Brisket too smokey


 
Donna Fong

Donna Fong

TVWBB Super Fan
Hello,
I recently cooked a choice brisket in cold weather. It was 28F, which for me, is the coldest weather I've ever cooked. I got a complaint that my brisket was too smokey. I haven't gotten that complaint in years. The only thing that I did differently was to add 2 blocks of wood directly on top of the hot coals, one at a time. I did notice that the bottom of the brisket was charred, but I didn't give it much thought. Has anyone noticed their brisket being more smokey and noticed why?
Thanks for you help.
Donna

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I suspect it was because you had a hotter fire due to the cold even if the temp read what you wanted at grate level.

When I cook in the cold with a water/bullet smoker, I like to throw a large square of burlap over the smoker to help keep the cold out and the heat in. Sometimes I use two squares of burlap. The mesh is loose enough that the smoke can escape easily.

Re the charring, I would cook a brisket upside down in this situation - that is, point down, flat up, so that the brunt of the heat hits the fat layer first.

MHO

Good luck
 
Donna!

I used to say "too smokey, too soon" meaning the smoker hadn't settled in yet when putting meat in the smoker. I was guilty of putting the food in while it was still white smoke, then I started waiting until the smoke was a constant light blue, and now I wait until the smoke is clear (sometimes)

In your case, I think whoever said that was either teasing you, or just not hitting on all the cylinders. That's a dang good looking Brisket (imho) Good to see you Donna
 
The only thing that I did differently was to add 2 blocks of wood directly on top of the hot coals, one at a time.

Some of us in the "start cooking right away" group have a theory that you get the bad smoke when cold fuel gets initially lit up. So maybe your chunks were chilly from sitting outside on a cold day? And so put out some bad smoke at first.

When you bury the wood chunks in the coal pile (so the theory goes), the chunks (as well as the unlit charcoal) will be somewhat warmed up and/or dried out by the time the fire reaches it. So you don't need to wait for the thin blue smoke.

Another thing I do (per the cook right away theory) is put a chunk of two in the chimney. So that wood is warmed up and lit up from the jump. And the other chunks are buried and so will be warm by the time of ignition.

It is a nice theory; not sure it has ever been truly verified.
 
Jim C in Denver said:
The only thing that I did differently was to add 2 blocks of wood directly on top of the hot coals, one at a time.

Some of us in the "start cooking right away" group have a theory that you get the bad smoke when cold fuel gets initially lit up. So maybe your chunks were chilly from sitting outside on a cold day? And so put out some bad smoke at first.

When you bury the wood chunks in the coal pile (so the theory goes), the chunks (as well as the unlit charcoal) will be somewhat warmed up and/or dried out by the time the fire reaches it. So you don't need to wait for the thin blue smoke.

Another thing I do (per the cook right away theory) is put a chunk of two in the chimney. So that wood is warmed up and lit up from the jump. And the other chunks are buried and so will be warm by the time of ignition.

It is a nice theory; not sure it has ever been truly verified.
Click to expand...
That's sage advice. A while back I read somewhere that Harry Soo buries his wood chunks, and that's what I do. I also use wood chunks sparingly for brisket...3 smallish blocks of post oak, hickory or pecan.
 
The type of wood you use has an impact on perceived smokiness, too. Hickory and pecan are comparatively easy to overdo...oak, apple, and maple are more forgiving, in my book. Alderwood is probably at the bottom of the smokiness scale and most often recommended for delicate proteins like fish and poultry. I'm a fan of burying the wood chunks, but if you put the chunks on top of the coals and the protein directly over the chunks, you are more likely to get a stronger smoky flavor. Lastly, you said that you added the chunks, one at a time, so it also could be that you smoked it for too long for the type of wood you were using. You didn't mention the type of wood you were using.

IMHO, smoke is a seasoning, and better to under-season and leave the eater wanting more than to overwhelm the senses.
 
And just to add to all of this is I split my chunks or hunks into halves or quarters.
Put that on top of my unlit then dump the lit on top.
IMO it does cleanse the smoke as it passes thru the lit.
 
I've never over-smoked brisket ( or as far as I can tell) on a WSM. I have over-smoked the heck out of a chuck roast and it was from putting on the meat too soon. But it's not just putting on the meat too soon, because people do that all the time and it's fine. I think it's a combination of putting it on too soon with too few lit coals. Then you have a lot of rapidly igniting charcoal getting the smoker up to temp and reaching an equilibrium. I think it's the rapid ignition of charcoal that creates all that billowing white smoke like we see from a newly lit chimney.
 
Thank you for all of the suggestions. I should have waited longer but sometimes I don't wait and it is fine. I have handmade wool blankets for my wsm in all 3 sizes but didn't use them. Sometimes when I use them, I feel like the wsm doesn't get enough room to breathe and it gets too hot so I remove them after a short while. So I have only some success with them.

I was forgetful anout adding the wood in the beginning and just tossed the wood on top. I don't think I'll do that again. And it is the same wood as last time....cherry. Thanks everyone. I rarely get too smokey brisket. Too smokey turkey, now that I have done at least once.
Thank you.
 
One time I was cooking for a small backyard birthday party. I was using a combo of my WSM and kettle I had cooked a brisket and the wsm was sitting around 250. My strategy to knock these burgers out (I was behind) was to quickly sear off the burgers on the kettle and let them come up to temp on the WSM. I wanted to temp on the WSM a lot higher so I opened up all the vents. That was a big mistake as all those burgers came out like an ashtray. The weird thing is I knew the difference and could taste it, but most people didn't. I think it was that change in equilibrium in the minion method making that charcoal very rapidly ignite that made the difference. That's why I have that theory. I could be way off base, and I know that Donna knows more about cooking than I ever will!
 
I wish I detected a spike in temperature but I never did. It was floating around 290 to 280, which maybe a bit high but I've cooked at those Temps before without a problem. Maybe I wasn't paying close enough attention.
 
I would gladly take a plate of that Donna.

Do you think it tasted too Smokey ?
That’s a decent sized chunk of meat there.
It should be very forgiving flavor wise.
Was it jelly when you were done?

If it was nice and tender my bet is that the problem was the guest.
 
Donna... Looking at your WSM, I believe I know what "may" help...
Your WSM is too together, ie one continuous cylinder...
Might try the non-continuous WSM, ie warn out, we used to cook the Tri-Tip years ago at the Woodshed for the class .... ;)
 
I wrote in a different thread what I recently learned about charcoal. Briquettes and industrial lump charcoal always have a taste/smell to them, due to additives in briquettes, or unburnt byproducts in lump. Recently I did Quesadillas on the kettle, and the corn took up the taste of the briquettes. I was sure it was the taste of the fuel, because I did different cooks on the kettle with verybclean burning lump, and the Quesadillas were the only result tastingsimilar to my bbq.

That could give you a hint if the fuel or the smoke wood is the culprit.

The realization also made me question my fuel choice. I bought a cheap Aldi brand. But the tastr it gave was... Partially bitter. If I cook another expensive brisket, I might switch my fuel.
 
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