Hey! Where's the Ring?


 
T

Tony Hunter

TVWBB Pro
I have pics that I will post later but, I just cut into my brisket flat that cooked 12 hours without a hitch on the WSM. I cooked it fat side up the entire time just like my first time and the texture is perfect, tenderness is awesome, tastes very good and smokey, Mr. Brown in Da' house but - no smoke ring!
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My first brisket was all of the above plus the smoke ring. What did I do different? I'm glad you asked!
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1) I used a different custom rub, 2) I think I could have trimmed a little more fat from the fat side and, 3) I used Royal Oak Lump. Honestly, that is all I did differently.

Any ideas, comments, advice or constructive criticisms? I really need to know what I did wrong this time.

Thanks,

Tony
 
I use lump all the time and have never not got a smoke ring
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How was the smoke flavor in the brisket? If you had a nice smoke flavor not sure why there would be no smoke ring. Some people cut back on their smoke wood when using lump because lump does put a little smoke flavor into the meat. Curious to see them pics.
 
Mebbe the lump took the temp up too fast? Or, were your briskets at the same temp when you put them in? Cuz the meat gets its ring when it's below 140 degrees. So put in a nice COLD piece o'beef if you want it to get a big ring. Dat's all I can think of. And you did use some smoke wood, didn'tcha'?
 
Bryan, I got nice smoke flavor! My wife and kids absolutely devoured it (we had it for lunch).

Susan, you may be right on it. I believe the meat was fairly room temperature, but not quite. I do remember my first brisket coming right out of the fridge and onto the smokere. Also, the lump issue is dead on too. This is my first time using lump and that stuff increases heat like crazy! My lid temp was 255 in just a few minutes. I backed off of the oxygen on all 3 vents to about 25% open in order to get 240 in the lid (approx. 225 at the grate), and it came right down. I must say the ability to impact the temp using lump was much easier than kingsford; however, controlling the temp was more difficult - I was back and forth at the WSM like it was an offset! Anyway I got the temp under control finally and went to bed about 2:30a. When I got up the temp was rock-steady at 240 in the lid. But You are right, the internal temp of the meat rose very quickly - probably too fast to allow the smoke ring to form!
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One good thing I can say for lump is that it gets started in a heartbeat in the chimney! Wooohoooo!!
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I just put my chicken thighs (brined) and a slab of babybacks on the WSM - cooking with kingsford though. I did however, get the MM started with lump coals - it lights really fast!

I think I will keep using kingsford for now. My Royal oak I will use in the chimney starter for the WSM cooks. I do plan to try royal oak on next weeks rib cook in my chargriller - I want to see how that goes.

Tony
 
one more thing that you mentioned is that you could have trimmed more of the fat away....well, if you had to much fat on top its kinda hard for the smoke to penetrate fat....

glad it tasted good though..
take care
 
Very true Mords but the other side wouldnt have the fat cap and therefore the ring should at least be on one side of the meat.

Most likely its the lump. Ive read somewhere on here that the smoke ring only forms until the meat hits 140 degrees. I dont know if this is true or not but its out there. Ive found that sometimes my smokering is huge and really red, sometimes just a bit of a ring and other times practically none. I dont pay it much mind...as long as it tastes good.
 
Well said!!! i almost want to earase my previous post......and you are correct athat the msoke ring stops forming at 140 thats what they say here.. i acutlaly had two lil briskets gettin room temp this morning..a nd when i was reminded of that i stuck em back in the frige...my family thinks its cool to see the smoke ring.....hey, i do too....hehe..later
 
My chick and ribs came out absolutely awesome!!!
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On the chicken I used an apple juice brine with just a dash of strawberry extract and some other seasonings - super-duper tasty! Usually, there is chicken left over but this, it was completely devoured! The ribs were competition quality and my family was really upset that I did not make more.

I used kingsford this time, except for lighting the MM with some lump. Smokering was excellent and no temperature spikes! The WSM cooked like a dream and I watch movies with the family!

This is just my first experience with lump, but it seems to me that a charcaol that has lots of temp spikes and causes frequent tending to the cooker defeats the purpose of having a WSM in the first place.

Ok, so kingsford produces a lot of ash - well, thats why they make trash bags; I'm sticking with kingsford for now.

Tony
 
I have always used lump and always have a smoke ring. My meat is always cold when I put it on.

I didn't see any mention of smoke wood by the OP? what type did you use?

Anton
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Anton:
I have always used lump and always have a smoke ring. My meat is always cold when I put it on.

I didn't see any mention of smoke wood by the OP? what type did you use?

Anton </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I used hickory chunks. But as stated above, the meat was at room temp when I put it on so it reached 140* internal temp before a smoke ring had a chance to form.
 
Tony,

The subject of lump vs. briquettes will be debated long after we've gone to our maker.

I experimented w/ lump and brisket a lot, came close to ruining several, either temps running away, or temps going out (which is a subject that seems to be overlooked w/ lump). However, with some diligence, I've gotten to the point where I only do brisket w/ lump, and right now my brand of choice is Royal Oak, mostly because that's what available. Cowboy is easy to get, but I find its only good for high heat cooking and is worthless for low and slow. Mostly oak for smokewood, maybe some hickory/apple.

Now to add confusion to the mix...I use kingsford when I'm cooking butts w/ hickory/apple wood.

I guess its about comfort level. Its probably also related to budget as I seem to be cooking butts all the time, and briskets not that often, and kingsford has deals where they seem like they're giving it away.

Joey Mac
 
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