3rd Smoke - Dove into Briskett (pic)

Well, I still don't really feel like I know what I'm doing. But with a successful rib and chicken cook under my belt I tried a brisket today. I picked the smallest cryopack at Costco - a little over 7lbs. I figured that weight wouldn't an overnighter, and would be easier to handle.

After trimming the fat, I used a generic rub and tried a bit of injecting (mixture of apple juice, apple cider vinegar, garlic powder). Onto the smoker it went at 10:30am, fat side up, at 220-240 (lid temps) for about 5 hours. I had a foil pan on the first grate and used a filled water pan.

At 5 hours, I checked the temp and got about 160-165 throughout. I double foiled, flipped fat side down and added about 1/2 cup of the injection liquid with added pan drippings. Back it went for another 2 hours at 250 (lid temp). I had meat temps of about 195-200. I let rest for about 1 hour before slicing.

See a picture here

It turned out pretty good. However, I would say it could have been a bit more tender and have a bit more smoke. Perhaps it should have cooked a tad bit longer. Next time I will probably skip the foiling. Thanks for listening.

Aloha and welcome Todd. Good to have another Pacific Northwestner as part of the forum. Lots of great people with tons of info here. Looks like your on your way with briskets. Thanks for sharing the pic. What part of the PNW you "q'n" in? Good luck...

joe

Good attempt. The brisket looks a bit undercooked to me. Did you leave the probe in after foiling? Temps may or may not correlate with tender. But one can always feel it: the probe will insert effortlessly.

Try fatcap up the whole time, or at least during the smoking stager. You should get better smoke adherence. (Consider, also, forgoing adding anything to the foil.)

Joe,

Thanks. I live in the the Portland metro area - Tualatin to be exact. I just read in the Harry Soo forum that he's coming here this summer to teach some classes. Cool.

K,

Thanks for the advice. I can't imagine that it wasn't done, but I know you have to nuke brisket. I will try your suggestions next time!

Agree that you should cook a little longer. On Brisket, cook by feel. When you are able to insert a probe and it goes in easily you are done. One other tip, I get a better smoke ring, when the meat is cold (directly out of the frige) when it goes on the smoker. Of all the things you will smoke, brisket will take the most practice.