Hey all,
I recently purchased a Weber Smokey Mountain 18.5". Did my first cook on it last week using a 3ish pound flat brisket and a pork butt. The rain hampered my cook a bit, but it was a decent first try. I think I let the brisket cook a bit longer than I should have, as it wasn't moist and tender, but not shoe leather either. The pork butts could have probably used a bit longer. The bone did separate pretty easily from the meat after I let it rest, but it wasn't the easiest thing to shred. Which leads me to today's cook...
I have a 10ish pound flat brisket, and 2 pork butts. Brisket is fat side up on the lower level, and the two butts are on the top (my logic being that the pork drippings would help keep my brisket a bit more moistened). My grill came up to temp around 7:30AM (EST), and I've been cooking at around 225-230 or so since then (current time is 1:45ish). I have a probe in my brisket and it's currently reading 164F. So 6 hours into the cook, and it looks like I'm getting ready to enter Stall territory. Is this normal? I was expecting this to be around a 10-12 hour cook, which has me a bit concerned that this has cooked to fast. I just opened the lid for the first time to give my butts a spritz of cider vinegar and hot sauce, and everything is looking rather lovely. Thoughts?
Which then leads me to: When is my food "done". I realize that the meat will tell me it's done, but I also don't want to overdue it (especially with the brisket). Last time, I let it get up to 195 and then let it sit at that for a while in foil. Is that correct, or should i have pulled it as soon as it got to 195. I know people have talked about the fork test, but I really hate poking holes in the thing, especially since it's going to rest and sit in the fridge tonight (I'll be warming it up about an hour before the party starts tomorrow, as well as the pork butts).
Same thing with the pork butts. Is there such a thing as being too done with them? I couldn't quite tell if they were hard to pull because i didn't let them sit long enough in the smoker, or if I let them go too long. These have been my first two experiences with these cuts of meat (I typically have done ribs on my small weber in the past to pretty great success, or so my friends say.
I recently purchased a Weber Smokey Mountain 18.5". Did my first cook on it last week using a 3ish pound flat brisket and a pork butt. The rain hampered my cook a bit, but it was a decent first try. I think I let the brisket cook a bit longer than I should have, as it wasn't moist and tender, but not shoe leather either. The pork butts could have probably used a bit longer. The bone did separate pretty easily from the meat after I let it rest, but it wasn't the easiest thing to shred. Which leads me to today's cook...
I have a 10ish pound flat brisket, and 2 pork butts. Brisket is fat side up on the lower level, and the two butts are on the top (my logic being that the pork drippings would help keep my brisket a bit more moistened). My grill came up to temp around 7:30AM (EST), and I've been cooking at around 225-230 or so since then (current time is 1:45ish). I have a probe in my brisket and it's currently reading 164F. So 6 hours into the cook, and it looks like I'm getting ready to enter Stall territory. Is this normal? I was expecting this to be around a 10-12 hour cook, which has me a bit concerned that this has cooked to fast. I just opened the lid for the first time to give my butts a spritz of cider vinegar and hot sauce, and everything is looking rather lovely. Thoughts?
Which then leads me to: When is my food "done". I realize that the meat will tell me it's done, but I also don't want to overdue it (especially with the brisket). Last time, I let it get up to 195 and then let it sit at that for a while in foil. Is that correct, or should i have pulled it as soon as it got to 195. I know people have talked about the fork test, but I really hate poking holes in the thing, especially since it's going to rest and sit in the fridge tonight (I'll be warming it up about an hour before the party starts tomorrow, as well as the pork butts).
Same thing with the pork butts. Is there such a thing as being too done with them? I couldn't quite tell if they were hard to pull because i didn't let them sit long enough in the smoker, or if I let them go too long. These have been my first two experiences with these cuts of meat (I typically have done ribs on my small weber in the past to pretty great success, or so my friends say.
