Now that I’ve got a smoker that can hold temperature consistently, I figured I’d try an overnight brisket.
For background, I’m at 7900 feet in Colorado, so water boils at 197; I’m always concerned about boiling all the moisture out of meat I’m trying to get to 200+ degrees. Because of that, I’ve probably pulled previous briskets too soon.
The other problem I’ve had is that a 10-12 lb brisket (pre-trim) seems to take 15 hours to get to 195, even with a butcher paper wrap.
Which leads me to Sunday. Based on prior smoke times and a plan to cambro for a couple hours to be ready for lunch, I kicked things off around 8:00 pm. At 165, which was around 2:00 am, figured I’d foil wrap to preserve some moisture and get to bed. Naturally, the foil wrap caused things to speed up greatly, and I hit 200 around 4:00, when I pulled both the point and the flat and finally got to bed. The point was probe tender; the flat could have used a bit more time.
Unfortunately, despite finally hitting the texture I’ve been looking for, the foil wrap pretty much wrecked the bark, as it does, and left my wife feeling the meat was undercooked - I’ve barely gotten her to back off from well done steak, so we have different expectations here.
Anyway, my future plans consist of a real overnight smoke, letting it ride out the stall unwrapped (although my paper wrap technique is terrible enough to not affect previous cook times...) to get a good bark. Based on altitude, am I going to wake up to a $50 hockey puck in the smoker or am I unnecessarily concerned here?
For background, I’m at 7900 feet in Colorado, so water boils at 197; I’m always concerned about boiling all the moisture out of meat I’m trying to get to 200+ degrees. Because of that, I’ve probably pulled previous briskets too soon.
The other problem I’ve had is that a 10-12 lb brisket (pre-trim) seems to take 15 hours to get to 195, even with a butcher paper wrap.
Which leads me to Sunday. Based on prior smoke times and a plan to cambro for a couple hours to be ready for lunch, I kicked things off around 8:00 pm. At 165, which was around 2:00 am, figured I’d foil wrap to preserve some moisture and get to bed. Naturally, the foil wrap caused things to speed up greatly, and I hit 200 around 4:00, when I pulled both the point and the flat and finally got to bed. The point was probe tender; the flat could have used a bit more time.
Unfortunately, despite finally hitting the texture I’ve been looking for, the foil wrap pretty much wrecked the bark, as it does, and left my wife feeling the meat was undercooked - I’ve barely gotten her to back off from well done steak, so we have different expectations here.
Anyway, my future plans consist of a real overnight smoke, letting it ride out the stall unwrapped (although my paper wrap technique is terrible enough to not affect previous cook times...) to get a good bark. Based on altitude, am I going to wake up to a $50 hockey puck in the smoker or am I unnecessarily concerned here?
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