YYang
TVWBB Fan
For my second cook on the WSM, smoked a brisket roughly according to Aaron Franklin's instructions in his book "Franklin Barbecue: A Meat Smoking Manifesto." Here's the overview:
Meat: USDA Prime packer brisket, 14.87 lbs wet-aged in cryovac packaging for 3 weeks. Trimmed weight 11.33 lbs
Prep: Lots of trimming. Rubbed and sat at room temperature for 5 hrs.
Seasonings: 50/50 Salt/Pepper. Spritz with apple cider vinegar/worcestershire/water mixture
Wood: Mainly hickory, 2 chunks mesquite
Method: Lazy Snake. Started with scant Weber mini-chimney full of lit coals.
Target Temp: 250℉ to 275℉ throughout cook, preferably on the higher end of the range.
Setup: Foiled empty water pan with aluminum tray of hot water sitting inside, drip pan on lower grate.
Weather: 82 Hi/61 Lo/ Wind SE 7 mph/Humidity 63%.
Since I haven't gotten around to testing out the Minion method on a shorter, easier cook, I wanted to stick with what I knew. I made a "lazy snake" with an empty coffee can and a wad of aluminum foil to help the charcoal sit right:
I trimmed a ton of fat off - enough to render a whole quart of tallow. I trimmed the fat band very aggressively, which resulted in a deep trench between the point and the flat. As recommended by Aaron Franklin, I trimmed off some of the "excess" flap of point and smoked it separately. Here's the result of bumbling around for a full half hour with Aaron's video on repeat, trying to trim without destroying the meat:
Six hours in, the bark was set, so I wrapped in butcher paper. I struggled to get a neat, tight wrap because I was working on a half-sized sheet pan's worth of space. Note to self for next time: clear off the table so you can spread out wrap properly. Back it went on the cooker along with some potatoes to keep it company:
The leave-in probe I inserted after wrapping read 175. Only problem was, I had no idea where the probe was sitting. I wasn't even sure whether I had the fat cap up or down inside the butcher paper. Gotta pay more attention next time. I got the internal temp up to 195 before the cooker temp started falling under my target range. I wanted to wait until it hit 203 to pull it off, but with the coals dying and the clock ticking, I decided to pull it off and let it rest. I was hoping there would be a few degrees of carryover, but it peaked at about 196. All told, she sat in the WSM for 11 hours. Here she is, along with her amputated piece of point in the lower left corner:
The flat was tender with no tug at all. While it wasn't dry, I wouldn't call it moist, either.
The point end had the jiggly, flexible quality I was looking for, but again, it was tender yet not as moist as it could be.
A couple observations from this cook:
A couple questions about this cook:
Thanks for taking a look
Meat: USDA Prime packer brisket, 14.87 lbs wet-aged in cryovac packaging for 3 weeks. Trimmed weight 11.33 lbs
Prep: Lots of trimming. Rubbed and sat at room temperature for 5 hrs.
Seasonings: 50/50 Salt/Pepper. Spritz with apple cider vinegar/worcestershire/water mixture
Wood: Mainly hickory, 2 chunks mesquite
Method: Lazy Snake. Started with scant Weber mini-chimney full of lit coals.
Target Temp: 250℉ to 275℉ throughout cook, preferably on the higher end of the range.
Setup: Foiled empty water pan with aluminum tray of hot water sitting inside, drip pan on lower grate.
Weather: 82 Hi/61 Lo/ Wind SE 7 mph/Humidity 63%.
Since I haven't gotten around to testing out the Minion method on a shorter, easier cook, I wanted to stick with what I knew. I made a "lazy snake" with an empty coffee can and a wad of aluminum foil to help the charcoal sit right:
I trimmed a ton of fat off - enough to render a whole quart of tallow. I trimmed the fat band very aggressively, which resulted in a deep trench between the point and the flat. As recommended by Aaron Franklin, I trimmed off some of the "excess" flap of point and smoked it separately. Here's the result of bumbling around for a full half hour with Aaron's video on repeat, trying to trim without destroying the meat:
Six hours in, the bark was set, so I wrapped in butcher paper. I struggled to get a neat, tight wrap because I was working on a half-sized sheet pan's worth of space. Note to self for next time: clear off the table so you can spread out wrap properly. Back it went on the cooker along with some potatoes to keep it company:
The flat was tender with no tug at all. While it wasn't dry, I wouldn't call it moist, either.
The point end had the jiggly, flexible quality I was looking for, but again, it was tender yet not as moist as it could be.
A couple observations from this cook:
- Something about the WSM tempers the smoke nicely. I have a terrible habit of oversmoking. On the 22.5'' OTG, I turned out a lot of bitter, ashy tasting food because I would add chunks of wood whenever there wasn't a swirling maelstrom of white stuff coming out of the vents. It was some kind of compulsion, really. I've since been enlightened to the fact that "good" smoke shouldn't look like belches from a hot spring in the dead of winter. I still think that by a reasonable person's standards, I added too much wood this time (probably a good 12 chunks altogether), but ended up with a balanced flavor that had little to no bitterness. I think that if I had used the same quantity of wood in the OTG, the food would not have had the same balanced smoke flavor.
- Rendering the trimmings for tallow revealed how different types of brisket fat render differently. The hard, bright white stuff doesn't ever break down fully. It does release fat, but you still end up with a spongy matrix of tissue that would be very unpleasant to eat. The softer type of fat renders down to a thinner, crispy strip that's almost translucent. I would have eaten it as a crackling-like snack if my conscience hadn't kicked in.
A couple questions about this cook:
- The way I trimmed the brisket made the point hang over the flat, making a trench that prevented smoke from contacting it when the fat cap was face down. I had to flip the brisket fat cap up in order to set the bark in that area. Should I not have removed as much fat from that area? Alternatively, should I have cut off more of that flap of point such that it didn't hang over as much?
- Any tips for inserting a leave-in probe properly after wrapping the brisket? I don't know how to make sure I'm probing the right part of the meat if it's covered in paper. Inserting it beforehand would make it hard to wrap tightly.
Thanks for taking a look
