Weekend brisket failure


 
C

C. Horton

New member
Hi all, newbie here. I've used my new WSM five times in the last couple of months with mixed success (good pulled pork and chickens, poor ribs), and I was making a brisket this weekend for the first time.

I bought a choice packer at Costco and planned to do 6 hours out of foil to set the bark, then finish in foil to reduce cooking time. Setup the smoker for a Minion light, 2 medium chunks hickory, 4 apple, hot water in the pan. Added the meat straight from the fridge a few min after lighting when the temps had settled.

It looked like everything was going right, on target for temps at the grate (220-240) measured by my Maverick wireless, but when I opened it up after 6 hours I found that the bark had not set at all. It was still a completely liquid paste on the outside. I let it keep going unfoiled for another hour, but eventually had to put it in foil so that it would get done in time for dinner. I eventually pulled the meat at 205 when it felt tender to the probe.

Still no bark on the final product, not that I would expect one to form in the foil. It was tender when sliced, but had no smoke ring whatsoever. Not even a hint of pink on the edge. That seems strange to me seeing as the ribs I smoked at the same time had a nice thick smoke ring.

So although the brisket ended up tender, it was just an ugly slab of grey meat without the bark or ring. I was a little embarrassed to serve it. Any idea why I wouldn't get any smoke ring or bark?
 
Good BBQ is not timed, it takes time. If you are going to wrap the brisket, do it by temp (usually 165*) instead of time.
 
Next time try taking it out of the foil for the last hour to set your bark. What did you use for rub?

The smoke ring is caused by a chemical reaction between the smoke and the meat. This reaction stops once the meat reaches 140*. The longer the meat is below 140 the better your ring should be. Sometimes you just won't get a smoke ring. I'm more concerned with bark and flavour than smoke ring.
 
What did you put on the brisket for a rub? Still a liquid paste after hours in the smoke seems like you maybe started with something way too wet. The meat will sweat out some juices and you created a humid environment with the water in the pan.

Briskets for me get injected, sometimes slathered with a very thin coating of mustard, then coated with a dry rub. I've never had a brisket fail to set up a bark, but I don't use a wet rub.

Were you mopping/spritzing?
 
Also, try using sand or a clay pot and no water in the pan. That plus good sugar content in your rub should get you there. Other steps in your method are just fine.
 
@Bill - it had been 165-170 for a while when I first checked it, and it was still in that range when I foiled it.

@Bob - Taking it out of the foil for a while at the end might have helped, but I thought that would only re-firm a bark that had softened in the foil, not formed a bark from nothing. As for the smoke ring, the brisket went on cold with plenty of wood in the smoker, which is why I was so mistified that not even a trace of pink was present.

@Dave - I patted the brisket dry with paper towels, applied a thin coat of yellow mustard, then used a dry rub recipe from the vwbb main page. It was the consistency of a paste when it went in the smoker. I didn't inject, mop, or spritz. It was still wet and steaming after 6 hours in the smoker, so I didn't think it needed any more liquid.

2 Tablespoons granulated sugar
2 Tablespoons ground black pepper
2 Tablespoons sweet paprika
2 Tablespoons pure chili pepper powder
2 teaspoons onion salt
2 teaspoons garlic salt
2 teaspoons celery salt
2 teaspoons seasoning salt

@ W Tyler - I'm still a newb, so a little hesitant to go without water to stabilize temps just yet. I don't think the rub was particularly high in sugar, so maybe that contributed to the lack of bark.

Thanks for the suggestions everyone. I'm still pretty confused as to why things went wrong
 
Howdy C. Horton,

Totally agree with what others have said.

For the next brisket, you might want to try a little 'experiment'...
No water in water pan. ( can be foiled pan, if you like AND you will be just fine without the water )
No mustard coating, dry rub only. (towel dry the brisket first)
You might want to rethink the dry rub & find one that has both white and brown sugar in it.
Follow your same cooking sequence you already use.
added --> When you trim the brisket, leave approx 1/4" of fat on the bottom and make sure to remove any silver skin on the top !

Oh... (just a suggestion, but really recommend it ) Since you live so close, take one of Harry Soo's classes. A fun class that will give you a new perspective on BBQ. http://www.slapyodaddybbq.com/

Bob, from the other side of the hill... ;)
 
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C.Horton,

Only done three briskets but you might try a dry rub and no foil with water in the pan. Once I quit under cooking they came out great. Toss the thermometer, you don't need it.
 
Hmm.

My hunch is that the "thin coat of mustard" was much thicker than it needed to be. Could be wrong though.

When I do a mustard slather, I basically put two stripes on the meat on each side, or make an oval or something, then rub that all over. The meat isn't yellow when I'm done, it looks like meat with barely any mustard on it. But it's enough to make the rub stick.

You don't need sugar to make bark. I've never put sugar on brisket and it always comes out with a decent bark.

I'd say next time try less mustard or no mustard and I agree on skipping the water too. I've just quit running water in my WSM, it's a pain to clean up and totally unnecessary IMO.
 
I'd bump the cooking temperature up to 250-275, not 220-250. The musard wasn't the cause of the pasty issues, especially since you put on a light amount. Typically I mix the mustard and rub in a bowl and make a thick paste before application and have never not had bark form. Did you trim off any of the fat cap before cooking?
 
I didn't read all the responses but the reason why you didn't get a good bark is because you put water in the water pan. Try doing it without water in the pan, if your trying to keep it moist use a spray bottle with your favorite liquid and inject it prior to putting it on the Q
 
Spraying liquid on the outside of the meat will not keep it moist. It all evaporates or runs off. The evaporation actually slows your cooking process.
 
Shayne P said:
I didn't read all the responses but the reason why you didn't get a good bark is because you put water in the water pan.
Click to expand...

Bah, I just did my first ever packer, water pan full, and I had no problems with bark.

8854494163_2a2dcc4785_o.jpg


8859742341_bd24a63f7f_o.jpg

(Ignore the fact the portion of flat you're seeing here is a little overcooked)
 
C,

don't be discouraged, brisket is the hardest meat to get the hang of. Here are some questions:
- how much did the brisket weigh?
- how did you prepare it? Did you trim fat away?
- what was the temp at the start of your cook?
- you mentioned you measured temp at the grate. Which grate?
- did you have the brisket on the upper or lower grate?

And some thoughts:
- Chris' cooking log from the cooking page shows a 9 hour smoke and then into the oven. I would have expected to adhere to that schedule.
- ignore the recommendations to run without water. It will help control temp and has no effect on bark.
- I suggest you go old school on your first briskets. Cook overnight, once you get the hang of that, try the high heat method.

Best
 
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