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15 replies

First brisket in my AQ

FM Former Member
I've got my first brisket in my new Amerique smoking right now. It's a 14 lb choice packer that I trimmed down to just over 12 lb by removing a lot of fat. I took off more fat that I normally do, including a lot of the fat in the "V" between the point and the flat. I rubbed it with CS Brisket Rub yesterday and let it sit for about 18 hours.

At 03:15 PM today I pulled it straight from the fridge and put it in the smoker, fat side down on the second shelf from the top. I've got three probes in it, the CS probe and another one in the flat, and a third probe in the point.

I decided to use pecan instead of hickory, 5.95 oz in about six small chunks.

The temp per time seems faster than I've ever seen before. I'm smoking at 215 degrees. I'm at 3 hours in and I've hit the first plateau. My cooker temp is 215, the point is at 170, and the two probes in the flat are at 167. I've never had a brisket go this fast before. I hope it plateaus for a long time.
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FM Former Member
I've heard of this happening. I've just never noticed it before. I don't mean the plateau, that's normal. But the meat temperature is lower now than it was almost two hours ago. This is the first time I've seen the temp go in reverse.

The temp got all the way up to 170 and stayed there for an hour, and then it started dropping. Currently the temperature is at 162 in the flat and 159 in the point. The smoker temp is holding constant at 214 to 215 degrees, so I know this has to do with breakdown of the connective tissue.

Very cool.
FM Former Member
It seemed to plateau again at 186. I pulled it out and separated the point, put the point, torn into large chunks, in a foil pan and added 1/2 cup of apple juice to it. Then I added another chunk of wood to the wood box, and smoked the point another four hours. Then I chopped it, added some of the CS barbeque sauce, and covered the pan with foil and cooked it another hour.

That was the best burnt ends I've ever managed to achieve. It made the best-tasting chopped beef sandwiches. I was very happy with it.

I double wrapped the flat in foil when I pulled it out of the oven, put it in a small preheated cooler, and let it sit four hours. When I sliced it, it was very tender and a lot of it crumbled. Yet at the same time, it was dry. So, dry but tender. It had good flavor otherwise. No smoke ring.

I will try the Texas crutch next time. Probably right after it comes out of the first plateau. I'd like it to be tender and juicy, not tender and dry.
FM Former Member
You mention 186 but when did you pull it finally? 186 is early.

I also wouldn't watch the temps min my min, but that's me. There is a lot of what you describe that goes on, just most people don't notice it. We've had some graft the temps by the min and then try to analyze that. I'm a technology guy and I can do some amazing things with technology, but not in BBQ. It's still just BBQ.

It's brisket, think big picture, not by the min and try to generalize trends.

It will plateau and sometimes drops back a little (don't know if it's the fat carrying heat, first time I've heard that theory) but it will rise.

The reason I say it's not a big deal is there is nothing you can do when those happen, you still have to wait.

The key is overall results and with brisket -- patience.

Keep in mind too, the actual physical makeup of the brisket (shape, density, thickness) has a lot to do with it if you're going to really analyze it.

It's not criticism, I just know the type that strives to know everything about what's going on, and there's nothing wrong with that.

You're smarter than that brisket, you'll whip it into shape.
FM Former Member
I pulled it at 186 because it was already quite tender. I could put a fork in it and twist it easily, and my probes slid through like butter.

And it came out very tender, so much so that much of it crumbled when I sliced it. But at the same time, it was dry.

I usually do cook it to 195 to 200 range. I decided to pull it early on the off chance that I'd been overcooking it in the past.

Yeah, I may be trying to over analyze it, that's a distinct fault of mine. Yet, I want to beat this dryness problem.

I guess I'll just have to cook and eat more brisket. They say practice makes perfect. Smiler


quote:
Originally posted by SmokinOkie:
You mention 186 but when did you pull it finally? 186 is early.

I also wouldn't watch the temps min my min, but that's me. There is a lot of what you describe that goes on, just most people don't notice it. We've had some graft the temps by the min and then try to analyze that. I'm a technology guy and I can do some amazing things with technology, but not in BBQ. It's still just BBQ.

It's brisket, think big picture, not by the min and try to generalize trends.

It will plateau and sometimes drops back a little (don't know if it's the fat carrying heat, first time I've heard that theory) but it will rise.

The reason I say it's not a big deal is there is nothing you can do when those happen, you still have to wait.

The key is overall results and with brisket -- patience.

Keep in mind too, the actual physical makeup of the brisket (shape, density, thickness) has a lot to do with it if you're going to really analyze it.

It's not criticism, I just know the type that strives to know everything about what's going on, and there's nothing wrong with that.

You're smarter than that brisket, you'll whip it into shape.
FM Former Member
Hey -- I had one dry and crumbly when I overcooked it -- got up late and it got to 205. Was the whole flat like that, or only the thin end?

Sounds like you had it probed pretty good. Always worth calibrating the probes just to be sure.

Interested in what others think about the cooking temp. Sometimes wonder if lower temps tend to dry out some of the leaner briskets. 215 does not seem too low, but wonder if bumping it up another 20 degrees would help moisture or render it out.
FM Former Member
I have some pics of the brisket from start to finish.

Rubbed and ready to smoke.



Poked and prodded. Two probes in the flat, and one in the point. The middle one is the Amerique probe.



A smokey picture of the brisket when I pulled it out of the cooker.



On the cutting board. This is after four hours of foil/cooler/towel treatment. I had removed the point before wrapping in foil and put it back in the cooker in a pan to make burnt ends. They came out really good.



Here is a closeup of the brisket. I think you can tell in this photo that it is a bit dry.

FM Former Member
Hey, your first post, drippinmeatchopface, or could I say dmcf? Welcome to the forum.

Anyway, I did trim more fat off it than usual. I did that because my last brisket before this one, which was smoked in a different smoker, came out greasy. Perhaps I over did it.

I was cooking fat side down to keep the fat, what was left of it, between the heat source and the meat.
FM Former Member
Yeah I am a newbe here! My dad bought a cookshack smoker about 6 years ago and he was making beef bacon out of brisket. REALLY good stuff and something you don't see everyday. Anyway his smoker quit working and he quit smoking. Today I discovered his smoker in an old storage container, along with his slicer and a few other things. so I took the smoker apart and ran down the wires looking for what was not hot and it turned out the little screws going from the wires to the element were rusted a little, so I cleaned them and boom working smoker!! I run a quick stop here in oklahoma and I am planning on having it in the back from now on! It's gonna be so fun.

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