Brisket help

[MarkCO]

Stall. If you track your temperatures, there is a period of time where the meat temperature rise rate plateaus, or slows down, somewhere in the 150 to 170F range. Some people freak and turn up the temp. That drys out the meat. So too, we have less grains of water per pound of air at altitude, even with the same RH, so that has an effect. Getting some moisture in the smoker during the stall, especially with beef, does help. Once I hit the stall temp, I might even drop the smoker temp some to try to keep the stall temp held with no more than a 5 degree rise over 2 or 3 hours. The foil lets you "power" through the stall without drying out the meat and reduce the total cook time. But I think the tenderness and flavor suffer.

[vossman]

Thanks for that tip, I was gonna use straight AJ. I cant drink straight juices anymore without adding water to it as it is already too sweet so this is good to know.

[rondog]

Ok, stall - gotcha. My smoker has a wood pan over the propane burner, and a water pan over that. I can put only water in it, or a mix of water and fruit juices.

Haven't tried a brisket in this smoker, need to do that!

[theGinsue]

I smoke my briskets low (around 200*) @ slow (14 - 15 hours). A good spritz or mopping regularly and water and AJ above the heat (or just inside the grill area for side-box smokers) will help tremendously with moistness. You'll get a good bark (perfect for "burnt ends" sandwiches), but the inside will be nice and juicy and tender.

The 3-2-1 method is excellent for ribs but it's too short of cooking time for the brisket I make. I only ever wrap in foil when using this method, and only for ribs, not brisket or pork butt. Wrapping in anything may keep the fluids in, but it also keeps the smoke from reaching the meat which is the whole point of having the meat on the smoker.

Be sure to use some fruit wood like apple, cherry or peach in addition to your hickory or mesquite (I use 2/3 hickory & 1/3 fruit) because if you don't it will impart a bitterness to the meat.

Good luck.

[TAR31]

I got two flats ready to go on the smoker tomorrow AM. I have done 2 briskets so far and both came out OK good flavor. We ate them a while after cooking so they dried out a bit.
I have never wrapped them in foil for the last half of the cook but I hear its a good thing to do. Does it come out moister if they are wrapped and then let to sit in the foil for a while? I was thinking beer or beef broth in the foil.
Any input would be appreciated.

If you're doing 2 why not foil one and leave the other and see which way you prefer?

[Colorado_Outback]

Tag so I can find this later.
Going to do a brisket for xmas.

[Bailey Guns]

This is really a good thread because I just bought a Bradley digital smoker yesterday. I'm gonna try a turkey first (because it was on sale for .57 cents a pound and I won't feel too bad if I screw it up). But I can't wait to figure the thing out and try a small brisket.

[Great-Kazoo]

Traeger Lil Texas smoker. I am gonna try it without foil at about 225 as I like the bark, leave a pan of water (I have heard coke works too) in there for moisture and spray with apple juice or an au jus/broth blend every now and then. I am gonna wrap it in foil when its done and let it sit in the warmer for a while. Last time I just let sit out and cool, maybe that was my big mistake.

I marinade mine in coke (not diet, coke ZERO etc) just coke for 2-4 hrs, along with some lemon juice. Then use a dry rub before cooking.

[Dave]

Many different ways to get good Q. For briskets I go 10 hours minimum and really try for 12, though I'm not always up early enough to go a full 12. I don't marinade personally, just a dry rub. I go about 6ish hours on the rack with beef broth in my water pan and 225-235 with mesquite and apple wood. Then wrapped in foil with some of the drippings that fell into the water pan for the rest of the time and I adjust the temp depending on when I want to serve it and what target I'm after. I prefer chopped to sliced so I take my final temp a few degrees higher than you would for slicing. Also, I leave most of the fat cap on and only trim it to bring it even all the way across for even cooking.

[Lurch]

230's is too high imho for the whole cook. I usually go 230's for 3 hours then about 180 for 9hours. Also on the traegers if you line the bottom with bricks it will keep a more constant temp and save on pellets. Use clay bricks as concrete ones will crack. If you can't find clay bricks lava rock will work but not as well and ash cleanup is a lot harder.