WTS Brisket Question

[spudfin]

Greetings
I just read the WTS recipe for brisket.  Looks great but I have a question.  Once you put the smoked brisket into the apple juice and cover it how long and at what oven temp do you cook it for in the house oven?
Thanks
Spudfin

[mikecorn.1]

Welcome to the forum. I see you want to tackle brisket first. I will let my fellow TEXAN answer that question for you since it is his recipe you were looking at. Sure he will be by in a bit. Happy smoking.  ;D

[Caneyscud]

Welcome to the forum spudfin.  Great place to learn!  Likewise, I don't put mine in the oven, so can't help ya, but WTS will be along shortly!

[Habanero Smoker]

spudfin;
Welcome to the forum.

The oven temperature he uses is 220°F, and continue to cook until an internal temperature of 190° - 205°F.

Here is a link to his recipe on the recipe site:
WTS Brisket

[monty]

The oven temperature he uses is 220°F, and continue to cook until an internal temperature of 190° - 205°F.

as a newbie smoker - approximately how long at 220°F until the IT reaches ~190°? there are many variables at play, but what is a ballpark time in terms of hours after the initial smoking described in the WTS recipe/tutorial

i think this is what spud wants to know too...

[HawkeyeSmokes]

The time will vary quite a bit. The last brisket I did following the recipe from WTS, an 11 lb took about 20 hours from start to finish, that includes the time in the smoker. So for that one, it was a little under 2 hours per pound. hope this helps some.

[westexasmoker]

I've gotten to where I don't use any AJ, usually have plenty of fat cap left.  Oven temp wise between 200-220, but verify your oven temp mine swings a good 70 over the set temp at the start and takes almost an hour before it stabillizes.  As Hawkeye as alluded about 16-20 hours start to finish!  Hope that helps, good luck and can't wait to hear the outcome!

C

[spudfin]

Thanks All.  Just what I was looking for.
Regards
Spudfin

[jagj52]

I just got my new six rack digital smoker on fri. ... The family has a party planned for the 26th and are requesting a brisket.  I dont want to use the oven and noticed that you dont use it for yours so I was looking for some hints and words of advice for the first time smoker!  Anything you can offer would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance

Allen

[squirtthecat]

I just got my new six rack digital smoker on fri. ... The family has a party planned for the 26th and are requesting a brisket.  I dont want to use the oven and noticed that you dont use it for yours so I was looking for some hints and words of advice for the first time smoker!  Anything you can offer would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance

Allen

In case no one sees this (FYI, it would be better to start a new thread), I've done 2 briskets in the short time I've owned my OBS and have been happy with the results.

This is what I do (based on the WTS recipe):

- Let it come to room temp while you preheat the smoker to 220 degrees.  Rub/season as you see fit.
- Apply 4 hours of smoke (pick your choice of wood, my favorite so far was a hickory/apple combo)
- Empty the water dish & refill.
- Let it go 2 more hours.
- Pull the brisket, and put it in foil pan w/ a splash of liquid (beer works for me).  Cover tightly w/ foil, and put back in the smoker for the overnight magic.   Bump the temp down to 200.  For the digital, you might have to power it off/back on as it only allows so many hours of heating.  Someone will correct me here.

Important->>>> Make sure you have a temperature probe in it!  You don't want it getting an IT past 200 or so.  Many want to stop it around 190 so they can still slice it.   My first was pulled out of the smoker the next morning at 185, and my 2nd got out of control and shot over 210 - it ended up as 'pulled/shredded beef'.  Still good, though!

- When it gets to 185-190-whatever (the next morning), pull out of the smoker, (this is what I do, others do differently) - put the entire pan in a cooler and pile some towels on/under it for at least 2 hours, and up to  6 if you have a decent cooler.

Open it up, slice it, step away.    The juices in the pan can be kept in the fridge for a bit to defat, and makes awesome gravy/stock/whatever.


That's my 2 cents.  This one works for me, others have their own favorite method.

[FLBentRider]

W E L C O M E  to the Forum jagj52!

My first advice would be to make a "practice" brisket in advance of the party, that way you can work out the details and look like you know what you are doing..

I am not a brisket expert, but I would rub it down with kosher salt, pepper and olive oil, into the smoker for 4 hours of mesquite or hickory, and continue to cook until an IT of 190 to 200F.

FTC for a couple of hours...

Eat.

You can click on the ribs at the bottom of this post to get to our recipe and FAQ site.

FTC is explained here - http://www.susanminor.org/forums/showthread.php?p=748#post748

[Caneyscud]

jag - welcome to the forum!  It's a great place to hang and ask questions!  AND congrats on the DBS6!

I am going to assume you are talking about a whole packer.  For my money they are easier than the parts - although they take longer.  Squirt and FLBR have you on the right track for some great smoked brisket.  However, due to where and how and from whom I learned to bbq, I walk a different line.  I have so many things going in my life, I like to keep my smoking simple - therefore no oven and no foil.  In my opinion (and you can take that and $0.50 and buy a half a cup of coffee) the use of foil while smoking meats (bbq'ing) is akin to heresy.  Not that it doesn't help produce a good product (and YES, I use it at times), but not in the "spirit" of barbecue - at least not what I am used to.  Foiling and boating generally seals the meat into it's own sauna, and essentially allows it to steam.  And while this can help (not guarantee) moist, tender meat, I think it also dissipates some of the flavor you have worked so hard to get.  To counteract this most add some sort of flavored liquid.  While the flavored liquids do add interesting flavor notes, most of the time my goal in smoking a brisket is to produce some wonderful smoked beef, not necessarily flavored or spiced beef.  It also tends to inhibit the formation of great bark - it tends to soften it!  There's usually plenty of fat on a normal packer brisket (10 to 12 pounds is a good size) for it not to dry out unless you cook tooooooo long (too high internal temperature) or tooooooo fast (you melt the fat and drive out the moisture before it gets tender).  

I usually don't age the brisket or apply rub overnight.  Again much more simple!  More often than not - usually just salt/black pepper/and maybe some cayenne right before the brisket goes in the Bradley.  I usually preheat my DBS4 to at least 275 or so, then put in the meat at the same time as I start the pucks and reset the heat to 230.  I have gone with 5 hours to as much as 12 hours of smoke in the Bradley and I have found that even though I like a lot of smoke flavor, anything over 5 hours is a process of diminishing returns - not worth the money!  After the pucks have run through, shut off the smoke generator and just let the heating element finish off the smoke.  Try not to peek, but trust your thermometers, as each time you peek, you lose heat that adds to your overall smoking time and causes more variance in Cabinet Temperature.  It helps the first few smokes if you monitor the meat Internal Temperatures with a remote reading thermometer.  You can see the temperature rise and then note the plateau.  The plateau is a time in the life of every brisket where really good things happen to it.  Fat melts, collagen dissolves - its a magic time!  But it does take what it seems forever to get through the plateau.  Resist the urge to bump up the temperature to get it through the plateau stage faster - generally the longer it stays in the plateau the better.  The plateau is your best friend.  After the first few hours, I will generally mop with a mopping sauce (non sweet, and non tomato) to help with additional flavor and to help develop a great bark.  I mop every hour or every other hour.  Yes, it prolongs the smoke, but it adds a lot of flavor, helps with the bark, and seems to help with moisture retention.  I usually pull the brisket at about 185 to 190 in the point - I generally desire sliced brisket rather than pulled.  It would not be unusual for the flat part of the brisket to be partly at slicing temperature and partly at pulling temperature.  Let it sit a while in a place that will keep it warm - I usually throw it in a Igloo style cooler until serving.  I generally plan on the smoke to be complete about 2 hours before serving - but of course that is the plan, but the briskets may have different ideas as when they are "done".  Two weekends ago, I did 8 briskets that ranged from 10.5 to 12 pounds apiece.  I did them on a trailer mounted rotisserie so they were theoretically all cooking at the same temperature as they all passed through all the zones in the smoker.  The first ones were done in 10 hours while the last ones came out in 16 hours - I was expecting 18 hours.  I kept them all warm in an igloo cooler.  The smoking temp was about 225 with occasional spikes after tending (adding charcoal and wood chunks) the fire.  At a digital temp setting of 230 I would suspect a brisket to take 1 1/2 to 2 hours per pound - a 10 pound brisket might take between 15 to 20 hours in a Bradley.  Because of the initial heat recovery (when the meat is put in the smoker) the Bradley tends to take towards the longer side.  

A few things to remember:
    The vent stays open at least 1/3 - preferably 1/2 or more
    The digital timer only goes to 9 hours and 40 minutes (If I remember correctly) so you will have to reset the time eventually.  
    I definitely would not put the brisket on the bottom-most rack - I would put it on one of the middle racks.  
    After the smoking time - empty and refill the water bowl. - and keep watch on it later in the smoke and add water or whatever liquid you desire.
    What wood?  Mesquite is good, but so is hickory, pecan, and oak.  
    The advice of doing a "practice" brisket is a great one.  The second one is quite often closer to what you want than the first - plus all the butterflies and        
    worrying are less and you can relax and enjoy the Main cook better.
   

[jagj52]

Thanks to all that replied and sorry for the mistake of not starting a new thread... it has been a LONG while since I have used a forum. 

Anyway I will tack and use all of the advice given, it is nice to have all of the experience out there to ask questions and get replies from.

Again, thanks and have a great weekend

Allen