I'm in the weeds..with brisket.

Tenderizer · January 2016

So I've had my XL BGE for 8 months or so after kicking the Weber kettle to the curb(loved the kettle)! My modus operandi with the kettle was indirect adding hand cut and seasoned Oak as needed, no water pan, keeping temps around 230+/_. Wrapped around the stall. Pulled when tender regardless of temp. Perfect. I was cooking for the neighborhood and school on my little weber. Decided to upgrade.

I've cooked one a month on the xl bge. Set up indirect, setter sometimes legs up sometimes down. No pan. My first problem has been creating a fire that has long lasting clean lean blue smoke. I typically start lump oak and sprinkle some of the same Post Oak around the coals. Install setter then grill then brisket. Smoke at 250ish until tender. No crutch because the bark was non existent, and therein lies my problem. Don't get me wrong. It's tender and juicy and well rendered. Little flavor, no bark. I understand that after about 130 red meat doesn't really absorb more smoke. but my briskets look reddish not black. I believe a good brisket bark should be black not dark reddish? And I'm sure I'm not getting long term good smoke. I'm in the camp that a smoke ring means nothing as I can get one in the oven if I want so I'm not worried about that!

The $12000.00 question. How do you guys get black bark and clean blue smoke for at least 6 hours? Or what am I doing wrong? I've got pics of every cook and will try to upload! Right this minute I'm smoking a butt which I started 2 hours ago. I can't see any smoke coming out and I used mostly hickory chunks and some lump to get started...I'm lost.

fishlessman · January 2016

it will pick up smoke as long as its in the smoke, that rule about temp applies more to the smoke ring development. bury the oak in the lump and it will smoke longer. put the meat in the cooker when its cold and more ring supposedly develops, but i get a good ring even cooking brisket hot and fast so i dont know

i smoke my briskets at 235 dome and always lots of bark and i cook them fat side down no basting

lousubcap · January 2016

Don't know what you use for a rub, but I have always gotten meteorite color briskets with kosher salt, fresh ground pepper, some garlic and paprika. I load lump up into the fire ring and mix chunks or chips (Jack Daniels oak barrel- the only oak I can find) throughout the load. Fire it up, and once around a softball sized amount of lump is burning (light in one spot), in goes platesetter, with an air-gapped drip pan grate and then let it come up to temp (around 250-270*F) on the dome. Once stable, on goes the brisket.
BTW-welcome aboard and you will sort this out.

fishlessman · January 2016

ive only had two butt cooks that did not build up a good bark, one was because i basted it several times during the cook, and the whitest pale butt i got was from lighting the lump from the bottom (dont know why that didnt work right) i dont do that for low and slows anymore

Tenderizer · January 2016

fishlessman..how'd you get that gif of my wife flipping solo?! I'll try to bury chunks this weekend with another pulled pork. Brisket is too expensive to experiment with! I care less about pink(smoke) ring. It's got nothing to do with smoke. Fish is my favorite protein..Thanks again.

Tenderizer · January 2016

Lousubcap.. We witnessed a nuclear sub exiting the port at Port Aransas Texas. We were on a 32' sailboat and had to reach safe area fast. What a spectacular site...you guys rule the oceans..I skip the paprika and garlic, but do everything else. I think I need a ton more wood less coal and let it fire up more. Ruined a brisket by putting it on too early and just tasted like grey smoke. Thanks.

Tenderizer · January 2016

Is there a ratio of lump to seasoned wood that is standard? on the Weber I could start with anything and just add easily seasoned as needed. Not so with the egg. I just tore down a butt cook to add more seasoned wood for smoke. Maybe I'm not loading enough.

MelSharples · January 2016

There was a post a few months back where the poster layered sticks of seasoned wood from the bottom to the top and then poured the lump in around it. Definitely go heavy on the smoking wood and the bark will come!

saluki2007 · January 2016

It's all in personal preference as far as smoke. I have a large and when doing brisket I usually use about 5 fist size chunks of oak or pecan. Fill with lump up to top of fire ring.

lousubcap · January 2016

@Tenderizer - I go with around the same as @saluki2007 for brisket. And when I'm using the chips I equate around a good handful of chips to a chunk. FWIW-
BTW-Thanks for the acknowledgement. It was a fun ride.

jpakma · January 2016

Did my first brisket cook this weekend and the only thing that I used for the rub was equal parts of kosher salt and freshly ground course black pepper. I was really concerned it would be too much but after 10+ hours of smoke and temps 235-275 it was like meat candy. I used both hickory and apple woods for the smoke (several chunks of each spread throughout the lump). I can't wait for another go at the cook. My only flaw was that I truly did over cook the meat. I was so focused on that magic temp of 203 internal that my Costco prime brisket was over cooked on the bottom (crumbly dry near in the thinnest parts of the flat but only on the bottom 1/4 of the flat). I am by no means an expert on this, but I research like hell and I think my biggest issue was the meat was actually finished at ~190 and I let it sit for another 1.5hrs until 203. I did not wrap the brisket until I pulled it and let it sit on the counter until it hit 175 before FTC'ing for another 1.5hrs.

MelSharples · January 2016

@jpakma The brisket experts will be quick to tell you that you cook to feel on a brisket, not temperature. You'll want to start probing the thickest part of the flat when you get in the neighborhood of 185°. You're looking for a room temp butter (i.e. little resistance) feel with the probe. When you get that most likely you've reached brisket nirvana

Tenderizer · January 2016

I've got the feel and rendering I want. I can nail that. No temp gauges here for the most part. But I'm lacking the flavorful black bark and slightly smokey flavor. The test cook I'm in the middle of has a great bark on pulled pork due to triple the amount of wood chunks I normally use, but I'm really concerned about the quality of smoke. I'll know in 4 or 5 hours. the last brisket I did I flooded with white smoke. It was horrible.

jpakma · January 2016

Agree 100% @MelSharples the good news was I was the biggest critic of the cook and the rest of the extended family devoured the full packer in a matter of minutes. I think I was so focused on meat temp I went too long - it was butter at 190 and I was hitting the bottom dry part of the flat which I confused for needing more time. Thermometers are great but I should have trusted the look and feel.

XLentEGG · January 2016

I have been at since 2011 and make no claims of any expertise of any kind. However , I have tried many different ways to set up , fire up , and cook up low and slow meats , so here is my two cents worth. set up... clean egg and a fresh batch of lump. ( I'm a R.O. guy for low and slow ) I light it up right in the middle and let it rip right up to 250. I put three or four good size chunks of wood right on top of the fire , platesetter legs down , and let it smoke out while I wait for it to stabilize around 230. by now the smoke has died down and all of the vents are set. In goes the drip pan , grill , meat. i know there is still smoke ,because i can smell it on my hand if I hold it over the top for a few seconds. Maple and hickory give me better rings than apple or peach , but since i started doing it like this i have not had any more problems with harsh white smoke, and that horrible taste that you had mentioned. Like people have said here many times..... " Even when the bar doesn't look smokey , you still smell like cigarettes when you walk out " Enjoy the journey ! :-)

fishlessman · January 2016

Tenderizer just a thought but were you using briquettes in the kettle, ive seen where kettle converts will add a couple briquettes for that extra flavor they bring. the bge purists say no briquettes but briquettes do add flavor and more smoke ring but just dont use too many for a low and slow

Darby_Crenshaw · January 2016

Both ideas that the meat "absorbs" smoke, and that it "stops absorbing" smoke at 130 (or 140, etc.) are false bro-science myths repeated guy to guy usually within 5' of a grill or smoker.

Smoke will flavor meat at any temp, any time

cortguitarman · January 2016

I rub my brisket with mustard then apply rub. I get a great bark. Butts don't get mustard and I've never had a problem with bark. Here's a pic of the point from the one I smoked the other day.

I'm in the weeds..with brisket.

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