New Smoker... First Brisket.. Lessons learned..

[Cman60]

I did my first brisket on the Stumps XL Baby and it finished with mixed results. I had the smoker locked in at 225F with a DigiQ Qx2. Used Hickory and Apple as those were the two woods I had on hand.

The Point came out juicy and made almost perfect Burnt Ends. The Flat, not so much. I had a good smoke ring that actually covered the entire slice on both sections. I sliced the point off the flat, cubed it up, mixed the drippings with Bullseye KC and put back in the smoker for 2hrs. The Burnt Ends came out perfect for someone at my skill level. Tender, tasty and juicy. BE's are my friend..

The flat was a different story. It appeared that they were dry. Not tough, just dry. I wrapped at 150F and removed from the smoker at 195F. The Brisket was cooked whole. when I sliced it, nice smoke ring. Sliced against the grain, it was nice and tender. I noticed that it was dry. Almost like I should have pulled the brisket at 185-190F and let it rest until it reached 195F.

Not sure where I went wrong but I do know I'm damned close to getting Brisket dialed in.

On another front, I learned more things about the behavior of my smoker. I have a GF (Stumps). I was able to get it up to temp with an ambient outside temp of 0F. Cold as hell but with the help of a propane weed burner, I got the smoker lit and after an hour, it came to 225F. I smoked some cured Bacon and figured I'd put the brisket on as well just to save time and fuel.

After getting the top damper set, the smoker held 225F for over 12hrs. I used Lump and a Briquette minion setup. I then loaded the rest of my lump as I knew I was in for a long smoke. Smoke was thin and blue and smelling great. I then realized I was out of lump and only had some hickory pellets left as fuel. I put 1/2 a bag of hickory pellets into the chute on the GF and the results were spectacular!

I guesss the GF acted as a pellet smoker. Instead of having a machine fed pellets into the fire box, the Stumps let gravity do the work. The results were so good that I'm convinced Pellets needs to be part of my fuel mix. I put them in the chute instead of the smoke chamber as I need them to last longer. I also just put smaller Apple wood chunks in the chute as well. It produced my best Brisket yet. I shut down both dampers to preserve what I could of the unspent fuel mix.

Every smoke I try to learn something new. This smoke was a real eyeopener. Hopefully, this will help anyone out there learning how to use a GF smoker. It's entirely possible to pull off a 12-18hr smoke only using perhaps 10-12 pounds of fuel.

Next smoke will be apple for a pork belly I've got curing.

Any suggestions how to keep Brisket flats moist would be greatly appreciated.

[JeffJ]

Any suggestions how to keep Brisket flats moist would be greatly appreciated.

Did you dry brine your brisket? Did you use a water pan? I am not familiar with your brand of smoker. Perhaps it has a tendency to run a bit dry like a pellet smoker does. A humid environment in your chamber should help a bit.

[kirikintha]

Hey there! I live in Colorado, where brisket is notoriously dry in my Pellet smoker.

I have to make sure of a few things:

• The brisket is top quality, 100% and has a good bit of fat on it that can be trimmed evenly. I noticed that some brisket I have gotten is not so tasty.
• I have to separate the muscle so the pieces cook evenly. The first brisket I made just did not work out, when I kept it whole.
• I absolutely *have* to keep the humidity high. No alcohol though (beer, wine, spirits), fruit juice or equiv. Tried mopping and that was worth it, but made my cooking time so much longer. I put a pan out, and it works very well.
• I crutch the brisket if it looks like the meat is being fussy, because it seems like my pellet smoker really loves to have a dry heat. I have noticed personally, this makes a big difference for my dry climate and on a pellet smoker in particular.

Our winters are dry and cold - so I have in all honesty put a moratorium on smoking brisket over the winter, when the temp is under 50F. I find that the variance between the center of the smoker and the outside casing varies so wildly, that I am not convinced that I am getting the actual temperature I need all the way around the meat. That "cocoon" of heat just never seems to stabilize. I feel that on my smoker, it just doesn't insulate enough. I don't have a blanket - but you may want to try that if it makes sense and is safe. Best of luck on your next cook!

[FLBuckeye]

Did you inject?

[OGMrWhite]

Did you hold it in a cambro for a few hours? I have not tried a full packer yet, but I found this to be very important with baby backs and flats... heck, any low and slow.

[Jerod Broussard]

Most mine are dry, to some extent. Course they all get dry due to oxidation and surface area not long after slicing.

If I can find some good Choice and wet-age for 35-40 days, they become the bomb. People are totally fine with dry and tender. If ya got moist and not tender, not good.

[Cman60]

Did you dry brine your brisket? Did you use a water pan? I am not familiar with your brand of smoker. Perhaps it has a tendency to run a bit dry like a pellet smoker does. A humid environment in your chamber should help a bit.

Jeff, I did a dry rub then vacuum sealed it for about a week. I think with Brisket in the future, I will use a water pan just to add humidity. I just thought it was odd that the "point" was so nice and juicy and the flat was not. I did wrap and let it set perhaps too long. 4hrs as I took a nap.

[Cman60]

Hey there! I live in Colorado, where brisket is notoriously dry in my Pellet smoker.

I have to make sure of a few things:

• The brisket is top quality, 100% and has a good bit of fat on it that can be trimmed evenly. I noticed that some brisket I have gotten is not so tasty.
• I have to separate the muscle so the pieces cook evenly. The first brisket I made just did not work out, when I kept it whole.
• I absolutely *have* to keep the humidity high. No alcohol though (beer, wine, spirits), fruit juice or equiv. Tried mopping and that was worth it, but made my cooking time so much longer. I put a pan out, and it works very well.
• I crutch the brisket if it looks like the meat is being fussy, because it seems like my pellet smoker really loves to have a dry heat. I have noticed personally, this makes a big difference for my dry climate and on a pellet smoker in particular.

Our winters are dry and cold - so I have in all honesty put a moratorium on smoking brisket over the winter, when the temp is under 50F. I find that the variance between the center of the smoker and the outside casing varies so wildly, that I am not convinced that I am getting the actual temperature I need all the way around the meat. That "cocoon" of heat just never seems to stabilize. I feel that on my smoker, it just doesn't insulate enough. I don't have a blanket - but you may want to try that if it makes sense and is safe. Best of luck on your next cook!

Thanks Kiri. I fired that puppy up in the bitter cold as a test to see just how well insulated my smoker was. Wifey was just as curious as I was since I made such a fuss over getting an insulated smoker. It certainly passed the test but i realized that my temp blower was working OT as it was blowing cold air into the smoke chamber. I think next winter, my cutoff might be 40F. I get my briskets from Walmart as they do sell packers. Not the best as the fatcap on them are pretty thick. I have found here at a farmer's market I could get great points or whole packers that are 20day dry aged.
Our winters aren't that dry here in Central PA. It gets cold as hell though. You may have a point about pellet smokers being dry. I wonder if gravity feds behave the same way..

[The Burn]

So interesting that a Walmart in Central PA sells brisket, but the one near me, about an hour from you I think, in West Chester/Kennett Square never does. What are they going for there?

[Cman60]

You're about 50miles east of me as I'm in York. There are several Walmarts out here that sell packer briskets. The better ones seem to wind up at the Ephrata Walmart. In the heart of Amish country of course. Next trip to Wally world, I'll let ya know about the price per pound. Since this week was St. Patty's day, meat prices are a bit higher than usual. Particularly brisket flats. Giant had the nerve to have a whole brisket flat for $70. Thing should have come with a happy ending...

[Cman60]

Did you inject?

Yep.. Used Beef Stock injected perhaps at 1" intervals. Wrapped it at 165F, pulled out at 195F. Rested for 4hrs double wrapped in heavyduty foil in my oven. I think I may have waited too long resting it..

[Cman60]

Did you hold it in a cambro for a few hours? I have not tried a full packer yet, but I found this to be very important with baby backs and flats... heck, any low and slow.

I don't own a Cambro, but I can come close with a cooler I have. I wrapped it in heavy duty foil and let it set in my oven. Next time I'll wrap in a towel and put it in the cooler for 2hrs.

[Cman60]

Most mine are dry, to some extent. Course they all get dry due to oxidation and surface area not long after slicing.

If I can find some good Choice and wet-age for 35-40 days, they become the bomb. People are totally fine with dry and tender. If ya got moist and not tender, not good.

I live in central PA and we have plenty of meat suppliers out here. I think I'm done buying whole packers at WalMart though. The Fatcaps are starting to look like glaciers on a mountain. On my last cook, I took a chance on a meat provider that had a great looking point. 20day dry aged and already trimmed. My outside temp was quite a bit higher than on my first smoke and I think that made a huge difference as well. 12hrs later, I came close to a personal best brisket product. The point was just great. I wrapped it in a towel and placed in my oven for 2hrs. Then sliced and served.

Still gotta work on my flats though. The Final Frontier...

[CurlingDog]

I live in central PA and we have plenty of meat suppliers out here. I think I'm done buying whole packers at WalMart though. The Fatcaps are starting to look like glaciers on a mountain. On my last cook, I took a chance on a meat provider that had a great looking point. 20day dry aged and already trimmed. My outside temp was quite a bit higher than on my first smoke and I think that made a huge difference as well. 12hrs later, I came close to a personal best brisket product. The point was just great. I wrapped it in a towel and placed in my oven for 2hrs. Then sliced and served.

Still gotta work on my flats though. The Final Frontier...

Cman, at what temp did you set the oven? or did you just use it as a handy place to hold the meat? This "duh" moment kinda surprised me... a cooler is infinitely more portable of course, and my briskets have fit them perfectly, but... the oven is like... right there! if i'm not taking the brisket to someones house or a picnic, why the hell not use the oven??! SCIENCE!

[CandySueQ]

Did you foil? If so, a tasty liquid at the bottom (not covering) will aid in moisture retention. Friend of mine made brisket a science project and tracked that brisket loses moisture when it hits 163, so that's the temp to wrap. Also interesting, he theorized that the longer the brisket was in the stall, the better that brisket was going to be. I don't have an opinion on the latter, but I do wrap at around 160-165!

[Guy]

CandySueQ and you use paper to wrap correct? Let us know you you did this weekend. 27th - 28th March.

[Cman60]

Cman, at what temp did you set the oven? or did you just use it as a handy place to hold the meat? This "duh" moment kinda surprised me... a cooler is infinitely more portable of course, and my briskets have fit them perfectly, but... the oven is like... right there! if i'm not taking the brisket to someones house or a picnic, why the hell not use the oven??! SCIENCE!

Actually, I just used it as a place holder. I was tired as hell and left it in the oven for over 4hrs. Took a nap.. I did have it double wrapped in heavyduty foil though. I think it may have continued cooking and that's where it went wrong. My "Point" was great though. The Flat is still a work in progress. I did vacuum seal them with about 2 tbsp of jou/KC sauce mix. I think when I reheat, I'll steam them just to make sure they get nice and moist.

[Cman60]

Did you foil? If so, a tasty liquid at the bottom (not covering) will aid in moisture retention. Friend of mine made brisket a science project and tracked that brisket loses moisture when it hits 163, so that's the temp to wrap. Also interesting, he theorized that the longer the brisket was in the stall, the better that brisket was going to be. I don't have an opinion on the latter, but I do wrap at around 160-165!

Yeah, I wrapped at 165 so I was good there. I think I let it rest too long and it continued cooking while wrapped in the foil inside my oven. Next smoke, I'll seperate the flat from the point and deal with both seperately. I won't let it rest 4hrs either before slicing. Quick question... I pulled mine off the smoker at 195 and then wrapped. The IT may have risen above 205 and overcooked while resting. What do ya think?