1st Brisket


 
Well it went on at 9 pm tonight.


Been having an issue with this as soon as I put it on. I had the temp holding steady at 240 for 45 minutes befor I put it on. As soon as it went on and I put the lid on it shot to 270. Adjusted everything and thought I had it good. Went to a neighbors for a few and when I returned it was at 217. Then, about 45 min into the cook we get a surprise thunderstorm that is still going on. Wife and I got the ez up just as the first rain started to fall. The winds are causing my temps to go all over the place. Right now I have two vents completely closed and the third is maybe 20% open and it's is still climbing. Sitting at 254 right now. I am going to try adjusting the bottom vent a little more along with closing the top vent a little to see what happens. I'm not liking this right now.
 
Here's how it looked after 3 hours.


Temp has leveled out with constant adjustments. Will see how it goes.
 
the meat can do just fine with a big changes in temps. micromanaging the tem will drive you nuts. i for one never let the smoker run that long before putting the meat on. i dump the coals/ wait abot 5 minutes and put the meat on. when i get near the temp i want i start to shut things down. in wind and storms you are just gonna have to let it do its thing till the wind or storm passes. that for sure will make the temps jump around.
 
George Curtis said:
the meat can do just fine with a big changes in temps. micromanaging the tem will drive you nuts. i for one never let the smoker run that long before putting the meat on. i dump the coals/ wait abot 5 minutes and put the meat on. when i get near the temp i want i start to shut things down. in wind and storms you are just gonna have to let it do its thing till the wind or storm passes. that for sure will make the temps jump around.
Click to expand...

Totally agree with George. Chasing temps will drive ya crazy!
 
Yeah, it didn't take me too long to realize that. Once the storm passed, I made a final adjustment around 11:30 where two vents were closed and third was around half open. Top vent was a little more than half open. Set the alarms on the Maverick and fell asleep a little after midnight. Probe temp read 239. Woke up at 6:25 and the probe temp was 239. I thought for sure the Maverick had failed during the night, however when I looked at the food probe it was reading 171. I am super impressed about the way it maintained the temp for so long that consistently. I so want to go open the lid and peak!
 
Sounds like you are just about there my friend, enjoy it.

Remember 185 is the last temp you need to see, lift the edge of that dome just enough to stick a skewer into that meat and start checking every 15-20 minutes.
 
Here it is. When I first opened the lid, I was pleased with the look. When I touched it I became disappointed. The "bark" had not set and was kinda mushy. But I took it in and wrapped it up.


After it sat for almost an hour I unwrapped it and started to slice it. Tasted the first few pieces. It was a little dry and the rub did not have a great flavor or texture. I scrapped some of the rub off the brisket and sliced a few more. The flavor of the rub was in the meat and was pretty good. I decided to scrape the rest off and continued slicing. Each slice I got happier. The further I got into it, I noticed more moisture in the meat. Had a good smoke flavor but did not show as well in the ring. Being my first brisket I am really happy. I had actually set my expectations low. I learned a lot for my next try.
 
From your description and the looks of it it might be a little underdone but good job. I don't like a lot of rub on my brisket just some salt, pepper, garlic and onion flakes, all course ground. All that matters is that you liked.
 
A few questions, first what rub and rub base did you use?
Second, what did you do cook wise, did you foil it, when did you foil it?
The meat actually looks pretty good. Did you try slicing it with the bark on?
When you pulled it was the skewer going right into the meat easily?
 
Congratulations on your first brisket !

Quick question... When will you try number two ? Hopefully soon.
Might want to consider a full packer for number two.
 
Thanks

Bill, after completely slicing it and trying it again I am very pleased with it except the rub. Rub was just a basic of brown sugar, garlic, paprika etc. Rubbed with mustard first. Did not foil it until I took it off after it hit 185 and skewer easily went in and out on different places.

Bob, number two will be sooner then I thought earlier today. And yes it will be a full packer.
 
Do it Matt! Like I said, I wasn't sure there would be another. But that has definitely changed.
 
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