Not photos, but video recorded my first Brisket. Advice appreciated.


 
B

BrendanN

New member

So I made my first brisket. Unfortunately I recorded way more videos early on in the process rather than later, since by the time it was finished it was late (and beer).

My process:

Trimmed brisket night before. In one area I trimmed too much off the fat cap. However, I think I should have shaped the brisket more to make it cook more evenly.

MM for charcoals. 4 Hickory Chunks buried in coals.

Wrapped at 170 in butcher paper and tallow when bark looked good.

Didn't take it off until 204. Rewrapped in more tallow. At that point one side was super butter-like soft when probed, but other side of the flat was still a little tough. Didn't want to risk drying out the rest so I pulled it off anyway.

Let it rest 4hrs in cooler.

Was at 275 the entire time. No water Pan. Kingsford Blue.

Overall, the flat part of the brisket was pretty moist and had great smoke flavor. Think it tasted really good. However, the point had some drier bits. Also, I did not have a good smoke ring despite having what I thought was a great hint of smoke in the bark.
 
Awesome video. I wish I had those skills. I think it's probably all in the brisket trim. If you got the flat really good, then I'm impressed. The smoke ring is purely cosmetic and has nothing to do with flavor. I have trouble getting a good one on the WSM. Part of it is that when you leave the fat cap (which I also do) you will inhibit smoke ring formation somewhat on that side of the brisket, although you'll usually get some. There's that very end of the point that I have dry out on me sometimes especially when it hangs way over the flat.
 
Awesome cook Brendan. Odd that the flat was more moist than the point. Might be a zone issue. not having a smoke ring is my curse too. I'm told it's due to a lack of oxygen, which result is less nitric oxide and ultimately no smoke ring. I'm confused by that, because the whole process to low and slow is to restrict oxygen. Welcome to the curse
 
Brendan - Awesome video - I loved the sound track and editing! I bet that brisket was delicious, but sounds like you're a perfectionist and looking for ways to get better (like most of us are). I agree with your post game analysis, the trimming was probably the issue with the uneven cook. Trimming away fat and a some meat to get the brisket shaped right is kind of hard to do after spending so much $$$ on a piece of meat but if you want results, that's what it takes. Best case, you make sausage or your own tallow out of the trimmings, worse case they go in the trash.

Smoke wood chunks can go stale, it's an idea that other forum members helped me understand so click here if you haven't already thought of it. does smoke wood go stale? If you've had your hickory chunks for more than a few months, or they are of the nationally distributed big box store variety, there is some chance they had lost a lot of their flavor/smoke intensity.

You may also think about adding some water to the smoker, or spritzing. I would still run my pan dry and foil it, I'd just put 2 cups of hot water in a 13 x 9 disposable aluminum pan on the lower grate rather than deal with the mess of cleaning out the WSM's water pan. I seldom use water pans but they are an option if you want to try it and see if you think it helps.

Thanks for sharing your video!
 
ChuckO said:
Awesome cook Brendan. Odd that the flat was more moist than the point. Might be a zone issue. not having a smoke ring is my curse too. I'm told it's due to a lack of oxygen, which result is less nitric oxide and ultimately no smoke ring. I'm confused by that, because the whole process to low and slow is to restrict oxygen. Welcome to the curse
Click to expand...
Thanks! I actually think the reason the one side was slightly dryer was because I cut too much into the fat cap on one side. The cap was way thicker on one side of the flat, so when I trimmed the flat cross I cut into the meat slightly on one side.

In hindsight, I would have just thrown a layer of fat over that small portion that was exposed. Or maybe a slice of pork belly if I had it.
 
John K BBQ said:
Brendan - Awesome video - I loved the sound track and editing! I bet that brisket was delicious, but sounds like you're a perfectionist and looking for ways to get better (like most of us are). I agree with your post game analysis, the trimming was probably the issue with the uneven cook. Trimming away fat and a some meat to get the brisket shaped right is kind of hard to do after spending so much $$$ on a piece of meat but if you want results, that's what it takes. Best case, you make sausage or your own tallow out of the trimmings, worse case they go in the trash.

Smoke wood chunks can go stale, it's an idea that other forum members helped me understand so click here if you haven't already thought of it. does smoke wood go stale? If you've had your hickory chunks for more than a few months, or they are of the nationally distributed big box store variety, there is some chance they had lost a lot of their flavor/smoke intensity.

You may also think about adding some water to the smoker, or spritzing. I would still run my pan dry and foil it, I'd just put 2 cups of hot water in a 13 x 9 disposable aluminum pan on the lower grate rather than deal with the mess of cleaning out the WSM's water pan. I seldom use water pans but they are an option if you want to try it and see if you think it helps.

Thanks for sharing your video!
Click to expand...
Thanks for the advice. I want to look into using higher quality wood chunks, as that is the one place where I skimp for whatever is available at the local store. I also think it would be interesting to experiment with some lump charcoal instead of the briquettes.

Definitely going to try spritzing next time too!
 
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