Made A Big Jump Today

[edible hen]

I finally feel like my brisket is coming along. I smoked a 4lb flat today on my Yoder D20. It was more just a project cook to see if I could figure some things out. 1st I dry brined it for 36 hours. Then last night I injected it with the beef injection recipe found under recipes, minus the salt. Hit it with some BBBR and threw it back in the fridge. Fired up the pit this morning, and threw that cold HOF on there, fat side down since I have the plate in there. I ran a fairly consistent and clean fire at 225 for the majority of the cook. I smoked it through the stall because I wasn't getting my color where I wanted it to be. Wrapped it after 6 hours in foil. temp was 181. 2 more hours in the foil and the temp was 202. I went ahead and pulled it off and cambro'd it for 3 hours. When I unwrapped it, it looked good but I wasn't feeling good about it because it felt a little stiff when I sliced it. That 1st slice fell and it had a my best smoke ring ever. I cut another piece and gave it a try. The slice held but separated with a little tug. I grabbed my phone and took a few pictures. I have a feeling I'm gonna be in a meat coma soon.

[JeffJ]

Congrats. It looks really good.

[MagWarrior]

Looks amazing!! Nice smoke ring!!

[edible hen]

It was good and not dry. I just need to do it a few more times with a packer and i'll feel better about it. I also used a pecan/hickory mix and spritzed with apple cider vinegar.

[Spinaker]

edible hen What kind of smoker are you using? Are you using a water pan? Depending on what kind of smoker you are using, we will be able to help you really bark that sucker up. There are a lot of us in here that have cooked a lot of briskets on various cookers.

[edible hen]

Yoder Durango 20 with a loaf pan for a water pan. I put it on the grill rack as close to the firebox as I can get it.

[JeffJ]

I have a prime grade 17 pound packer in my freezer and if all goes to plan I will be smoking it on my birthday (April 23). It'll be the best birthday ever!

[edible hen]

That's awesome. I hope to be able to do the same for mine in July.

[Spinaker]

edible hen If I were you, I would get rid of the water pan for a cook. See what that does. For a long time used to run my Kamado with a water pan, and I was never getting any bark build up. As soon as I got rid of the water pan and switched to a heat deflector, the whole game changed for me. The thing is, your not going to get excellent bark with a ton of moisture in the chamber. Yes, you don't want it to be a desert in there but to much moisture really hinders bark formation. I also look to the PBC, no water pan. You should see some of the brisket bark i have built up with my PBC. I know those big rigs have a lot of airflow and they recommend water pans, but I have seen a lot of folks using fire bricks, steel or some other dense mass to help even out temps. I just don't see why people still use them to be honest. I am not trying to knock on those that do, but in my experience, they do little other than hinder my bark!!!
Another option to try if you don't wanna lose the pan might be to move the water pan closer to the other end, maybe half way down the rack, to cut down on the amount of water that is being evaporated into the cooking chamber. If I were you, I would get rid of it all together.
Give it a try and see what happens. I bet you'll be amazed by the results.

[edible hen]

Thank's Spinaker . I'll definitely give it a try. I've had the same issue with just about everything I've smoked. I'll probably try it with a butt next week after the weather improves here. Because if moisture is my issue, smoking in the rain isn't gonna help.

[fracmeister]

I never use a water pan on my Yoder and I get great bark. And no, rain doesn't bother it at all...

[Breadhead]

+1 on Spinaker's suggestions. Bark is flavor.👍

[Spinaker]

Thank's Spinaker . I'll definitely give it a try. I've had the same issue with just about everything I've smoked. I'll probably try it with a butt next week after the weather improves here. Because if moisture is my issue, smoking in the rain isn't gonna help.

Nah rain won't make a difference with that Yoder. That fire is large enough and there is enough airflow for that to make a difference. It may take more fuel, but I wouldn't worry about the rain to much. I'm pretty sure Huskee smokes on his in the rain.

Also, we need to see a picture of that Yoder!!!

[edible hen]

Spinaker here it is

[Spinaker]

Wow!! Beautiful! I wann see it running. I bet its even sweeter. Thanks for sharing. edible hen

[edible hen]

It runs like a champ. I've tried to upload some blue smoke vids but the the files are too big. The cook today was an outlier, and hopefully a sign of learning. I babysat it, and ran clean even after wrapping.

[BigBear]

That's a nice looking rig edible hen . Have fun learning how to use it!

[edible hen]

And my placement of the now retired water pan

[Huskee]

I put my water pan there too but down on the heat management plate. My suggestion is first to stop spritzing if you want more bark. I always use a water pan. Experimenting is the fun part!

[DWCowles]

Congrats on your new smoker and welcome to the stickburner club edible hen

[edible hen]

Thanks DWCowles. I'll admit it was a shock to the system going from a little bullet smoker to this. But I figured if I planned little side projects such as this, then it would take the pressure off to strive for greatness. And while I'm not there yet, I'm well on my way thanks to the tips I've learned here. If it wasn't for people posting their successes and "perceived" failures, I wouldn't have come nearly as close as I did tonight. I just hope down the road that I will be in a position to pay it forward.

[JeffJ]

Regarding water....one trick I've developed for my WSM is I use water but only enough for the first 3-4 hours of the cook. Once it evaporates good bark will develop. Just be ready for a temperature spike once the water evaporates though.