First Brisket in the Egg

that_dude_Dave

I've smoked briskets before, but this will be my first with the Egg, and the first time time starting one and letting go all night. I have a 10 pound brisket that I rubbed with a homemade blend of paprika, hot chili powder, sea salt, pepper, onion and garlic powder, cayenne, and a hint of Vietnamese cinnamon. If you haven't tried Vietnamese cinnamon, do so, you'll never go back! (incidentally, Costco has a big container of it right now for like 3 bucks! but they call it Saigon Cinnamon)

So I cleaned the ash out of the egg, topped off the lump, and have some cherry chunks soaking. Yeah, cherry might not be the most traditional wood to use for brisket, but I like how it smokes and I like how it tastes. I'm hoping to get the Egg fired up here in the next hour and let it go all night around 240-250. Hopefully I've read enough here that I don't end up screwing the pooch. I'm going to try the FTC method when it comes off tomorrow around noon and let it sit until dinner time. 

BeerIAm

Good luck Dude!  When I cooked overnight for the first time last weekend, I kept waking up to check on it!  I wasn't trying too, it just kept happening.

The Cen-Tex Smoker

good luck. No need to soak wood btw. just throw it on dry and it will smolder just fine in the egg.

that_dude_Dave

Thanks guys. My wife is skeptical, especially of the FTC method. She wants to be able to go out and do stuff tomorrow and thinks we'll be tethered to the house with this. 

I have some dry cherry chunks also, should I just use those? 

The Cen-Tex Smoker

that_dude_Dave said:

Thanks guys. My wife is skeptical, especially of the FTC method. She wants to be able to go out and do stuff tomorrow and thinks we'll be tethered to the house with this. 

I have some dry cherry chunks also, should I just use those? 

nah-the soaked are fine. Does not hurt, just does not help either. I FTC'd a brisket for 7 hours this week and it was still hot when cracked.

that_dude_Dave

ah yes, this grasshopper still has much to learn

TexanOfTheNorth

Dave, looking forward to seeing some pics later today of how this turned out.

that_dude_Dave

Well, I can tell you this much, it has turned out to be pretty much a disaster. I put it on last night at 11:30, and hung out until midnight getting the temp set just right at 248º. I went out at 5:30 this morning and it was cooking at nearly 450! So... I have no idea what happened, but the inside temp of the meat ranged from 208-214º and the outside it about as black and crispy as can be. Maybe there is something salvageable in there, I wrapped it in foil and towels and tossed it in the cooler where it can sit until lunch time I guess. This was an expensive cut, so if it's completely ruined I'm going to be more than disappointed. I got it at a local meat market instead of at Costco like I should have and ended up paying twice as much. :(

TexanOfTheNorth

Sorry to hear that. Hopefully it will still work out.

that_dude_Dave

I really wish I knew what cause the spike in temperature. Maybe it was a bit too windy last night and it overfed the air supply? I expected there to be a temp change in 5 hours, but not up 200 freaking degrees. I guess what sucks the most right now is that I don't feel like I can trust it to hold a temperature and I'll have to babysit it the entire time I want to cook something slow and low.

TexanOfTheNorth

I don't have one yet but you should consider getting a maverick or digiq to monitor and/or control your temps for the low and slows; especially for an overnighter. I'm sure others on here can add there thoughts on the merits of each of the many options.

that_dude_Dave

Yeah, my wife was talking about me getting one for Fathers Day, don't recall the brand but it had the remote thing and a couple other cool features. 

lousubcap

A key to success for me and the over-night cook; I start the fire at least two hours before putting the meat on and make sure it is stable temperature-wise for at least an hour (no change in the vents) before starting the cook.  That way I have confidence that things are solid once I check-out for the night.  I generally wake-up once during the night to check but if I did the prep work right all it is is a check.  The few times I rushed the above process, I had to do a couple of mid-course corrections.  FWIW-YMMV.   

With regard to the brisket-based on your temps I'm betting there will be a good amount that is better than salvageable. 

The Cen-Tex Smoker

I agree with cap. They are supposed to look like meteorites when they come off and 208-214 is not the end of the world for temps. My guess is that it will be fall apart tender (little overdone) but still very flavorful. Go get some cheap white hamburger buns and your favorite sauce and get ready for some great chopped beef sammies. If it falls apart when you slice it, chop it up with a little sauce and eat. I think you might be better off than you think. 450 is hot, no doubt, but you did save it right in the nick of time. The rest in the cooler will help settle it all down. Might be OK here.

CigarSmokinEgger

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

...Go get some cheap white hamburger buns and your favorite sauce and get ready for some great chopped beef sammies. If it falls apart when you slice it, chop it up with a little sauce and eat....

I took this advice last week as part of my Flat was pretty dry; made up my own sauce and chopped her up - GREAT sandwiches!

that_dude_Dave

The bark (and I need to use that term very loosely here since it was more like petrified bark) wasn't very thick, and it looked like it should be easy enough cut off for the most part. I'll take a pic of the black mess when I get it out of the cooler later, I was in a hurry to get it wrapped up this morning. I'm sure there will be a decent amount of good meat under the burnt husk, it felt very tender when the thermometer was going in and it was still pretty juicy. I might be able to get 4-5 pounds of good stuff out of there. 

The Cen-Tex Smoker

just wait and see what it looks like once out of the cooler. That has a way of softening up the bark. Mine can look like pure carbon when i take them off but they really even out during the rest. It may look black and burned but that's where all the flavor is. Under that, it's just a roast. Try to salvage any that you can to mix in with the chop if you decide to go that route. Lots of people cook brisket hot. 450 is really hot but places down here do them at 400+ and cook them in 4 hours. it may not be as bad as you think.

travisstrick

I've done a few that hot on accident. They turned out great.

that_dude_Dave

Well this is an embarrassing pic here... no real redeeming qualities to speak of with this brisket. I was able to get the center of it out, mostly shreds, gonna have to drown it in sauce and make some sammies... Learned a couple things, the most important one is to NOT buy a 60 dollar brisket at my local meat market and instead go for a bigger one for 25 bucks at Costco

that_dude_Dave

there is no real flavor to the shreds, either, I could have gotten the same results from some crock pot

The Cen-Tex Smoker

yep- it's just a roast under the bark. Sorry man.

danv23

Don't quit.  If you ever have any questions let me know.

http://eggheadforum.com/discussion/1152191/my-brisket-story-i-feel-like-a-pro#latest

lousubcap

Dnag-sorry 'bout that.  But time to get back on the horse-see above about stable-you can get there without any controllers if you choose.

hapster

We've all been there... and I'm sure there is more flavor there than you are giving yourself credit for, we are all our own worst critics.

That being said... don't be afraid to try another one. Maybe start it early in the morning when you can stay with it to see how the temps run.

For this one, I'd freeze some and save it for some stew, chili, or as pizza topper

travisstrick

Cen Tex and I know where to get a few briskets if you need another one.  :ar!

morganpsmith

Louscap- "A key to success for me and the over-night cook; I start the fire at least two hours before putting the meat on and make sure it is stable temperature-wise for at least an hour (no change in" I'm going to try. This on my next overnight cook. Any suggestion on wood or lump divisions? Seems like I'd need to add somewhere down the line unless it's stacked correctly. Thoughts?

lousubcap

No need to add wood during a cook depending on BGE size.  I have run 22+ hours on a single load with plenty of left-over lump.  What follows is a great link for getting a long run on a BGE- (may be a bit excessive but the concepts always work):

http://www.nakedwhiz.com/elder.htm  the main site is a wealth of info as well.

 

that_dude_Dave

I'm gonna try again this weekend, you know what they say about getting back up on the disgusting burned pice of ****... wait, that's not right.... anyway, hopefully this time it goes better

Terrebandit

It would seem better to err on the side of a low temp than a high temp? After seeing this, I'd probably neck things down pretty good before hitting the rack, even if there would be a chance of losing fire. At least I might sleep better. The cook would take longer, of course. I did a butt for 14 hours during the day, and I had to fiddle with the vents every couple of hours or so to keep it around 250.