Curtis Chu
New member
Hello!
I've never done any backyard cooking at all... Recently went to a trip to Texas (I'm in Cali) and had some awesome brisket.
Wanted to start making it for my family since they've never experienced it much.
So far I've done two briskets on my brand new WSM 18.
1st one: 15 lb prime packer -- FOGO lump charcoal with hickory / pecan chunks -- No water in the bowl / pan-- I know its because i'm inexperienced, but I had a hell of a time controlling temp but managed to keep it between 230-290. Constantly fiddling with ALL vents (it would spike from 215-290 in like 10 mins, and i would have to close even the lid vent to bring it down). Don't get me wrong, I tried little adjustments at a time, and managed to have at least 3-4 hours solid between 240-260 at one point. The other times, I would make a small adjustment, and temp would OVER correct the other way over 20 mins... go make another adjustment. etc.
I heard about putting foil in the water pan for easier cleanup, so I did that. (I did not follow the contour of the bowl, i just put it straight over the top like you would cover tupperware with cling wrap). I think this contributed towards my problem with this cook. The flat cooked WAY faster than the point. I had put a leave in thermometer in the point to monitor temps. I didn't want to open and check too much, and I planned to do a foil boat @170ish. When my point was @170, I checked my flat and it was already @ 192!!!. I panicked and immediately foil-boated it. Kept checking the flat for butter probe tender, it felt THICK and tough even at 203. It only started to get "soft" at around 207-208, which is when I decided to pull the whole brisket (point was ONLY at 191 at this point).
I let it cool down to 165 internal, then vacuum sealed it and put it in my sous vide @150 , resting for 10 hours. (My wife hates the smell of beef in the house, so I'm not allowed to use the oven to hold).
Total time in WSM: 10 hours
Rest time: 10 hours
Result: IT actually turned out REALLY good for my first brisket, and I was really, really surprised. Point came out perfect (odd since i pulled at such a low temp). However the flat was a little dry towards the front 1/3rd of the brisket. all in all I was happy. Pics are attached.
2nd one: 12 lb prime packer with same setup as above. -- I've watched videos saying that you can get really good brisket without wrapping / boating (Goldee's method). So I tried to do it this time.
Knowing my issues with different temps on the first brisket, I foiled the water pan better (actually followed the contour of the bowl). I realized that I probably lit WAY too many charcoal the first time since I was constantly spiking HIGH and had to close all vents to bring temp down multiple times. This time I only lit a small amount of charcoal. The temp came up much more gradually and it was easier to adjust my bottom vents as I got to target temp. My temp was constant 240-260 for the first 4-6 hours. I still babysat the thing and adjusted at least 2x an hour. It was ~50 F outside with varying winds.
I had a leave in probe in BOTH the flat and point this time. and temps were going up VERY closely this time (was about equal in temp until around 170-180 ish, then point pulled ahead 4-5 degrees higher until cook was done.
at around 10 hours, I was only at a internal temp of ~192. I was so confused because at this same time, my 15lb packer was DONE. I then bumped temp to 275-285 to try and finish faster so I can get to bed. Temps still took a while to climb, and I was getting a little impatient at this time.
Point temp got up to 205 and flat came up to 200. Point was probing LIKE BUTTER but flat was not quite tough, but not butter either. At this point I was heading into hour 11-12 of my cook and I needed to get to bed for work the next day. I felt it should be "pretty good". Rested for 10 hours in sous vide, like previous brisket
RESULT: This was worse than the first one. (unfortunately don't have pics) -- Point was STILL GOOD this time. However the FLAT *felt* like a DRY THICK MESS. It would still pull apart, separated without much elasticity, just snapped without the stretch. It tasted REALLY DRY (but flavor was still good). A little hard to swallow, but still perceived as tender. definitely not close to my first time.
If you got this far THANK YOU for reading. Now my questions regarding my 2nd cook:
1) Did I pull the brisket too early? -- the flat was @200-201 already. I was much more patient with the first one allowing it to come up to 208. IS this why it felt like it was extremely dry ? (even though it still separated when pulled apart).
2) Was it dry because I didn't wrap / boat it? I was thinking this was the reason why the cook took LONGER (but also the way I covered the top of water pan in the first cook could have caused more bottom heat to deflect, speeding up the cook as well). I was thinking that because I didn't wrap or boat it, that all the juices weren't able to braise the meat as it got higher in temp.
3) Did it stall out for too long because I kept a lower temp consistently?
4) Is my temperature woes partly to do with the leaky front door of my new WSM? Should I get a gasket kit and will that help me manage temps better?
Thanks for your guys' input!
I've never done any backyard cooking at all... Recently went to a trip to Texas (I'm in Cali) and had some awesome brisket.
Wanted to start making it for my family since they've never experienced it much.
So far I've done two briskets on my brand new WSM 18.
1st one: 15 lb prime packer -- FOGO lump charcoal with hickory / pecan chunks -- No water in the bowl / pan-- I know its because i'm inexperienced, but I had a hell of a time controlling temp but managed to keep it between 230-290. Constantly fiddling with ALL vents (it would spike from 215-290 in like 10 mins, and i would have to close even the lid vent to bring it down). Don't get me wrong, I tried little adjustments at a time, and managed to have at least 3-4 hours solid between 240-260 at one point. The other times, I would make a small adjustment, and temp would OVER correct the other way over 20 mins... go make another adjustment. etc.
I heard about putting foil in the water pan for easier cleanup, so I did that. (I did not follow the contour of the bowl, i just put it straight over the top like you would cover tupperware with cling wrap). I think this contributed towards my problem with this cook. The flat cooked WAY faster than the point. I had put a leave in thermometer in the point to monitor temps. I didn't want to open and check too much, and I planned to do a foil boat @170ish. When my point was @170, I checked my flat and it was already @ 192!!!. I panicked and immediately foil-boated it. Kept checking the flat for butter probe tender, it felt THICK and tough even at 203. It only started to get "soft" at around 207-208, which is when I decided to pull the whole brisket (point was ONLY at 191 at this point).
I let it cool down to 165 internal, then vacuum sealed it and put it in my sous vide @150 , resting for 10 hours. (My wife hates the smell of beef in the house, so I'm not allowed to use the oven to hold).
Total time in WSM: 10 hours
Rest time: 10 hours
Result: IT actually turned out REALLY good for my first brisket, and I was really, really surprised. Point came out perfect (odd since i pulled at such a low temp). However the flat was a little dry towards the front 1/3rd of the brisket. all in all I was happy. Pics are attached.
2nd one: 12 lb prime packer with same setup as above. -- I've watched videos saying that you can get really good brisket without wrapping / boating (Goldee's method). So I tried to do it this time.
Knowing my issues with different temps on the first brisket, I foiled the water pan better (actually followed the contour of the bowl). I realized that I probably lit WAY too many charcoal the first time since I was constantly spiking HIGH and had to close all vents to bring temp down multiple times. This time I only lit a small amount of charcoal. The temp came up much more gradually and it was easier to adjust my bottom vents as I got to target temp. My temp was constant 240-260 for the first 4-6 hours. I still babysat the thing and adjusted at least 2x an hour. It was ~50 F outside with varying winds.
I had a leave in probe in BOTH the flat and point this time. and temps were going up VERY closely this time (was about equal in temp until around 170-180 ish, then point pulled ahead 4-5 degrees higher until cook was done.
at around 10 hours, I was only at a internal temp of ~192. I was so confused because at this same time, my 15lb packer was DONE. I then bumped temp to 275-285 to try and finish faster so I can get to bed. Temps still took a while to climb, and I was getting a little impatient at this time.
Point temp got up to 205 and flat came up to 200. Point was probing LIKE BUTTER but flat was not quite tough, but not butter either. At this point I was heading into hour 11-12 of my cook and I needed to get to bed for work the next day. I felt it should be "pretty good". Rested for 10 hours in sous vide, like previous brisket
RESULT: This was worse than the first one. (unfortunately don't have pics) -- Point was STILL GOOD this time. However the FLAT *felt* like a DRY THICK MESS. It would still pull apart, separated without much elasticity, just snapped without the stretch. It tasted REALLY DRY (but flavor was still good). A little hard to swallow, but still perceived as tender. definitely not close to my first time.
If you got this far THANK YOU for reading. Now my questions regarding my 2nd cook:
1) Did I pull the brisket too early? -- the flat was @200-201 already. I was much more patient with the first one allowing it to come up to 208. IS this why it felt like it was extremely dry ? (even though it still separated when pulled apart).
2) Was it dry because I didn't wrap / boat it? I was thinking this was the reason why the cook took LONGER (but also the way I covered the top of water pan in the first cook could have caused more bottom heat to deflect, speeding up the cook as well). I was thinking that because I didn't wrap or boat it, that all the juices weren't able to braise the meat as it got higher in temp.
3) Did it stall out for too long because I kept a lower temp consistently?
4) Is my temperature woes partly to do with the leaky front door of my new WSM? Should I get a gasket kit and will that help me manage temps better?
Thanks for your guys' input!