I am new to smoking but have always enjoyed eating it. I recently purchased the digital 4 rack and smoked a pork roast. Turned out great! My all time favorite is brisket. I have smoke two briskets now and have not been happy with the result of it. They have been dry and tough. Excellent smoke flavor and seasoning flavor. I am smoking for 4 to 5 hours using mesquite and cooking in the smoker at 200 until my internal temperature is 190. I have tried to find information if this is correct but the more I look the more confused I get as everyone has their own little way of doing it. Is smoking brisket that tough or are there some basics I am missing. I am a die hard and want to cook in the smoker until finished and not use my oven, that's why I have the smoker. I sure would appreciate any help out there that you can give me.
I've only done 5, counting the one I'm eating leftovers on now,so I'm certainly no expert. But, I have to ask: are you FTCing or using any kind of spritz (apple juice, etc.)?
well dakota57006, I am not at all familiar with a cut of brisket but just wondering Have you tried to FTC the brisket afterwords for a few hours? Like I said I'm not a brisket pro so if I am giving you bad advise then I'm sure the others on here will correct me for it but I do Know that a little FTC time works great on pork butts.
OK, I said I'm new so don't laugh. What is FTC?
F= wrap in foil (shiny side in)
T= wrap in towels to hold temp in
C= place in preheated cooler to maintain temperature longer.
I usually add about 1/8 cup of apple juice before ftc brisket. It will continue to cook and tenderize and can remain like this for several hours and still maintain temperature. I have gone as long as 6 hours and still had hot brisket to pull. You will definitely have tender meat and the foil will hold moisture in.
OK, so I got the FTC down. I pour apple juice on the brisket before I completely seal it up in the foil? Preheat a cooler? You talking about an ice cooler? To preheat it do you just dump in hot water? Is any of this information all put together like smoking for dummies? What about smoking time? What about oven temperature and cooking time? What should the internal temperature be at when I would FTC?
These might seem like stupid questions but I feel if you don't ask that's even dumber.
I would not pour apple juice on it prior to FTC. I would give a liberal spray of apple juice. I do not bother to heat the cooler. I will find the correct size cooler (I have several) double wrap in foil, wrap in a large towel and put it in.
I smoke my briskets for 4 hours then continue to cook until done. I like to keep the cabinet temp at 190 - 205F. Always get a brisket with enough fat on one side and place fat side up in the smoker. Spray with apple juice about every hour or two. If you are doing more than one tray, rotate top to bottom and back to front every hour or two also.
One problem you may be having is if you are not monitoring the cabinet temp with a separate temp probe. The gauges that came with the smoker are never correct and can be off by 20 degrees. You want to keep the cabinet temp under 210 for best results. Low and slow.
Dakota, as the vets told me, there are no stupid questions. Like I said before, I am by no means a brisket expert, but I will tell you what I do to make an excellent brisket. I'm sure some of the more "seasoned" veterans will have better ideas, but this is mine:
Slather with Gulden's Spicy Brown Mustard
Add dry rub consisting of seasoned meat tenderizer, garlic powder, onion powder, and creole seasoning
Wrap in Saran wrap and refrigerate for 12-24 hours
Smoke for 3:20 (hickory is the only thing I've used for brisket) & change water in bowl
Maintain cab temp of 210-220
Spray apple juice for the first time after changing water, then every hour after
Prewarm cooler with hot water
Pull at 190 internal temp
FTC for at least 2 hours, spraying apple juice over both sides while foiling
Cut against the grain, and or pull, as you would pork
EAT!!!
I must ask, do you have a Maverick, or similar thermometer, or are you going by the smoker temps? I hope this helps, because it came right out of this forum by many members who REALLY know what they're doing.
Hi Dakota;
Welcome to the forum.
As you can tell there are a variety of ways to smoke a brisket. Are you smoking a whole brisket, or the flat, or the point? I don't ftc, or spritz; and only take my brisket to 180°F - 185°F. Applying 4 hours of smoke with a cabinet temperature of 200°F - 210°F (that is the temperature I prefer). When I take it out of the smoker I will foil it, and a little beef broth or apple juice before sealing, and let it rest for about an hour or so to allow the juices to absorb and redistribute.
For me, my brisket is moist enough, but everyone has a difference thought of what moist is. Many have use a method called "boating", which was originally posted by Olds. I have never used the method but many swear by it. I don't have time to do a search, but basically you seal the brisket in foil after the smoke has been applied (add some liquid before sealing). Then place in back into the smoker or oven and continue cooking until you reach the internal temperature you want.
QuoteIs any of this information all put together like smoking for dummies? What about smoking time? What about oven temperature and cooking time?
Dakota, this is a link that I find very useful. I know that it isn't based on the Bradly methods but this guy Jeff has a lot of need to Know stuff in his E-course. It is sent threw e-mail over a course of 5 days. I printed most of the course out for future reference and best of all it's good free advice.
http://www.smoking-meat.com/ (http://www.smoking-meat.com/)
I have ordered a Maverick but currently am using the digital controller and relying on it being correct. As far as what I am smoking, I really don't know for sure. I ask for a piece of brisket for smoking and the butcher comes out with a package. I do know the last one I smoked didn't have near the fat cap it should have. Which cut is better to smoke or doesn't it matter? How tender is the brisket when you are going to FTC or does the FTC do the majority of tenderizing?
Sure appreciate everyones input and I don't mind reading so if there are any good books or guides on smoking I would be very interested in them.
You should ask the butcher next time. If it is cryovac (vacuum sealed) it should say on the label which cut it is. The whole brisket is made up of two muscle groups, the flat and the point. The whole cut will barely fit in one of the BS trays, and often it may be larger then the tray. I generally just smoke the flats, because I can't usually find whole cuts, and the flat is what is sold in my area. The point has more marbling. Also the amount of fat cap you have will depend on how the brisket was trimmed prior to sale. I some times find flats that have been trimmed of almost all of the fat.
Here is another good site that gives a lot of information on brisket, while there you should browse around. They have a lot of information on smoking and techniques that can be adapted for use with the BS.
http://www.virtualweberbullet.com/virtualbrisket.html
http://www.virtualweberbullet.com/brisketselect.html
I always FTC my butts to continue the fat and tissue rendering and to keep hot until dinner time. As far as being tender, sometimes it is hard for me to get the butt onto the foil to FTC without it falling apart. This is probably because I smoke between 190 and 210 (normally averaging around 200).
The briskets I get aren't vacuumed packed. I have a state university in town and go to the meat lab and get the cuts that they butcher right on campus. The cuts are then wrapped in freezer paper and that is what you get. I purchased to pieces, the first must have been the flat and the second appears to be the point. I know the fat cap was just about gone and will ask next time to look at it or see if they have some not trimmed. So does FTC make that big of difference on a brisket? It could be that my oven temp is just too high and I will know that soon enough when I get my Maverick.
Thanks for the links and keep on smokin'
I can't answer your question on the FTC, because I rarely use that technique, maybe someone who has tried both methods can give you a better answer. I do know that wrapping it in foil and adding about 1/8 - 1/4 cup of beef broth or apple juice before sealing will allow the juices to redistribute, and most of the extra liquid will be absorbed during the resting period. If you are just beginning to learn how to smoke brisket, you will be better off learning on one cut, because each cut will cook a little differently. I would suggest just staying with flats until you have a technique developed.
There is a forum member who always injected his briskets with a brine, but I don't think he posted his brine recipe. He would also take his internal temperature to 200°F - 210°F. Usually when you take the brisket that high you would want to pull it as oppose to slicing. The only other suggestion I can come up with is to make sure you slice it thin and across the grain.
I live on brisket and used to live in TX which is brisket country. A temp reading of the meat hitting 190 is not really the true test of doneness. If you stick the thermometer into the meat and there is no resistance, then its ready. Also I've never seen a brisket get done in 5 hours. Excuse me if I re-ask a few questions here. I smoke a brisket almost every weekend and here is what I do, never fails:
1. Smoke a big brisket 6+ lbs. Smaller briskets just dont' hold up to the amount of time required to tenderize the meat.
2. Do NOT remove the fat cap. I recommend scoring it in a checkered pattern before smoking. Make sure you Do NOT cut into the meat, just cut deep enough to expose the meat.
3. Yes use a mustard slather. It helps protect the outside of the meat. Add spices etc if you want. A simple basic mix that is great is even parts kosher salt, sugar, and course ground black pepper.
4. Preheating the smoker: I find with my smoker that the internal temp in the smoker really varies depending on the shelf I use (on the bottom close to heating element or top shelf). I usually put my food in on either of the top two shelves. I also run my smoker at full temp. I preheat heat it for about an hour at full temp. I also boil the water before I put it in the bowl in the bottom of the smoker. That way I don't have to waste time heating up the water. I live in Seattle where it never really gets that hot out, most of the year is cold. I use a digital thermometer and I lower the prob to sit just under the brisket. That way I can see the temp directly under the meat. I find with my smoker the over all temp near the meat does not really exceed 220-230 range at best. And yes the door temp is rarely accurate to the temp below the meat. When you put the meat it, it really absorbs a lot of the heat in the cabinet while it warms up. You can tell when the meat starts to really get near the end of the smoking process cause the cabinet temp starts to climb. As far as spritzing the meat goes, I'm undecided. The brisket has a very large fat cap on top and so any spritzing you do just lands on the fat which hardly needs it.
5. Put the meat in to the smoker cold (cold meat, hot smoker). Do not bring the meat to room temp. Meat only absorbs smoke until it reaches a temp of 140. Warming the meat to room temp means that it will reach 140 too fast and not pick up enough smoke flave. I actually do this for all my meats. YES it means it cooks longer but who cares (I have tricks for speeding it up).
6. I smoke it 5 hours. Period.
7. Take it out of smoker. On a cookie sheet with sides (hold in juices that always leak out of foil), lay multiple sheets of foil (very long sheets), place a smoker rack upside down on the foil. Set meat on rack (fat side up). The reason for putting the rack on the foil upside down is to keep the meat from sitting in the juices/fat that will accumulate in the foil. I don't add any juices but feel free. close up foil and place in oven.
8. Oven temp depends on your time. If you want to eat the meat that day and are short on time, preheat oven to 300-350. Cook meat for 1+ hours. Then lower temp to 250-300 for an 1-2 hours (depends on how long you left it at 300+). I always have it finishing at 250 for the last hour. I do this for 3 hours and its always been done. When I stick the thermometer thru the foil there is no resistance, its like sticking a marshmellow. If you have a lot of time, you can preheat the oven to 200 and slow roast it over night. I don't know how long it has to cook at this temp but I can tell you when I get up in the morning its done.
9. Take meat out of oven and leave sealed in foil. Let it sit at least an hour. I usually just do an hour. You can FTC it or just leave it sitting on the counter (this is how I do it cause I don't have a big cooler and it works fine. Just don't open the foil). Also when you let the meat sit a bit, it allows the smoker flavor to mellow and sink into the meat.
10. Before slicing meat, make sure you slice off the fat cap. Slice and enjoy.
Thanks for the info kiyotei.
That helps a lot of folks out.
Oh one more thing, and I'll go back and add this to my list on my previous post, cabinet temp. I find with my smoker that the internal temp in the smoker really varies depending on the shelf I use (on the bottom close to heating element or top shelf). I usually put my food in on either of the top two shelves. I also run my smoker at full temp. I preheat heat it for about an hour at full temp. I also boil the water before I put it in the bowl in the bottom of the smoker. That way I don't have to waste time heating up the water. I live in Seattle where it never really gets that hot out, most of the year is cold. I use a digital thermometer and I lower the prob to sit just under the brisket. That way I can see the temp directly under the meat. I find with my smoker the over all temp near the meat does not really exceed 220-230 range at best. And yes the door temp is rarely accurate to the temp below the meat. When you put the meat it, it really absorbs a lot of the heat in the cabinet while it warms up. You can tell when the meat starts to really get near the end of the smoking process cause the cabinet temp starts to climb. As far as spritzing the meat goes, I'm undecided. The brisket has a very large fat cap on top and so any spritzing you do just lands on the fat which hardly needs it. Before slicing meat, make sure you slice off the fat cap.
You may have noticed I haven't posted anything in a while. I've been traveling a lot for work lately, just got back from two weeks in Germany. The weather was great this past weekend in Seattle and so while getting over my jet lag I smoked a 7+ lb brisket on Friday and on Saturday I smoked a 7+lb pork shoulder, both were outstanding. I know I didn't post any pics sorry. This weekend should be equally nice and you can bet there will be a brisket smoking in my yard.
Great info kiyotei. I am gonna have to try your method out on my next brisket.
kiyotei,
Thanks for the tips. I am curious, why do you chose to finish your brisket in the oven and not in your smoker?
I can finish it faster in the oven than I can in the smoker. Also, over night I don't feel comfortable leaving the smoker in the yard unsupervised, who knows who might walk thru and mess with it. Finally, the oven temp is easier to regulate than the smoker.