Please comment/advise on my first smoke


 
S

Stuart Osterweil

TVWBB Fan
Finally got to use the WSM, but with mixed results.

I was able to use and control temps perfectly (I think), but my Pork Shoulder and Brisket came out quite a bit dryer then it should have.

Heres the gory details.

Pork Butt(really a bone in picnic) was 6.46 lbs with the skin on. I did remove the skin.
The Brisket was a Flat, and very, very lean at 5.05 lbs
They had been previously frozen and then defrosted.
I used the “boiling water” test with my NuTemp(3 probes) and got a 206*, a 208*, and a 210* reading (what to make of this ?-I live at sea level)
The temp outside was 30* and they predicted wind, but it remained calm through the night.

At 2:24 pm I applied the rub (basic)

I was using the “Minion method”

At 8:36 pm I lit 31 Kingsford briquettes in the Weber Chimney starter (side note, I put some dryer lint in with the newspaper, and that baby took off !!)
About 10 minutes later I dumped the lit charcoal on a full ring of briquettes plus about 8 medium/small chunks of Hickory and Mesquite (all I could get for now)

Filled the Brinkman charcoal pan full of warm/hot tap water.
At 8:56 pm I put the Brisket on the bottom rack, and the PB on the top rack
At 9:12 pm the Probe through top vent read 197*, so I adjusted the vents to 25% open.
At 9:30 pm probe read 236*(actual reading, not adjusted for difference)
At 9:38 pm probe read 244*, closed vents to approx 15% open.
At 10 pm I was steady at 255*
At 10:12 pm I reached 259* (highest initial temp)
At 10:30 pm 256*
At 11 pm 246*
At 4 am 238*
At 6 am 221*-At this point I went outside and tapped the legs and opened the bottom vents.
At 6:15 am 238*
At 7:15 am 223*
At 7:30 am I added 14 unlit briquettes.
At 8pm I was at 258* through the top vent.
I opened up the smoker for the first time to insert the probes into the meat.
I flipped each piece and sprayed both sides with Apple juice/cider vinegar.
Brisket registered 170* (should have taken it off at this point, I think, but didn’t) and the PB registered at 184* (once agin, these are the actual numbers, not adjusted for the temp differences found in the boil test)
At 8:03 am temp at top was 265, so I closed the vents to 25%
At 9:20 am the temp was 217*
At 9:25 am I pulled the meats off the grill, the probes both read 180*( the brisket was rising, and the PB temp was falling ?)
Wrapped in aluminum foil, and into a cooler.

At 1:30 pm I sliced the brisket, it was very dry, but had a good (great) smoky taste, and was very good on a samich with some commercial BBQ sauce (just dry)
I pulled the pork, and to my surprise, it was also dry, not brutally dry, but not what I expected.

So, in summary, I was 100% happy with my tempature controlling abilities, and smoky taste, but very disappointed in the dryness of my meats..

What do you think did me in ? Too long cooking time (brisket) ? Lack of any fat (brisket) ?
 
Stuart,

Once bought and cooked a pork butt that weighed about 7 pounds and..... appeared to be relatively lean for a butt

I too experienced dryness in the finished product - despite a 190 degree internal temp. I've since learned to buy butts that DO NOT appear to be too lean. Some supermarkets like to trim a lot (too much) of the fat. This may have been a contributory factor in your situation.
 
I think the bone-in picnic is a little leaner and therefore will cook a little drier than the boston butt. I did on once, and that was my experience. Seemed to have more of the light colored meat after cooking and that part was a little drier.

Paul
 
Stuart,

Sounds like you should be pretty happy with the results.

As for the brisket, I can't comment much on that, I've only done packers and have no experience with the well trimmed flats. One bit of advice I've seen was to add a little beef broth to the brisket when it gets wrapped up for its rest, but given that it was already pretty lean, my guess is most of the fat had rendered out leaving it kind of dry.

For the pork - I can share that I've gone to cooking butts. I experimented a little with using pinics, butb I too found they tended to dry out a little more. Maybe it just has more to do with the type of muscle contained in the picnic. I'm sure with a little practice and patient observation, picnic cooking can yield wonderfull results. I've just had more consisitent luck w/ butts. I just might make that a project this summer to figure out picnics a little better.
 
stuart brings up an interesting question... sounds like he pulled off the pork roast at 180, after it had reached 184. The consensus on this board seems to be that 195 is the magic number. But, his was dry at 184, so would leaving it on until the 190-ish range had just made it drier? or would it have made it more tender? seems the former, since presumably there wasn't any more fat to render...

I'm curious, as I have a picnic roast in the freezer waiting for me... this is a timely thread.
 
Picnics don't have as much of the important intramuscular fat, as opposed to butts. Consider injecting and/or foiling to add/preserve moisture. Or just buy butts instead.
 
Noticed that this weekend also when I ran them side by side. The picnic wasnt dry though, althought it was 10lbs before I skinned it.
Stuart, did you just baste the one time? Also, your butt temp was falling because your wsm temp fell. I think you did okay. I dried out few butts my first time also. The nice thing is you adapt and run another one.
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I usually look for butts, but the wife got this one.

And I was thinking "this thing is very lean for a Butt/picnic"

I think I should have wrapped the brisket in bacon, I knew it was very very lean !
 
Also, what do you make of the 3 different (all lower 206, 208, 210) tempature readings I got during the boiling water test with my NuTemps(3 probes) ?
 
Originally posted by Brian H:
Noticed that this weekend also when I ran them side by side. The picnic wasnt dry though, althought it was 10lbs before I skinned it.
Stuart, did you just baste the one time? Also, your butt temp was falling because your wsm temp fell. I think you did okay. I dried out few butts my first time also. The nice thing is you adapt and run another one.
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Yes, I only basted this once, mistake ?
 
There is going to be some variation with consumer model digital thermometers. For true accuracy, you'd have to spend a lot more money. Best you can do is be aware of the variance, hope it's only linear, and allow for it when you cook.
 
I would not say mistake, as some do not baste at all. I like to baste 3-4 times during the last 6 hours or so. My butts seem to be moister since I started this practice. Try it in future as I dont think it will hurt.
 
I've had great success with picnics, and haven't had a dry one yet. I may just be lucky. But I generally pull at 195-205. It is possible that it just needed some more break-down time (but it also could be that you just had a dry piece of meat).
 
Stuart:

You mentioned that the flat was "very, very lean." This was probably a significant part of the problem. The general concensus is the more fat cap on a brisket, the better. I follow Jim Minion's recommendation and put the brisket (fat cap down) on about a pound of bacon on the grill to further shield the brisket. So far, it has worked wonderfully.

If this was your first cook in the WSM then you did well in keeping your temperatures down. There are a couple of things that you might try to improve your results. 1) start the MM using fewer briquets. I have gotten better results using12-20 bricquets to start. This may help you get a longer, more even burn. 2) Work on arresting the temperature rise earlier. With the "new" burned off of your WSM, controlling the temperatures should be a little easier.

Oh, yeah, I tend to stay away from basting, opening the lid messes with temperature controle.

Welcome to the club and happy smoking!
 
Vernon:

I haven't tried smoking a brisket yet, but I'm very anxious to. I never would have thought to put bacon on the grill if I was cooking fat cap down. Do you put the brisket on the bottom rack or top rack?

Also, has Herb Sendeck saved his job with a late season rally again this year?
icon_wink.gif


Bill "Clemson grad and lifelong Tiger fan"

PS: When does football start?
 
Originally posted by Bill M.:

I haven't tried smoking a brisket yet, but I'm very anxious to. I never would have thought to put bacon on the grill if I was cooking fat cap down. Do you put the brisket on the bottom rack or top rack?

Also, has Herb Sendeck saved his job with a late season rally again this year?
icon_wink.gif


Bill "Clemson grad and lifelong Tiger fan"

PS: When does football start?
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Bill -- Typically, I do flats on the top grate. Last Christmas all that I could get were three small flats and two went on top, one on the bottom. The bottom flat was pulled an hour or two before the top. About 1" of sand in the pan and a Guru.

Working out of town, (work, eat, sleep, repeat; no newspapers, no TV), I am seriously uninformed about the majority of Wolfpack happenings. As you know in SC the ONLY things discussed are Carolina (not the one that I refer to as "Carolina") and Clemson. At least when I am home in Charlotte, Clemson is a subject of discussion.
 
First of all, thank you to all who have replied. Despite the dryness of the meat (and it was improved the next day with a little water/microwave action)I am very satisfied with my first effort/results. I owe this board a big thanks for all the great info and advise !!

Originally posted by Vernon N:
Stuart:

You mentioned that the flat was "very, very lean." I follow Jim Minion's recommendation and put the brisket (fat cap down) on about a pound of bacon on the grill to further shield the brisket.

If this was your first cook in the WSM then you did well in keeping your temperatures down. There are a couple of things that you might try to improve your results. 1) start the MM using fewer briquets. I have gotten better results using12-20 bricquets to start

QUOTE]
Vernon, thank you. The reason I started so many briquettes is that the weather forecast called for temps in the 20's and gusty winds. It stayed around 30 with no wind, so....

Also, do you put bacon on top of the brisket also ?

I only basted cause I was opening the smoker to flip meat and insert the probes. I was trying to avoid opening the smoker any more then necessary.
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Stuart
Since the heat is from below using the bacon on top did not give you much help. Try putting the bacon on the grate placing the brisket on top next time you find yourself in this situation.

I find that a lot of therms that are off when you check them in boiling water can be even futher off as the the temps climb in the pit. I would suggest buying at least one very good thremometer so you can get a better readings.

Jim
 
Stuart,

Sometimes, we just get a "challenging" piece of meat that won't cooperate - like your pork butt. So meat selection can be important.

Its more important with Brisket, as Brisket is just more challenging to cook period. But there's a lot of good help around here and you're asking the right questions.

-Albert
 
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