My first Brisket-not what I would call a Success


 
Steve Whiting

Steve Whiting

TVWBB All-Star
I did my first brisket over the weekend with questionable success. I fired up the cooker using the Minion method at about 10:30 Saturday night. I used Royal Oak charcoal briquettes of which I have never used prior to this. I have always used Kingsford. With 20 hot coals, 6-chunks of wood and all the vents wide open the temp had only reached 180° an hour later. At 210° I got impatient and threw the 9.6 pound meat, rubbed and right out of the refrigerator, onto the smoker. With all the vents still wide open it finally reached 225 3 hours later. I don’t know if the weather was a factor-a constant drizzle of rain with very little wind or if the coals were not up to the task, but it seamed like it struggled the entire cook. The temp never got high enough to require vent adjustments so I left them wide open the entire cook.
At 6 hours I basted and turned and again 3 hours after that. I was a little disappointed that with each turn a bit of the bark would stick to the grill and leave a hole in the otherwise decent looking finish to the brisket.
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I had to add more charcoal at about hour 10 because the temp was dropping.
14 Hours into the cook, with an internal temp of 191° I took the brisket off. I foiled it and placed in a cooler, wedged between towels. Because it had cooked for so long and I had somewhere else to be it was 4-hours before I got back to it. While still a little warm I removed the point and began to slice up the flat. Rather then nice thin slices it just fell apart so I ended up just chopping and pulling the whole thing, flat and point. I guess it will become sandwiches and other stuff. It tasted okay but all in all not the success I was hoping for.
Any advice, thoughts or questions?
 
It doesn't seem to weird that you ran out of lump after 10 hours. The stuff does burn faster than briquettes and you will go through considerably more coal in cold weather. I am a little surprised that you never got the temp up. What was the highest temp you did reach?

It sounds to me like the brisker was probably a little over cooked. Instead of checking the internal temperature just try to pull it when you could put a fork in and twist it a little with no resistance. The fork should be able to come out clean without lifting the brisket.

I don't have much problem with anything sticking to my grates. Before I grill of the kettle I spray a paper towel with pam or olive oil and rub the grate down, possibly that would work here.

Personally I also never flip brisket on the WSM. Fat cap side down for me to guard against any possible heat surges etc....

Good luck on the next one!

Clark
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">It doesn't seem to weird that you ran out of lump after 10 hours. The stuff does burn faster than briquettes and you will go through considerably more coal in cold weather. I am a little surprised that you never got the temp up. What was the highest temp you did reach? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
The Royal Oak was briquettes, not lump so I expected it to burn more consistant and last longer. I think the highest temp it reached was 237.
 
That is really weird. I only have experience with the Royal Oak lump, never used the briquettes. I can't see any reason why you wouldn't hit above roughly 230 with all the vents open, even if you were burning grass! How cold was it outside? Any wind? Full water pan?
 
THe outside weather ranged from low 50's to maybe 60 tops. Very litte if any wind and a full water pan. (hot water). I am wondering if it could be the Briquettes? I have always used Kingsford in the past and this was my first experience with RO briquettes. Could thay be that bad or could I have gotten a bad batch?
 
Steve, I've used Royal Oak Lump also and have had good results. A couple of suggestions. Try the Royal Oak again on a shorter cook to see if it really was the charcoal. I never baste the brisket. Once it's on its on. When it gets close to temp I check the feel . Like Clark said try putting a fork in the side. You should feel a little resistance.Remember, wrapped in foil and towels that puppy will continue to cook in the cooler. Did you have a really full ring of charcoal? The charcoal wasn't damp or wet was it? Don't be discouraged. This is all part of the learning curve. Hey, look at it this way you still had good eats.
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Welcome to the mediocre brisket club. Actually mine are getting better. A couple of questions for you:

1) How confident are you that your pit probe is accurate? Have you tested it and where was it placed?

2) It's been raining a lot here lately is there a chance your charcoal was wet and then maybe it dried out as the cook went along?

3) What was in your WSM water pan? If water what temperature was it cold?

4) How full was your charcoal ring?

5) When you removed it at 191 did you place the probe in multiple locations to test the temp? If yes, did you note how the probe went in? Did it slide in with no effort or did you have to push a little when inserting?

EDIT: Sorry to ask some of the same questions Paul asked, I started my post prior to his being updated. Something else I wanted to add; I start every MM cook by dumping my 8 - 10 lit, assembling my smoker and putting my meat on all at the same time. Never had a problem using this approach. I have however experienced problems when I allowed my smoker to get to temp and then put my meat on. In my experience taking the lid off for even that short period of time gets more air to your coals and you're heat will spike. Also, all my meat goes right from the fridge to the WSM. There's a theory that the colder your meat the more smoke it will absorb. Don't know if it's true or not but I've never had any issues using this method so what the hell.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content"> With 20 hot coals, 6-chunks of wood and all the vents wide open the temp had only reached 180° an hour later. At 210° I got impatient and threw the 9.6 pound meat, rubbed and right out of the refrigerator, onto the smoker. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>Herein lies the problem: With a Minion start, the meat needs to be loaded at the same time the lit goes on and the cooker is assembled. (HOT water gets put into the bowl if using water.)

Putting the meat in late acts as a heat sink. Putting the meat in late and cold means a major heat sink. That is the reason why your temps didn't come up and you went through so much fuel. (The meat can go in cold if it goes in when the lit gets added and the cooker is assembled, as it should.)

(Meat doesn't absorb smoke. Cold meat can affect smokering formation, which stops around 140. Many like to put meat in cold to facilitate this.)
 
were you using any type of power draft system on your WSM?
It sure sounds like you had some wet charcoal, or maybe some very old stuff that just wouldn't burn.If you have a Home Depot near by, you may want to check and see if they carry Ranchers charcoal. Larry R. (previous post) and I both use it with the exception of one bag we both have had good success with it and it's very reasonible price wise. We bought ours down in Visalia for 2.99 per 20 lb bag. I've got about 420 lbs left before I need to restock.
I had the same problem a while back and we firmly believe it was due to wet coals, so I know your pain.
 
Another hint on overnight cooks where outside temps are not favorable; add water only after getting close or past your settling point.

I do this with a gas can designated for water, and fill through the door opening.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">With 20 hot coals, 6-chunks of wood and all the vents wide open the temp had only reached 180° an hour later. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Kevin, do you find it odd that after 1 hour with all his vents 100% open, and no cold meat on he was only at 180? We're still unsure what heat sink he was using e.g. water, clay saucer, sand etc. but unless he was using very cold water this still seems odd to me. Please keep in mind the majority of my WSM experience is with clay saucer vs. water . . . but this still seems odd. Maybe someone who works with water would have a better feel for this than I would.

I'd have to go back and look at some of my cook logs but with my WSM starting out with 15 lbs of cold meat, 8 lit MM and a cold saucer I'm easily to final temp 225 - 235 within my first hour and that's with shutting down my bottom vents 100% at 200 and adjusting from there.

Trust me, I'm not questioning your diagnosis, just seems odd to me.

Regarding outside temps., I live just down the freeway from Steve and our low was 42 that night.
 
Thanks for all the great ideas. To many to respond to individually but I now have some good ideas as to where I went wrong and what I can do differently next time.
Just to answer some of the questions:
I used hot water in the water pan. Put it in when I threw in the hot briquettes.
As discussed, I did not put the meat on immediately. I let the cooker heat up for almost an hour before doing so. Sounds like I should have put in on when I put the hot charcoal on so the temp of the meat would not bring down the cooker temp. Good idea.
Now that I think about it I may not have filled the charcoal ring all the way to the top.
and it is possible the Charcoal may have gotten wet at some point.
Regarding the probe, I am confident it is accurate. I will test it though to confirm.
I did not use a power draft system.

I can’t wait to try it again. As I mentioned, I did get some good shredded meat that will make some pretty good sandwiches and tacos so it was not a total loss.
 
I forgot to mention that while cutting the brisket the bark slid right off the meat. Is this a sign that I left too much fat on when preping the brisket? Before smoking I covered it with mustard and then a dry rub.
 
Steve
As stated when starting put the brisket on right away and let the cooker come to temp naturally, it doesn't really matter how long it takes.

When you baste and turn a brisket as often as you were you prolong the cook and there is no good reason to do it, you are dumping heat and prolonging the cook.

If you are going to use a mustard slather and apply rub, put on a thin coating mustard and then rub. You only need it on the lean sides of the meat. Use the fat cap as a buffer against the heat rising in the pit and forget flipping. The combination of mustard and basting for what eaver reason never allowed the bark to set and that is why it came off.

It does sound like the charcoal was damp and that would explain some of your heat problems.

Jim

PS I have not used hot water in the waterpan since sometime in 2000.
 
Steve, to hit on what Larry and Kevin said about cold meat. I've found that the colder the meat the better the internal color of the finished product. When you tear that butt apart and you see that great smoke ring you'll know what I'm talking about. It's soooo much better than that no color"dead meat" look.I kind of like to cook partially frozen meat. As long as I can get my temp probe in it she's ready to cook. Even my foiled brisket prepared like this comes off with a nice ring.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">do you find it odd that after 1 hour with all his vents 100% open, </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
I do. It would seem damp fuel would almost have to be the culprit. If the fuel is taking longer to get going the temps aren't going to rise as quickly. Couple this with the addition of heat sinks later in the rise and...
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Steve Whiting:
I forgot to mention that while cutting the brisket the bark slid right off the meat. Is this a sign that I left too much fat on when preping the brisket? Before smoking I covered it with mustard and then a dry rub. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
It's hard to know without being there, but it's certainly a possibility. I couldn't think of anything else that would cause the bark to slide off. Personally, I trim the fat extremely thin, just a very thin layer on top. Remember, fat doesn't really absorb smoke, and if you have too much on it's not all going to render either.

If you are mopping the meat it's not a huge deal if you only leave a little and it all renders off. In my opinion, I think you're way better off having not enough fat than too much. I've even cooked fully trimmed flats and just used fatback laid on top to keep them moist. You can always do things to help add moisture to the meat, but you can only render so much fat.
 
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