Hello, I’m Lynn, I’m a Texan, and I’m struggling with brisket. The family talks about it in hushed tones when they think I can’t here them. It’s that old "Oh thank God he’s cooking chicken this weekend" thing. I’m not sure what they do with Texans who can’t cook great brisket, but I don’t want to know.
Let me describe the events that have me here searching for help. I bought a very nice kamado smoker a while back. I did everything that I had learned here and other places. I fired it up, seasoned it and learned to control the temps. I even did a few learner cooks on it. I reversed seared some steaks, they were awesome. Thanks again to A/R. Then came the big day! I bought a well marbled choice brisket, trimmed it, (it didn’t resemble the one Aaron Franklin did on u tube), dry brined it, and put it in the fridge. The next day I was up early with the kind of enthusiasm one sees on Christmas morning. I rubbed it and started the fire. When all settled in at 225 on went brisket. In my mind I was in the middle of a right of passage and I was nailing it. I had my new Maverick 732 set up and really, what could go wrong? Temperature was holding like a dream. Then internal hit 160, no stall, 170 no stall, 180 no stall, cool. Now this whole time I practiced the, if you’re looking you aint cooking thing. At 195 I looked. I got a surprise! It was very similar to the feeling I had when I arrived for the first date I had arranged in an online dating sight several years ago. It was that, wow this looks nothing like the pictures on the computer, feeling. The brisket was wet, grey, with a little brown, and ugly. I had no idea what to do. I ended up putting it in a bag that went into a bucket of ice water. The next day I put it on at 350 to try to get some bark and flavor. It was eatable, but little else. I’ve done 3 briskets since then. The next one was much like the first except it turned out tougher than a pigs nose. I thought it had to be air flow, I needed more air to carry away the moisture so bark would form. On to brisket 3. I cooked it at 250 and had a better, but not great outcome. The last was cooked at 280, it did stall, I didn’t wrap, it came out beautiful. After the rest in the faux cambro the point was great, but the thinner end of the flat was very dry.
I’m proud of my ribs and chicken, but my brisket cooks are legendary for all the wrong reasons.
Let me describe the events that have me here searching for help. I bought a very nice kamado smoker a while back. I did everything that I had learned here and other places. I fired it up, seasoned it and learned to control the temps. I even did a few learner cooks on it. I reversed seared some steaks, they were awesome. Thanks again to A/R. Then came the big day! I bought a well marbled choice brisket, trimmed it, (it didn’t resemble the one Aaron Franklin did on u tube), dry brined it, and put it in the fridge. The next day I was up early with the kind of enthusiasm one sees on Christmas morning. I rubbed it and started the fire. When all settled in at 225 on went brisket. In my mind I was in the middle of a right of passage and I was nailing it. I had my new Maverick 732 set up and really, what could go wrong? Temperature was holding like a dream. Then internal hit 160, no stall, 170 no stall, 180 no stall, cool. Now this whole time I practiced the, if you’re looking you aint cooking thing. At 195 I looked. I got a surprise! It was very similar to the feeling I had when I arrived for the first date I had arranged in an online dating sight several years ago. It was that, wow this looks nothing like the pictures on the computer, feeling. The brisket was wet, grey, with a little brown, and ugly. I had no idea what to do. I ended up putting it in a bag that went into a bucket of ice water. The next day I put it on at 350 to try to get some bark and flavor. It was eatable, but little else. I’ve done 3 briskets since then. The next one was much like the first except it turned out tougher than a pigs nose. I thought it had to be air flow, I needed more air to carry away the moisture so bark would form. On to brisket 3. I cooked it at 250 and had a better, but not great outcome. The last was cooked at 280, it did stall, I didn’t wrap, it came out beautiful. After the rest in the faux cambro the point was great, but the thinner end of the flat was very dry.
I’m proud of my ribs and chicken, but my brisket cooks are legendary for all the wrong reasons.
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