Seeking WOTL, My First Brisket, 18.5 WSM

[Jake Wilson]

the temp of the food fell backwards a few degrees and stayed that way for a bit. I checked the coal situation-

and decided to add more coal and wood to this fire. In hindsight, it wasn't needed, but at the time I was watching the temp of the pit fall to around 225 degrees, and IIRC, I saw it fall into the high 200 teens too (219, 217). I felt I needed to stoke it back up, but I was mistaken, there really was plenty of heat there, and it was just a matter of turning the blower up to get there, because when I added coal and wood to this fire, it jumped up to close to 300 degrees. One end to the other

this is what she looked like after 15 hours, and the temp was 207 degrees. She went too long, and trust me, when I inserted the food probe into the flat to probe for doneness at this point, the probe went easily in, way easy

But this wasn't the end of me making mistakes on this cook. I recalled Bob saying (or at least I thought I remembered him saying) for me to make sure I let it vent unwrapped for an nour after it was done, so the meat would cool off some, in the event I wanted to wrap it back up to hold the temp so I/we could eat later, which is what we did, but what I should have done was to keep the food temp probe in the flat, so if I had, I would have let the meat cool off a lot longer than an hour. At 207 degrees, it needed more than an hour to hit 140 degrees, before wrapping, because it was much hotter and cooked some more after I wrapped it. She stayed wrapped for at least two more hours, maybe 3 hours

here's my slicing/plating pic-

she's well done Bubba! Now I could tell the difference in how the flat felt when I took it off the smoker and when I sliced into it. IOW, she cooked more when I allowed it to rest by wrapping it back up. If you look at those slices, they are over a 1/4" thick. they're 3/8" and better and they still crumbled. Another tell it was over done, look how the meat split (cracked) in two, fractured

Now let me say right here and now, this was totally my fault for not letting the meat cool down a whole lot more before I re-wrapped it while we let it set, before we wanted to dig into it. At the risk of repeating myself, what I should have done when I took the brisket off the smoker...I should have left the food probe in the flat to monitor the temp, so I would know at what point to wrap to keep the meat at a safe temp, so as not to let it get too low, instead of letting it cook like I did. And Bob, this was totally on me

One more pic...

this was after it sat in the fridge for a few days...the meat almost looks rare in this photo, after slicing

We learn from our mistakes, and I have to interject right here, there was nothing wrong with the way this meat tasted. In fact, it tasted down right good. I ended up slicing it and chipping it then adding BBQ sauce to it and eating it that way, over toasted bread and toasted bagels, and we cleaned this flat up in four days. Really, I couldn't be any happier with the way it turned out. I've cooked enough in my lifetime to know that you have to learn from your mistakes, that that is how you learn sometimes

BTW, when I first pulled the brisket, I nibbled some on the point, which was perfectly done IMO. I separated the point from the flat and tightly wrapped the point in foil after it cooled down, then it went into a gallon baggie into our freezer. I think what I may end up doing with the point is to let it thaw before too long then re-rub it with some more Montreal Steak Seasoning then put it back into the smoker, or an oven for maybe 4 or 5 hours so I have burnt ends. Just a thought and I'm open to others suggestions

I want to thank everyone for the help you gave me. this was a very fun cook for me, and the first time I ever ate brisket, let alone cook it

 

[Dwain Pannell]

"I've cooked enough in my lifetime to know that you have to learn from your mistakes, that that is how you learn sometimes."

Make sure you keep notes or at least return to this thread before your next brisket cook. I'll admit I didn't read every word but there are nuggets of truth for you in this thread.

Nice job on the first packer.

 

[Kevin MM]

Why do you attach the alligator clip to the skewer and not the grate itself?

 

[Michelle in New Orleans]

The only thin I'll add is that based on what others have said here, I got myself a clay pot base, foil that and used that in the water bowl. I'm not experienced enough to tell you if it makes a huge difference in the product, but for me the cleanup that way is awesome! Wad up the foil, throw out, clean! Sure beats cleaning that water bowl.

We've been smoking for over 30 years and still use the water pan (though we talk about not using it since I've been on this site). But we wrap the water pan in fol before using, too, as it makes for easy cleanup, Chris. Just FYI...

 

[Bob Bass]

Great job, Jake !!!

You have one major task ahead... Cook another one soon based on what you learned during this cook.

My very best to you and yours.

ps... the one meat I most look forward to when judging is brisket.

Bob

 

[CLasko]

I think that's why I love BBQ'ing so much....the learning, tinkering, and experimenting. Great looking brisket!

 

[THoey]

Why do you attach the alligator clip to the skewer and not the grate itself?

I attach mine to a stick too. I have read that the reading might be off if connected to metal. Not sure the science, but avoided doing it due to hearing that.

 

[Jake Wilson]

Gotta add a couple of things here. First off, charcoal. If you're using blue-bag Kingsford, its ash residue is thick and, left to its own devices, it will choke off your fire eventually. It's too thick to all fall away from the lit briquettes on top of the charcoal grate and harmlessly into the bottom of the bowl below. If that's your fuel of choice then be prepared to carefully and gently knock the legs after about 12 hours, or what I do, open up the door, insert a stainless steel garden hand-rake (about 18" long) and agitate the coals slightly. Your goal is to get as much ash away from the viable briquettes. For cooks longer than 12 hours, I'd suggest you use Competition Kingsford if you can find it. Costco and BJs have it up here in NJ, but I'm not sure about your part of the world. It's slightly spendier but its ash is powder fine and drops away easily with no additional effort required.

~~~I used Kingsford Blue

Bought 400 lbs. a few days before the cook, when Home Depot was selling the twin 20 lb. packs at half off, for $10 instead of $20

FWIW, I did tap the legs around the 12 hour mark as I've read that bit over and over here before. Must be something to it=, but still not satisfied, I opened the door to take a peek and knocked things about using a long stick, with the top vent closed to stop drafting

You may also need to top up with unlit charcoal on that long a cook. Go to a hardware store and buy a 5 foot length of 4" or 6" metal ducting. Put one end into the firebox and slide fresh charcoal down it like a chute. Putting a handle on it is even better.

~~~as it were, and at the time, I thought it best to add charcoal so I started another chimney (only partially filled), but in hindsight, I really had enough coal in my 18.5 WSM, when I started out, and I filled it up pretty much to start at the beginning, anyways, there was more than enough coal to go the 15 hours I went

BTW, I cleaned out the WSM a few days after this cook, and there was plenty of coal leftover so I gathered it up and placed it in my regular charcoal grill and used it just yesterday for a chicken cook I did, and my first brining too, but I'll save that for another thread. Anyways, I ahd more than a chimney full of coal leftover from the brisket cook, so none went to waste

I agree 100% with the idea of marking your cut direction. I cut a tiny piece off when I'm prepping. Never fails.

~~~I remember Bob saying to do this but you know what?...I forgot to do it=:-(

(((BUT))), I took enough pics of the packer before cooking, I easily saw the grain of the meat so no problems there when cutting, not to mention, since I only lightly rubbed it, I could actually see the grain of the flat after cooking it 15 hours

For huge briskets that are too big for the smoker, rather than waste all that good meat trimming it down for your cooker, find three garden-variety clay bricks. Wrap 'em up in tin foil, and stack them 2-1 on the cooking grate, then drape the brisket over top of the bricks. By the time you're ready to foil it, the brisket will have shrunk enough that it will fit between the handles in all probability.

~~~I didn't trim it at all, but it would not fit lying it flat. What I did do was to fold the flat at the end, I sort of curled it up to itself, laying it over, stuffing it into the grill, so that when I placed the trop of the smoker on the center section, it worked out, and it did shrink as evidenced by the photos...like this one (below)

But ask yourself this. If time is not tight, why bother foiling in the first place? Why not just let it cook on its own until it hits about 195 internal (and passes the jiggle test)? You'll get bark to die for if you do that. The tradeoff is that it takes longer to cook this way, and you run the risk of drying out the end of the flat. That downside has been my nemesis since my first brisket cook 4 years ago, but the thicker parts of the packer are indescribably superb this way. I've never once gotten a good result with hot and fast in five tries, so I've abandoned it as a cooking method unless I'm in an unghodly hurry and have to do one last-minute.

~~~~I'm sure I will try cooking a brisket w/o foiling, and like you mention here, pull it off the smoker when it hits around 195 as measured with the food probe. Bark is a beautiful thing!

 

[Jake Wilson]

"I've cooked enough in my lifetime to know that you have to learn from your mistakes, that that is how you learn sometimes."

Make sure you keep notes or at least return to this thread before your next brisket cook. I'll admit I didn't read every word but there are nuggets of truth for you in this thread.

Nice job on the first packer.

~~~Thanks for the attaboy!, and yes, I did get some nice tips from the others here

I'm not real big on writing notes in regards to my cooking. I store all that data in my head, and believe it or not, I usually remember what I need to. Not sure how that has worked for me in the past but it has. I have been roasting my own coffee for the last 6 years, everything I drink, now in that endeavor, I do keep notes, so I have a roast log I fill out every roast I do with dates and what I roast, how much, and few other details, but when it comes to cooking, I've never really kept written notes. I probably should but I don't

 

[Jake Wilson]

Why do you attach the alligator clip to the skewer and not the grate itself?

~~~~the probe with the alligator clip I attached to the wooden skewer was for the pitmasteriq 120's pit temp. Their instructions said to attach the probe to a weooden skewer, stuck into the meat you are smoking, so I followed their instructions to the letter (I'm a bit of a program guy=

The reason you wouldn't want to attach that probe to the grill is because the alligator clip is part of the probe, and whatever you attach it to, it's going to read that temp. I have an idea the metal grill rod is a different temp than the ambient. Not sure what the difference would be though, if any, but again, I was following their instructions for using their pit temp probe

That said, the pit probe for the Maverick uses a metal tab you attach to the grill grate, but, as you can slide the tip of the probe away from the metal tab, you will read the ambient air temp and not the metal the probe is attached to, unlike the probe pitmaster soldered to the alligator clip

 

[Jake Wilson]

Great job, Jake !!!

You have one major task ahead... Cook another one soon based on what you learned during this cook.

My very best to you and yours.

ps... the one meat I most look forward to when judging is brisket.

Bob

~~~Thanks for the encouragement Bob! Yes, I want to smoke another brisket, and sooner rather than later. After that first one, I have a real hankerin for eating brisket, as I now know why so many love that cut of smoked meat. I think, I could eat it like hamburger, IOW, quite often

What I will change up though is the weight of the packer...the one we smoked was just about 15 lbs. I want to try a 10 to 12 pounder for my next one, mainly because there is only my wife and I, but her Aunt will come down to spend the winter with us sometime in November so when Elizabeth gets here...I'll look for the larger packers...she's a real meatdog=

Something else I will change for the next brisket smoke/cook and that is I'll lower my cooking temp from 250 down to 225. that's the plan anyways. Part of the reason for the lower temp, I've read where others tend to cook at 225, and from my experience cooking this first brisket, I think it was a bit on the high end temperature wise, judging by the way it turned out

 

[Jake Wilson]

I think that's why I love BBQ'ing so much....the learning, tinkering, and experimenting. Great looking brisket!

~~~Thanks!, yeah...I love all the tinkering too! I have to admit, staying up through the night really wore me out, but at the same time, it was really an exhilarating experience. After this first brisket, I think I'm a convert, preferring beef BBQ to pork BBQ

 

[Dustin Dorsey]

Believe it or not most BBQ joints in Texas are absolutely terrible. The brisket is normally dry, probably reheated and generally tasteless. The ones like Franklin, Pecan Lodge, La Barbeque, John Mueller, Louie Mueller, etc. are all exceptions. My first impressions of brisket was pretty low. As far as I was concerned pork was where it's at. When I first decided to get into smoking meat about 3 years ago or so, I was seeing that first wave of BBQ show and documentaries like the first season of Pitmasters or some of the food network stuff. Mostly you saw a lot of pork.

Then I decided to go to Pecan Lodge in Dallas (after seeing it on DDD) and had my first taste of real brisket and had to try it at home. So my first attempt at brisket was a little over a year ago and I got lucky and nailed my first one. There was a lot of beginners luck involved with that one! Anyway that's when I realized that beef really is king! I still love my pork too!