Bill French
TVWBB Fan
I'm happy to report that my first brisket cook took place on the 4th and it turned out better than expected. I could tell my wife had doubts, I had my doubts too, even had burgers ready to go as a backup. Anyway, here's the rundown and some pics....
7/1 - I picked up a 8.6lb Select packer from the local butcher (frozen) and put it in the fridge
7/3 - Trimmed it up, tried to get down to 1/4" of fat like Franklin recommends. Seasoned with kosher salt and course ground black pepper, wrapped and put back in fridge
7/4 - Woke up at 5am, started the fire, added water to the pan, set up the temp probes and placed on the WSM at 6am...
Going in, I was shooting for a temp of 250 and found myself in the 230-240 range for most of the morning. Decided that would be a good range to stick with.
9am - Only 3 hours in and already up to an internal temp of 160, kind of surprised. The stall begins...
10am - I'm surprised to see that the brisket has dropped in temp, down to 158. Wasn't expecting that. I've smoked a lot of pork butts and never noticed losing temp during the stall. Interesting..
11am - Internal temp down to 154. Getting nervous at this point but not panicking. I called a friend in Houston who smokes a lot of brisket. He assures me this is normal.
12pm - Internal temp back at 160. Relief. Added some hot water to the pan.
2pm - Internal temp up to 170. I decided to take a peek and felt that the flat looked a little dry. Although going into the cook, I decided that I would not wrap the brisket until it was done, I made a command decision to spritz the brisket with water and double wrap in foil.
3pm - Internal temp up to 190. Poked around with the wood end of a match, didn't pass the poke test.
3:15pm - Internal temp up to 195. Did not pass the poke test.
3:30pm - Internal temp up to 203. Poke test passed!
Seperated flat and point, loosely foiled flat. Cut up point into cubes and placed in pan, put back on WSM.
My wife happened to walk through the kichen at this time so I offered her one of the cubes. Her eyes lit up and she let out an Mmmmmmmmmmmm.
After 30 minutes, tightly wrap flat in foil and place in cooler.
~4:30pm - Serving time!
The brisket was juicy, good smoke and good flavor. I was very pleased. I was able to pull it apart, though not quite as easily as in Franklin's video. My wife, kids and parents were very complimentary and we all filled our bellies. We had just enough left over for sandwiches the next afternoon.
I want to thank all the members here who offered up their advice, it was invaluable. I can't wait to do another brisket!
7/1 - I picked up a 8.6lb Select packer from the local butcher (frozen) and put it in the fridge
7/3 - Trimmed it up, tried to get down to 1/4" of fat like Franklin recommends. Seasoned with kosher salt and course ground black pepper, wrapped and put back in fridge
7/4 - Woke up at 5am, started the fire, added water to the pan, set up the temp probes and placed on the WSM at 6am...
Going in, I was shooting for a temp of 250 and found myself in the 230-240 range for most of the morning. Decided that would be a good range to stick with.
9am - Only 3 hours in and already up to an internal temp of 160, kind of surprised. The stall begins...
10am - I'm surprised to see that the brisket has dropped in temp, down to 158. Wasn't expecting that. I've smoked a lot of pork butts and never noticed losing temp during the stall. Interesting..
11am - Internal temp down to 154. Getting nervous at this point but not panicking. I called a friend in Houston who smokes a lot of brisket. He assures me this is normal.
12pm - Internal temp back at 160. Relief. Added some hot water to the pan.
2pm - Internal temp up to 170. I decided to take a peek and felt that the flat looked a little dry. Although going into the cook, I decided that I would not wrap the brisket until it was done, I made a command decision to spritz the brisket with water and double wrap in foil.
3pm - Internal temp up to 190. Poked around with the wood end of a match, didn't pass the poke test.
3:15pm - Internal temp up to 195. Did not pass the poke test.
3:30pm - Internal temp up to 203. Poke test passed!
Seperated flat and point, loosely foiled flat. Cut up point into cubes and placed in pan, put back on WSM.
My wife happened to walk through the kichen at this time so I offered her one of the cubes. Her eyes lit up and she let out an Mmmmmmmmmmmm.
After 30 minutes, tightly wrap flat in foil and place in cooler.
~4:30pm - Serving time!
The brisket was juicy, good smoke and good flavor. I was very pleased. I was able to pull it apart, though not quite as easily as in Franklin's video. My wife, kids and parents were very complimentary and we all filled our bellies. We had just enough left over for sandwiches the next afternoon.
I want to thank all the members here who offered up their advice, it was invaluable. I can't wait to do another brisket!
