute the moisture throughout the muscles.
if anyone has any advice i would really appreciate it.
From the link you posted above (copy/paste), here's where I think there's a problem:
"2. Place the brisket in the smoker and cook at 225°F for 4 hours, until a bark begins to form.
Apply marinade every hour to prevent the brisket from drying out. Continue to smoke the brisket
until the internal temperature reaches 165° F. (Total smoking time is approximately 60 minutes per pound.)"
This is a contradiction to my recent findings that if you let the meat's surface dry, you tighten the meat fibers and reduce interior moisture evaporation. I don't inject, marinade or do anything fancy or complicated with brisket. Mopping with marinade also causes heat loss from the smoker be repeatedly opening the smoke chamber.
Also, where he states to cook to 165* I/T possibly indicates a lack of thorough working knowledge and/or experience with brisket. I've never had one come out tender mush below 180*, myself. I'm thinking I wouldn't trust his info very much...not trying to bash the guy, but you can't believe everything you read on the net. Everything I know about what I've done to smoke great brisket tells me that his process is over-board, complicated and takes away from the potential of the brisket.
Go KISS method. Salt, pepper, garlic, onion dry rub just a few minutes prior to smoking...brisket has a great, strong flavor, so no need to get wild with flavor enhancements. Smoke to ~180* open grates, probe for tenderness and take to 185* if resistance is felt, then, wrap in foil and towels to rest for 1.5-2 hours before slicing.
Many think brisket needs a lot of
special treatment to get it to come out good. Not so...it just needs
proper treatment.
Don't give up. Brisket is not the easiest cut of beef to learn how to smoke, but it's the king of smoked beef, IMHO, especially whole packers, as they are so versatile in what you can make with them. My first brisket made me want to never try one again...then, I got conned by the wife about 8 months later, and after arming myself with more knowledge, I have made successively better brisket nearly every time. I tweek my methods now and then just to see what we like best, what works best for my various smoker arsenal, and what effects the outcome the most. I'm a tinkerer, so it's in my nature to get into the nitty-gritty of how it all works. You may find that you need to make certain adjustments for your particular smoker that may vary from what I do...that's normal. Every smoker will act a bit different, but once you find a good baseline for a particular cut of meat, you can improve your finished product by refining your methods.
BTW, please stop by the
Roll Call forum so we can properly welcome you to the SMF family. Thank-you!
Eric
