Probe vs. Cook Time

All of our crowd have assorted FEC s, without probe.

I'm no expert,but I never did meet a brisket that could tell time,much less read a thermometer.

Dumb cows.

I'm sure if Eddy and Stuart are putting them on there,there is a technique,that works well.

Now,we have cooked more packers on FEC s than we like to admit,and rassled our way thru most possibilities.

A couple questions:

What are the rub instructions and what does 180* have to do with anything?

As example,without the benefit of the new probe system:

Real rough guess,if we are cooking 15-16 lb choice packers,trimmed some,at around 225*,we give a wild guess at about 70 mins/lb., to get up above 190* internal,when we first start to check it, to see if it is anywhere near close.



Might take another 5*-10*.

Like all brisket cooks,once it passes 190* see if you can pass your temp probe,or a two tined meat fork thru the flat,like butter.

If you can't,cook it a few more degrees.

I'll be travelin' tomorrow,but Smokin' and a bunch of other good brisket cooks should check in.

The probe is just new to most of us.

Works great on all the commercial units,though.

Hang in there,FEC s cook great briskets.

Most on the forum seem to set their probe to 190 in the flat as a starting point for Brisket.

After years working with a stickburner I was a little obssesive about watching the temperature on my Amerique. You would be surprised how long the Brisket will stay in the 170 - 180 zone. It looks like it gets up to temp quickly, and then can spend hours going up just a couple of degrees.

The plateau is normal so go drink a beer and check it again in another hour!

Like Bacchus says.

Ok, the 180 comes from the instructions on the dry rub that comes with the FEC. I never use pre-fab rubs but figured I would give it a try (I did add some syrian pepper to it though.) Anyways, it says to bring to 180 but everything I have read says 190. I'm used to cooking ribs and pork butts/shoulders myself but have never gotten into briskets.

By the way, this is a 10.5lb brisket. I will try a packer from Sams when I go by there again. I'll go ahead and change the probe temp to 190.

Thanks for the advice.

Gamer

Just remember, queing meat isn't a linear thing. Just because it took "x" amount of time to raise a certain number of degrees, you can't extrapolate that out to the finish line. Sorta like boiling water. You can get a gallon of water to 212 degrees, but once boiling it will sit at 212 degrees forever - until the water is all boiled away. It has to do with changing state - liquid to a vapor. Now I know we aren't vaporizing that fat or collagen in the meat but a process is still taking place that will stall the rise in temperature. That where the beer comes in! Hope that helps.

Yeah, it did slow down but I did reach 180 in about 8 hours total. I upped it to 190 per the threads and that did take 12 hours.

The brisket came out nicely. The rub that comes with the unit is too salty though. Has anyone else noticed this?

The meat is easy to chew and tender but does not fall apart. The brisket meat itself seemed a bit dry too but its hard for me to compare since I have always cooked pork.

Except for being salty it did taste great though. I'm thinking I will just create my own rub this next time since I can control the salt.

Thanks for the suggestions.

Sugar will offset the salt, so in using the rub in the future add some sugar. What size brisket? A smaller flat will be harder to keep moist. Judging by your smoke time, you had a 6-8 pounder leading me to believe you had the flat.

Have you read Brisket 101 and the brisket forums? Lots of techniques and tips for you.

quote:

Originally posted by Pags:
Sugar will offset the salt, so in using the rub in the future add some sugar. What size brisket? A smaller flat will be harder to keep moist. Judging by your smoke time, you had a 6-8 pounder leading me to believe you had the flat.

Have you read Brisket 101 and the brisket forums? Lots of techniques and tips for you.

Hi Pags, it is/was a 10.5 pounder. It had the point and the flat on it. It was not cryovacs'ed though and I may go to Sams Club today to get one that is. The one I bought was pre-trimmed but they seemed to have done a great job of leaving just the right amount of fat on it, where I needed it (Wal-Mart super center.) I have never liked Wal-Mart's meat though, so maybe that had something to do with it?

I read the following website: http://www.virtualweberbullet.com/brisketselect.html and several of the posts in this forum before starting on this one as far as pre-education goes. Of course, nothing beats experience right?

I've actually tried a few in my other smoker (before I bought the FEC-100) and they didn't turn out so well, which is why I abandoned cooking them a while ago and stuck with pork ribs and shoulders/butts. From what everyone says it sounds like getting the brisket to turn out right will be worth the experimentation.

One thing I didn't realize is the cook time for them. I have a "traditional" cooking background and understand all about tissue breakdown, collagen, etc. but didn't count on the brisket being quite so tough. Now I know.

I am still perplexed as why the cookshack brand rub would say 180 though when everyone else mentions a higher temperature of 190+. It's no big deal though as I have never relied on someone else's rub. With this experiment I reminded myself why.

Thanks again for the feedback.

Sam's sells choice cut, and I believe Walmart may sell select. That could make a moisture difference. Next one will get you closer. Good luck.

quote:

The brisket came out nicely. The rub that comes with the unit is too salty though. Has anyone else noticed this?

I have always found the CS rubs to be waaay too salty. I don't use them anymore.

I once sprinkled some rub on chicken leg quarters I was doing on the grill and they were hardly edible. But that may just be me....