Newbie to the AR (Adjustable Rig) but liking what I see... Brisket Cook

NoJokeSmoke

Kelley (EggObsessed) and I have been cooking on our eggs for over three years now, but even before  we found our love for the BGE, we have been on a quest to cook the perfect brisket.  Great brisket has been an elusive beast for me.  We have cooked good briskets, but getting it to the quality in flavor, moistness, texture with just the right accordion effect with a great smoke ring and bark has been difficult to achieve.   My biggest problem has been with the bark and smoke ring on the BGE. 

That said, I just bought an Adjustable Rig after watching a video where Tom cooked a brisket using an Adjustable Rig.  I got it in last week and cooked two briskets that turned out a NICE smoke ring and nice bark… I was so surprise and elated.

We are planning on using an AR setup at Salado this week to cook multiple trays of Onion-Soup Wonton bites.

I have placed a couple of pics below of the AR setup I used to cook the briskets and a pic showing a comparison between my brisket cooks: Left on standard grate using Plate Setter.  Right using the AR set up.  Both by the way are great tasting, in my opinion, but the look is much better and nicer bark on the AR side.

I think what is happening here is the Woo2 with the ceramic stone provides more air flow than a Plate Setter does and gets the meat further up in the dome.  Any thoughts, facts or speculation on this?

Any AR feedback or brisket feedback?

The Cen-Tex Smoker

Hey Bruce- looks good! the AR has nothing to do with smoke rings. I never get them unless it's raining and I cook exclusively on AR. Takes a lot of moisture in the air around here to get them. That ring is so red it looks like there were some nitrates/nitrites in the rub. Did you use your homemade rub on that one? Do you use celery salt in that rub? Celery salt can do that if there is enough of it. I did some beef ribs in the rain last week with just salt and pepper and they had a big smoke ring on them. First time in a long time.

NoJokeSmoke

Great feedback. Ironically,  I cooked that and another brisket Saturday night and it was POURING DOWN RAIN, which speaks directly to the moisture comment. The two brisket that I cooked were for the chili that we'll be serving at the  Salado after party... this weekend I was up against the wall time wise to get the briskets done for the chili this weekend...thus the cooking in the rain.

I do use a homemade rub that has celery salt in it, among other things (I love it on brisket).  It is  my "all-purpose rub" that both briskets have on them.

Maybe I should really up the moisture in the BGE?

EggObsessed

John, it WAS raining that night.  Interesting!  The rub is Bruce's homemade rub, and it does have celery salt in it, but we've used that rub a million times and never had a smoke ring to speak of.  We've cooked brisket with liquid in the drip pan and never got a smoke ring.  Hmmmm.

The Cen-Tex Smoker

nitrates (in your case celery salt) + moisture = smoke ring. I get them when it's raining no matter what the rub and It happens when I take my egg to the beach too. Actually added mositure or nitrates/trites in the rub will do it on their own if there is enough of either. But the 2 together really enhance the effect like you see in your 2nd pic.

You can try to put a water pan in but it's hit and miss. You can spritz your brisket with water for the first 3-4 hours if you really want a smoke ring but it's all for show so I normally don't sweat it.

If you have a stick burner, you will normally get one because of the moisture in the wood. There is no moisture in lump so it has to come from the environment somehow.

The Cen-Tex Smoker

and if you really want a smoke ring for a competiton or something, just add a tsp of sodium nitrite to your rub like I did here:

 http://eggheadforum.com/discussion/1154890/smoke-ring-troubles-centex-can-help/p1

NoJokeSmoke

I have thought about adding sodium nitrate to the rub, but never done it... BTW, that is nice looking.  My brisket are tasting really good now and one thing is by just letting them cook without messing about with them too much.  I usually close it, get the temp finely regulated and let it go.. so, spritzing goes against my way of thinking.

The Cen-Tex Smoker

NoJokeSmoke said:

I have thought about adding sodium nitrate to the rub, but never done it... BTW, that is nice looking.  My brisket are tasting really good now and one thing is by just letting them cook without messing about with them too much.  I usually close it, get the temp finely regulated and let it go.. so, spritzing goes against my way of thinking.

mine too and smoke rings are all for show anyway. for me- no spritz, no opening the dome, no nada. i will wrap in paper if it gets to dark but I usually don't bother with that either. By the time they need to be wrapped, I'm usually not in the best condition to make it look pretty.

pantsypants

Cent-Tex ,
Do you ftc ? ?

The Cen-Tex Smoker

pantsypants said:

Cent-Tex ,
Do you ftc ? ?

Always but I've been doing it in paper lately. Not sure it makes a difference but they've turned out OK

EggObsessed

We've switched to wrapping in butcher paper also.

pantsypants

It would produce the same bark ? Also I am going to cook a brisket this weekend on my new AR would I put the spider legs up or down ? Would there be a diffrence having the stone lower or higher ?? Thanks

The Cen-Tex Smoker

same bark as what?

pantsypants

If you wrapped in foil for the FTC

The Cen-Tex Smoker

pantsypants said:

If you wrapped in foil for the FTC

I haven't noticed much difference in the bark but the paper is a lot messier.