Finally...great smoke on the brisket. Yes!!!

Well,I'm no expert,but Smokin' might say that each cook is a process,and finding the individual parts that make up your process come from the trial and error,and taking the notes.

CAB s can have better interspersed fat,and might even be from a beef cow.
...instead of a 16 yr old dairy cow that went dry.

Not all agree,but some injections may give a beefier flavor,depending on your base liquid.

Some folks feel that rubs,and liquids or oils,could prevent smoke from entering.

Some folks don't foil at all and produce great briskets,that really taste like beef.

Some folks feel that the longer the brisket stays in the 160º-170º plateau,the better the collagen breaks down,and the more fat renders.

Some feel that when they reach the color they want,they can kick up the temps,or possibly even foil.
Some good cooks will cook at one even temp,up to around 180º and then foil to finish.

I know that in Texas,where they made a lot of long offset cookers from oilfield pipe and flow huge amounts of air,mopping is a true tradition.

I'm sure there must be some FEC cooks that do a great job,while mopping,but in my personal experience,I've never seen-or heard of one that vouched for mopping packers.

You didn't mention what temps you pulled the packers,other than when tender,but against all logic-I've seen packers finished higher,and been juicier.

There used to be this thing called a Smokette. You'all should look one up on eBay or Craigslist and see about gettin' one. It could cook a real fine brisket without all that head scratchin' and pelletizing and calculating and stuff.

quote:

Originally posted by Tom:

Some folks don't foil at all and produce great briskets,that really taste like beef.

That's what slapped me upside the head when I tasted the brisket...very intense beef flavor. I failed to mention that I completely forgot to apply rub to the briskets. Frankly, I don't think it hurt a thing. What I was tasting was very close to the "Debris Sauce" Paul Prudhomme serves at K-Paul's Kitchen...and that's about as beefy as beef gets

Todd, I have a Smokette It turns out lovely, moist, smokey briskets. They're not sanctioned for competition cooking and a 1st place brisket if one of my goals...and maybe a lottery jackpot, too

Yep,Donna's family started making those Smokettes about half a century ago,to cook briskets.

My boys still haul my old one around in their pickups to the different cattle operations to leave all day cooking packers.

Little son will load up 25 to 30 pounds of squashed butts,to cook for the hands on Sat.

Of course it has slid a few times the length of the truck bed and got a few dents,and even being black powdercoat it still looks great.

Couple little surface rust spots on the feet,but WD 40 tuned that right up.

Just had a simple dial on it and didn't have to worry about probes ,digitals and all them thing s that keep ya from going' ahead and cookin'.

Never fixed anything on it and worked it like a borrowed mule.

Donna's family musta raised little steers that produced 12" x 12" packers <snork>

Bet Donna's Dad could make due with what he had, heck if a country boy tried, he could wrestle a pretty big ole brisket into a small smokette, they shrink.

Seems like keeping somethings simple has advantages...more time for refreshments!

I'm not a fan of mopping, since I don't think the mop will penetrate after a certain point; I'm also one that things fat doesn't render down through the meat after a certain point. Protein DOES seize up.

You might try it and see what you think, but 12 hours is pretty long, I'd also bump the temp up higher (to get it done quicker) once you get past the smoke stage, 250 seems to work well.

I'd say use Foil, but you know how I feel about that.