My first brisket cook is in the books.


 
B

Brandon M

New member
This past weekend me and a buddy decided to go camping while the weather was nice, and I thought it would be a great time to try my first brisket. I picked up an 11.5lb packer from wally world and loaded up the WSM in the truck and off we went. I trimmed a lot of fat but left about a 1/4" of fat cap. I injected with beef broth and rubbed it down with some Black Ops brisket rub. I lit my chimney around 9:30pm and had the smoker up to temp and blowing clean smoke around 11pm, thats when I put the brisket on. I have a Party Q so there wasnt much need to get up and check it until the maverick told me when it hit 160. The Brisket hit 160 around 4:30am, so I got out of the tent, it was a brisk 37degrees outside, and foiled the brisket while half asleep. Reset the maverick to go off at 200 degrees. To my surprise the brisket was at 203 by 9:00am, I was expecting it to go until noon. So I took it off and seperated the point and the flat, and the point went back on for burnt ends, the flat got re-wrapped in foil and placed in the cooler for a nice 4 hr rest. The flat turned out nice and juicy, but the bark was not there, it was almost like a paste, I guess that is what happens when you foil, I dont know being this was my first time, but none the less it was delicious. The point smoked for 5 hours and the burnt ends were absolutely amazing. All in all it was a good cook and a lot of fun. Next time I am gonna wait a little longer before I foil to give the bark a better chance to set up, or maybe skip the wrap all together. Any advice on how to get a better bark is much appreciated. Attached are the only two pics I took, my hands were greasy and diddnt feel like pulling out my phone too much.
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If you had skipped the foil you probably would have made it to noon on the cook. I've foiled once, and ended up over cooking my brisket. Never tried it again, and I've never felt the need.
 
Did you have water in the pan?
I'm guessing the bark was not dry when you foiled. In my experience once the bark is dry, or set, it usually won't go mushy again.
 
Yeah I did have the water pan in, and I definitley need to wait longer before foiling. Next time I will foil by appearance rather than temp.
 
There is an ongoing "foil-or-not" discussion/argument/civil war on the forum. I'm with Mike -- no foil until it's done and ready to rest. I have done it both ways and prefer the no-foil option. By any measure, it sounds like your first cook was a success. Suggest that you try a no-foil cook and see which method gives you a result you prefer.

Any way you slice it, there's nothing like a brisket you cooked yourself. (BTW, resting for 4 hours was a good move.)

Jeff
 
Brandon, let me tell you that you do not need water after the very first 2-3 hours (for brisket and boston butt) apecially using ATC. you should calibrate water quantity to last at that cooking temp exactly what you need for smoke ring and stop.!
Just try some cooks and tou find it.
That way bark will form and set really well and later in foil will not be destroyed.
 
Enrico Brandizzi said:
Brandon, let me tell you that you do not need water after the very first 2-3 hours (for brisket and boston butt) apecially using ATC. you should calibrate water quantity to last at that cooking temp exactly what you need for smoke ring and stop.!
Just try some cooks and tou find it.
That way bark will form and set really well and later in foil will not be destroyed.
Click to expand...
The only thing that worrys me about not running water is the fact that I have ran out of water on a cook and the temp shot up close to 300 degrees, and this was with the party q set at 230, I guess the smoker just isnt gunked up enough. I did order a gasket kit that should be here this week and that should solve most of that problem.
 
Brandon, wrapping around 160 is the right time if you're going to wrap. Wrapping in foil will cause the meat to "steam" which will have a negative affect on your bark. In my experience you have 3 alternatives; 1) don't wrap, 2) wrap in butcher paper (search You Tube for Aaron Franklin's Brisket video), 3) remove the brisket from the foil and put it back on the cooker to firm up the bark.
 
Brandon M said:
The only thing that worrys me about not running water is the fact that I have ran out of water on a cook and the temp shot up close to 300 degrees, and this was with the party q set at 230, I guess the smoker just isnt gunked up enough. I did order a gasket kit that should be here this week and that should solve most of that problem.
Click to expand...

Even with my well seasoned WSM I find temps much harder to control without water. The swings are far larger, and I typically have to run with only one vent 1/4 to 1/3 open.
 
Resting for 4 HOURS?!?! Good lord, is this the norm? I was told, I can rest it for 30mins.


Setting up to do my first brisket soon and one thing I kept hearing from noobs who have tried it, is that the flat ended up cooking first and drying out.

So, do you concentrate on the flat first, then the point?
 
Mac LA said:
Resting for 4 HOURS?!?! Good lord, is this the norm? I was told, I can rest it for 30mins.


Setting up to do my first brisket soon and one thing I kept hearing from noobs who have tried it, is that the flat ended up cooking first and drying out.

So, do you concentrate on the flat first, then the point?
Click to expand...
I concentrated on the flat, didn't worry about the point at all, and besides the bark not setting the meat itself turned out super moist and tender. As far as the rest goes I'm not sure seeing as this was my first one. I just know the results. There are a lot more people on here with more knowledge than me maybe they can chime in. Good luck with your cook
 
Mac LA said:
Resting for 4 HOURS?!?! Good lord, is this the norm? I was told, I can rest it for 30mins.


Setting up to do my first brisket soon and one thing I kept hearing from noobs who have tried it, is that the flat ended up cooking first and drying out.

So, do you concentrate on the flat first, then the point?
Click to expand...

The point is pretty much just along for the ride. It'll be done when the flat is done, or you can cook it for hours more if you want.
 
Agree here with Mike. It's kinda hard to overcook a point. It can be done but it's not easy. I would concentrate on the flat first and let the point do it's thing.

The last brisket I cooked, the point got up to ~210 before the flat was tender. When I probed the point there was NO resistance. I was halfway thinking I was just missing the point and probing air through the foil.

I think the point got up to ~211 by the end. Turned out amazing.
 
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