Second Brisket on Weber Summit Charcoal - Tomorrow

[kingdarb]

Tomorrow I am going to do my second brisket on the Weber Summit Charcoal (for mothers day). The first one I did turned out great as far as taste goes, and it was very moist. For the first one, I dry brined it for a day, then injected it with beef broth and rubbed with Meat Church Holy Cow. Put it on the smoker at 250 over a water pan. Wrapped it around 170 I.T. and took it off the smoker at 203 I.T. The only thing that I wish was different about the brisket was the bark, which never got that firm.

Would I be better off using a drip pan with no water in it? Maybe doing the same thing as last time, then taking it out of the foil and removing the water pan for the last few degrees? I want to keep it as moist as last time inside, but would also like the bark to get firmer. ..

[CeramicChef]

I always use a dry drip pan under all my butts, briskets, ribs, chickens, etc. I like a very clean cooker. Knowing what I know about your new cooker, you probably won't need a water pan again.

[HorseDoctor]

You might try waiting until you have really good bark (after the "stall") before wrapping. Might also consider wrapping with butcher paper instead of foil. Good luck and have fun.

[David Parrish]

You might try waiting until you have really good bark (after the "stall") before wrapping. Might also consider wrapping with butcher paper instead of foil. Good luck and have fun.

Like HorseDoctor says you're going to need to cook unwrapped through the stall for really good bark. I usually take mine up to 180 F or so before wrapping. Butcher paper instead of foil will also help.

Cooking unwrapped through the stall is going to slow down your cook, though. To compensate I'd recommend cranking the temp up to 275 F when the meat hits 150 F and then lower the temp back to your desired temp of 250 F once the meat hits 175 F. You'll get great bark and the stall will be minimized.

Also agree you don't need a water pan, but it won't hurt either if you decide to throw one in.

[Spinaker]

kingdarb No water pan....EVER!!! I can't wait till this one dies. Just let that sucker buck. I would use a dry drip pan though as CeramicChef recommended.

[DeusDingo]

i like the water pan, it helps stabilize my temps

[Spinaker]

You can stabilize temps with many other avenues. True, water doe help to stabilize temps. But it also add so much moisture to the cooking chamber. Fire brick, ceramic inserts, sand, any dense mass will work to stabilize temps. DeusDingo

[kingdarb]

I found that the temps were easy to get stable without the water pan.

[kingdarb]

Thanks fellas. Giving it a go with just a drip pan (no water). Will let you know how it turns out!

[kingdarb]

So it turned out great. It was a fatty 7lb flat. Dry brined it a couple days ago and injected it with beef broth last night. Woke up early this morning and got the Weber going. Put some hickory and pecan chunks on the coals, dropped the diffuser on and let the cooker come up to temp. Took the brisket outta the fridge, rubbed it with some mustard and then applied a good dose of rub (Meat Church Holy Cow). Got the meat on the cooker around 6AM. I used a drip pan but there was no water in it. I kept the cooker around 250f, grill temp.

By about 3PM, the brisket hit 170 IT. At this point I pulled it and foiled it, as I had a bit of a timeline to stick to. Bark was decent at this point. I did not add any liquid to the foil. Meat went back on the cooker and by 5PM it was probe tender and 203 IT. Pulled it and put it in the cambro. Served dinner at 6PM. The meat was moist and flavourful. The smoke ring was very deep (the picture below does not do it justice).

I'm not sure what I would do differently next time. I was pretty happy with how this turned out.


Hunk o' meat....


Hunk o' meat with various spices....


Weber and Kamado Joe hanging out (KJ did some pork picnics)


Brisket...

[David Parrish]

Lookin good!

[kingdarb]

Thanks! Tasted awesome. I would have liked to have left it un-foiled a bit longer for a bit more bark, but I was on a schedule.

[Spinaker]

Looks great!!

[kingdarb]

...and my mother in law now wants to know how to cook brisket. I told her that I am just starting to learn, and referred her to this website.

[fzxdoc]

What a beauty of a brisket! You got a really nice one to start with and you certainly did it justice on your new toy. Congrats.

[HorseDoctor]

Looks great! I'm gonna go out on a limb here though, and suggest that part of the reason it was so moist is because what you might have bought as "flat" certainly looks like and slices like a "point". All the better to my way of thinking! Congrats on the cook.

[kingdarb]

HorseDoctor maybe it was a point? Just didn't look pointy, but maybe they cut it that way?

[HorseDoctor]

You got two separate muscles with a beautiful thin layer of fat in between. Pretty sure it's a point. IMO: They are the juiciest (best) anyway. Good job!

[kingdarb]

Ahhh kk. I'm still pretty new to cookin brisket. I'll try to make sure I get a point next time then!!

[DeusDingo]

Spinaker the rocks/bricks/cast iron things help to keep temps at whatever the smoker is, but they don't provide what water does and that is a regulated temperature. my smoker isn't the greatest and it doesn't maintain a stable temp very well. the water helps keep the temps by regulating itself (because it is water and not just a rock that gets just as hot as everything else). if i am busy and my smoker tries to get to 300 degrees a brick will only make it worse because it won't let me lower the temp (it will make it worse by keeping the temp too high), water on the other hand will fight the temp increase and try to maintain what it currently is.

[Spinaker]

DeusDingo Bricks, Ceramic deflectors, sand etc work as denser thermal masses to help regulate rapid temp changes in the cooking chamber. I disagree that they don't help to regulate temps. That is why the big and high end offsets are made with 1/4 steel. That thick steel creates a dense thermal mass that helps to regulate/level out temps. That is one of Meathead and Max Good's biggest complaints about COS's, Thin metal and poor sealing doors. The temp will rise higher than 212 F, true, but it never boils off and it's harder to over heat your cooker because of their higher density. It is true that once the temp gets up over your target, its harder to drop the temp. But a denser thermal mass allows for much smaller temp swings and thus better control. Water pan turn my cookers into steam baths. I couldn't get any bark what so ever to build on my food in my Kamado, until I went to the heat deflector and no water, just a fat/sauce drip pan.

This is a good discussion man. I hope others will join us.

[kingdarb]

It seems like I don't really need water pans either. That said, I either smoke food in a Kamado Joe or a Weber Summit Charcoal (which seems to retain moisture alot like a kamado). Maybe the need for (or lack of) a water pan depends on the type of cooker?

[Jerod Broussard]

My COS maintained temp A LOT better once I installed my reverse flow plate. In fact, it would take me by by surprise to find my charcoal basket had done burnt out because the temps were not indicating it had ran out.

[DeusDingo]

Spinaker i do believe they help regulate temps going 1 way, but it isn't a full regulation like water is. it provides heat when heat is taken away but when too much heat exists it gladly accepts that heat and it's hard to bring it back down. i have thought about adding something akin to a brick to my smoker for this very reason. when the wind blows it sometimes seems like it sucks all the heat out of my chamber, but i don't have a lot of room to work with so a water pan helps considerably (possibly at the expense of bark, i will admit i don't get the greatest of bark).

most of the difference in our experiences is likely that you are using charcoal and i am using gas (and a cheap one at that). charcoal seems to make things more humid than gas (based on other posts i've read) so a water pan would likely be redundant/overkill.

[Spinaker]

I see, I didn't realize your using gas. Is there a way to seal that cabinet up to prevent the heat from being sucked out?

[DeusDingo]

i did gaskets around the door but i think the top vent is too close to the food. i plan to try some RTV silicone around the seams but the main thing is that the vent needs a chimney since everything on the top rack cooks way slow since it is only ~4 inches away from open air