WSM - Smoked Brisket DISASTER


 
D

Daniel Judge

New member
Everything went wrong. I always use lump charcoal since where I live, briquettes are real hard to find. My rubbed 6 pound brisket went in the WSM around 9pm. My Digiq DX was connected and monitoring Brisket temps and Cabinet temperature. I used a whole bag of lump and put a full chiminey load of lit coals. At 10pm temperature went skyrocket to 360!! I wanted to keep it at 225. I realized perhaps water was needed in the pan at this point (empty pan at first) and I added a gallon of cold water. Temperature fell to 260 at about 1am. I woke up at 5:50 am to check and the temp was at 150. I had to add more coal since it was all almost burned up. Termperature came up to 230 and was stable till about 10pm when the Brisket IT was at 195. I pulled it off. Realized that it was really dark (Black thick bark). FTC for 6 more hours. Finally I took it out of the cooler, foil and towel and I had to sharpen my knife twice because of how hard and dry it was. Very greasy in some parts, very dry in others. Thick black bark, (very nice smoke ring though). It's been one hard shoeleather experience.

I want to try again, I'm thinking that brikettes are a MUST, lump is too volatile and short lasting for such a long cook. I'm thinking only half or 1/4 a chimeney of lit coals. Definitely water in the water pan. Some recomend foiling when IT reaches 150, perhaps this keeps moisture in and prevents drying?

Any feedback will be greatly appreciated. Even with my Digiq DX I had an awful night and terrible results.
 
Those are crazy temp swings Daniel. Do you live in Alaska? What was the outside temp? Wind?

I've never seen a 6# brisket. I've cooked hamburgers bigger than that.

Regroup and start with the basics. Water in pan, establish a stable temp. before adding meat. etc.

Just my .02 and Welcome to the forum. Lots of knowledgeable folks here to help.
 
South American Highlands to be exact. Temperature was about 60 degrees. Not windy at all. Vents closed, (Digiq DX on only open vent) top vent completely open. The Brisket was quite small and it wasn't even at all. Actually I forgot to mention that the thinner part of the brisket had to be trashed immediately after I started cutting. Not even the point of the knife was going through. I need to find a better cut, hopefully a bigger cut. Thanks for the tips. I'm still guessing lump charcoal isn't right for this job.
 
The lump won't be a problem, I use it for everything from cold smoking to high heat cooks. I think the biggest issue is starting with a full chimney of coal, at most start with a quarter chimney if you are going low and slow. You can catch the temps rising this way and shut the vents to where you want them. Also it will cause your unlit coal to last much much longer. I know a lot of people are against foiling around these parts nowadays but it sounds like you cooked a trimmed flat (part of a brisket). If that is the case you are going to have trouble getting it tender without the foil, I am not saying it is impossible just harder.

Having said all that it still shouldn't be so hard that you need to sharpen a knife a couple times. Are you sure your therms are on target? It sounds real carmelized....

Clark
 
My guess is that it was the full chimney of lit that was the culprit. Even with the digi-Q vent opening being the only vent, that could have allowed enough air flow into the smoker, coupled with the full chimney of lit, to skyrocket your temperatures. I usually use only about a third of a chimney of coals, whether lump or briquettes, when I'm lighting off for a long butt or brisket cook.

I also foil, especially briskets, when they get to about 160 - 165, and finish in the foil. Not only does it help move the process along, I think it promotes more even cooking and moisture retention.

Only one thing to do - saddle up and do it again!

As for the brisket you have - check out the brisket chili recipe that K Kruger was kind enough to pass along to me in the recipe requests section. I made it for a company cook out last week and the participants practically licked the bottom of the chili pot.

Pat
 
Lump works fine in the WSM.
Briquettes sure give off even steady heat though.
Water in the pan is a must.
Once the target temp has been reached and stabilized get your meat on and away you go!!
Get another brisket and your next cook is going to be great!!
 
I believe that the folks @ BBQ Guru suggest using several layers of foil in the water pan covered with foil ...not water.

Use the Minion method. Just dump the hot coals on the unlit..assemble the cooker...put on the meat and you're done. No need to wait for the cooker to come to temp.

I use the HH method without fail all the time.
 
I have always low-and-slowed my briskets and I’ve always used briquettes, so I can’t really speak to high heat methods or lump.

The best advice I can give is that, for the sake of security, ensure you have some kind of heat sink in the water pan - either water or sand or a clay saucer or something. I think that really helps moderate temperature spikes. After some practice, an empty foiled pan may work for you. I don’t know. I always use water because I like the control and I don’t mind the clean up.

Also, like everyone else has said – foil. It just helps even out the cooking so much.
 
ATCS-(Digiq DX) and water is a no-no.

With no water and an ATCS you can get temperature spikes from air leaks. Close all of the vents(except the top) and let the digiqDX control the air.

One other possibility is that the probe was too close to the meat and registered low, causing fan to stay on.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Russell Y:
ATCS-(Digiq DX) and water is a no-no. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Is this because of potential spilling issues or because the heat sink won't allow fast enough temperature changes?
 
Water thwarts the control of an ATC.

The problem was the full lit chimney. With an ATC, start with 6-10 lit pieces of lump (use the smaller number it the lump is large. ATCs don't do a good job of reducing high temps.

Lump works fine. You just had way to many lit. The water addition did not help - well, it helped bring the temps down but that also helped more coals burn.
 
I will definitely try again. There is no way this baby is beating me!! I am going to wait until I find the right Brisket though. One that actually weighs a bit more that 6 lbs and will try again with briquettes, only 1/4 chiminey lit and full water pan. Will try foiling at 150 and go through the rest of the process.

I assume the therms are on target. The Digiq DX, and the WSM thermometer were very close (aprox 10 degree difference).

Bottom line, I think I lit too many coals, and the Brisket was not a good one. I didn't do any basting, I figure with such a tough cut basting won't help much and will only make the cooking process longer.

Thanks for your imput, I'll let you know how my second Brisket goes through.



I've had great results with ham, chicken, ribs,beef tenderloin, salmon and cheese but this brisket put me back in the beginners circle.
 
I use an ATC for most big meat cooks these days. I think a few of the above nailed it with the overkill of starting with a full chimney. Not to be repetitive or too basic but low and slow also refers to pit temps. Better to use less starter on a Minion method cook and gradually get to temp over time than blasting away with too much lit. The job of an ATC is really to get you to a temp and hold you there. If you overshoot it, the blower just stops and lets physics take it's course, which is a hot pit that has to correct itself by depletion of oxygen for the fire and exchange of heat for the pit (forgive my lack of technical jargon).

Basically, getting hotter is easier than getting cooler.

As for water, it's not required with an ATC. That's why we bought them.

Regarding the meat, it's only meat. It finishes based on how we treat it
icon_smile.gif
 
I've never seen a 6 pound packer. You sure it wasn't just the flat? Also, you started the cook at 9pm? What time were you expecting it to finish? Assuming an extremely rough idea of 1.5 hours per pound, it should have finished somewhere around 6am.

Kevin is correct, ATC doesn't do ANYTHING for reducing an overtemp. If your cooker got up to 360 then the ATC isn't doing anything at that point. I would have closed ALL vents and strongly considered spritzing the outside of the cooker with water to get the cooker cooled off as fast as possible.

If you want the ATC to maintain FULL control the whole time then close all the bottom vents except the one the ATC is using and close the top vent about half to two-thirds. The downside is that it WILL kill the fire if the ATC doesn't keep it going, so it had better be bulletproof. The upside is that your temps will be rock solid.

I would learn manual fire control first before commiting to an ATC.

Russ
 
All vents, except the one the ATC was using were closed. Top Vent 1/2 open. I started the cook at 9pm and was expecting to finish between 6-7am. IT ended up hitting 195 at about 10:30 am but my fuel burned to fast so when I woke up at 5:50 and checked the temp, it was at 160, I added a few more unlit coals and temp went up to the 225 I was targetting from the beginning and was stable till the end.

As stated, it was a very strange cut, definitely not just the flat because I could see the vein that separates the flat from the point. And I now understand that the full chimeney was wrong from the very beginning. Will use much much less and minion method next time. I still need to find a larger brisket and better cut.
 
I've done 4 or 5 briskets using the high heat method (250 - 275) foiling at 165 and had some success. Running high heat, I come in around 6 hours for 8lb flats, longer for packers. I've also done some wrong with the same method, last failure needed a steak knife to eat it. Take heart, the WSM is a great cooker, you've got good advice above and your signature says it all, smoking seems more art than science. The good ones taste all the better when you can compare them to the bad ones. Good luck on your next brisket.
 
Thank you for those wonderful words. I went down to the butcher today and ordered a 12 lb Brisket. They should have one for me by wednesday. I am running this one this upcoming weekend. This time it will be perfect and fantastic. Thank you all for your help and support. Will let you know how my second brisket goes.
 
Since we are at this. I just read a post stating that once the internal temp reaches 195-205, the flat is ready but the point should be cooked for another two hours for burnt ends? Can someone please explain? I thought that at those temps, the whole brisket is done?? The flat should be sliced and the point should be diced?
 
Sure I can explain. Regardless of what you have read, don't cook by internal temp. The brisket is done when the flat is tender - a probe inserted into the center of the flat goes in effortlessly. Ignore the point. Check the flat. If the flat is done the point is done. If you want to cook the point further - to render more fat and/or for burnt ends - fine. Separate the two and cook the point more.
 
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