Grayish Brisket

[tinyboxer]

Howdy - I've been working on brisket for a while and think I'm finally figuring it out. My last three cooks have been good - probe tender and nice and juicy. But even though the texture was right, the color was off - kinda gray and unappealing. Prime brisket is hard to find in supermarkets near me so this was a Choice grade. Is this color due to the quality of meat or is it something to do with my cook? I'm wrapping in butcher paper at the stall, and then putting right in a cooler to rest when floppy (195-200). Should I let the brisket vent a bit first? Other ideas? Thanks!

[kmhfive]

Pictures would help us understand better what you're looking at. Sounds like you need bark and a smoke ring? What cooker are you using?

For bark, you need more time drying the surface. If I wrap (generally I don't), it's after the stall when I see really good bark (about 170-180F).

For the smoke ring, put the meat on cold and damp--straight out of the fridge. Some folks will spritz the meat periodically up to an IT of about 130F to help attract smoke and give the meat more time at lower temperatures.

[DeusDingo]

do you mean on the exterior meaning you have no bark? you can help that by wrapping after the stall instead of when it starts. if you are talking about the interior do you mean you get no smoke ring? that may depend on your smoker. i've heard people with electric smokers don't have much of a smoke ring. the smoke ring is purely cosmetic. do you have smokey flavor? if that's the case i wouldn't worry about it. if it's that big of a concern you can rub a little bit of curing salt on to the meat to give you a "smoke ring". i've heard that advice before but i am unsure of amounts or time.

[tinyboxer]

Thanks DeusDingo - I'm referring to interior of the brisket. The bark has been good and the flavor nice n' smokey. I'm cooking on a big offset smoker with oak and cherry.

[tinyboxer]

I don't have a real good picture of the interior, but here's an overhead view (bottom center is brisket)

[DeusDingo]

ah, well then, like kmhfive states put the brisket in cold and damp so it can absorb as much smoke as possible early in

[kmhfive]

Nice pictures! I'm not a stick-burner guy, so I couldn't give specifics about your setup. However, in general, the myoglobin will react with carbon monoxide and nitrates from the smoke to "fix" the reddish-pink smoke ring only up to somewhere in the neighborhood of 130F. So, the longer the meat is kept below that temperature the more chance the smoke will react in the way you want. The other side of it is to manage your fire so that it produces the optimal smoke and that's a topic for someone with stick-burning experience.

[tinyboxer]

Great - thanks everyone for your replies!

[texastweeter]

there are many ways to get the smoke ring, curing salts, celery, a good smoke, but I have had meat that had ZERO smoke ring and still was good and smokey. it is a cosmetic badge of honor.