Tom vs. The Brisket - Round 2

[fishrman]

OK, here we go.  Tom vs. The Brisket – Round 2.

  Last time around I did not fare so well on the brisket as a meal offering.  It came out too dry, yet very tasty.  I want it all – moist AND tasty!!  So, we enter round two as of now.  Brisket is out of the fridge for 2 hours coming up to temp.  This one is a tad bit larger – 13 lbs – and is just about to be seasoned with a rub before putting into the recently modified smoker (since the last brisket, added a recirculation fan and second heating element).  Here is what the raw material looks like, lean side up:

Tick, Tick, Tick.  OK, time has passed and the beast has been seasoned.  Again, I question the value of taking it out of the fridge and letting it "come up to temp" before putting it in the smoker.  Out of the fridge it was 38F, two hours later it was 44F in the thick part, 46F in the flat.  Does that really make a difference at the end of the smoke?  Dunno.    Pic #2 – seasoned with the rub that is the following mix:
•   10 tablespoons brown sugar
•   10 tablespoons paprika
•   6 tablespoons salt
•   2 tablespoon black pepper
•   2 tablespoon dried parsley
•   4 teaspoons cayenne pepper
•   4 teaspoons ground cumin
•   4 tablespoons garlic powder
•   4 tablespoons onion powder

Didn't use it all, just put on what looked like a nice even layer on both sides.  Made up a mop that I'll be spraying on every few hours consisting of the following:
•   1/2 cup cider vinegar
•   1/4 cup olive oil
•   1/4 cup beer
•   3 tablespoons paprika
•   1 teaspoon salt
•   1 teaspoon black pepper

BDS has been preheated to 250F and large aluminum pan in the bottom filled with a mix of boiling water/beer.  Per the MLP311 post http://forum.bradleysmoker.com/index.php?topic=26661.0, I moved my smoker from under my deck to well out on the patio (MLP - thanks for your posting!).   Will keep you posted as things progress.  Currently 8:20pm, so next update will be tomorrow morning . . .

[mikecorn.1]

Looking good!!


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[SouthernSmoked]

Man, nice looking brisket......will be watching!!

[fishrman]

OK, morning has come and things are progressing nicely.  As I mentioned, in the interest of safe smokin' the I parked the BDS well out on the patio away from any overhanging structure.  Isn't she cute in her R2D2 costume snugli?



So when we left the story last night I had preheated to 250F and popped the brisket in to start the process.  As expected, putting a 13 lb. hunk of beef in the smoker caused the temp to drop but I was really pleased with the recovery time with the second element.  Last brisket (9 lbs.) with the single element took all night to recover and was at 225F at 6am the next day even though it was set for 250F.  Last night, by 10pm, only about 1.5 hours, it had already reached 225, so I reset the temp to maintain that.  Ambient temp was dropping into the high 30F range, but with the snugli and second element I was confident the BDS was up to the job.  Smoker was loaded with 20 pucks (half apple, quarter hickory, quarter mesquite).  Headed to the sack.

Rolled out of bed at 6:30 and checked on things.  39F outside, Pit temp was holding at 225F, brisket temp was up to 155F already!  Had the mop ready to go and popped 'er open to see what we had.  What a pretty sight it was.  Swabbed on the mop (yes, swabbed.  I mentioned earlier I was going to spritz it, but the spritzer did not like the mop and refused to spray.  There's always a plan B.), got out a second smoker rack, put it on top of the first and wearing my finest Ove Gloves, did a simple flip to rotate her top to bottom, back to front.  Here's what it looks like right now.



Refilled the aluminum pan with some boiling water (only needed about a quart surprisingly) and closed it up.  During this process the chamber temp dropped to 76F and the Guru was beeping the low temp alarm at me, and I was curious on how long it would take to recover.  15 minutes and it was back to 225F.  Wow.  No second thoughts about installing the second element – it makes a huge difference.

[fishrman]

Seeing an oddity.  Waited a couple of hours then did a quick flip and mop.  Pit temp came right back to 225F, but the meat temp, which was 165F prior to the flip/mop, has been slowly dropping and is now at 155F 40 minutes later.  Dropped my Maverick probe down the vent to check the pit temp and it reads only 206F.  Guru probe is clipped to the bottom of the rack in the front, so may see a somewhat different temp than the maverick down the vent, but because the food temp has dropped and is not recovering I'm wondering if the Guru probe has an issue.  Think I'll turn up the set temp to 240F and see if I can get the meat temp to start going the right way.

Edit:  OK, now my Maverick chamber probe has crapped out.  Went out to check it and it read 309F!  What?  Pulled it out of the chamber and let it come up to ambient to the touch and still reads 192F.  Sounds like time for a new probe.

[squirtthecat]

You might have been in a fat pocket with that higher reading.

Did you get the probe wire wet during the mop?  Those probes are notorious about failing when moisture gets in there.  (been there done that)

[TedEbear]

Smoker was loaded with 20 pucks (half apple, quarter hickory, quarter mesquite).

Wow, that's nearly 7 hours worth of smoke.  I think most people on here do the smoke part for 3-4 hours max.  I don't know if additional smoking would hurt it but there's a question of whether it does any good after a certain point when the meat gets to a certain doneness and stops absorbing the smoke.

I've been aging my first brisket in the fridge coming up on two weeks now.  I plan on seasoning it this afternoon and then start cooking it tomorrow evening.  I'll probably go with 3 hours of hickory smoke.  I've been debating on whether to foil it with a bit of apple juice for a few hours near the end of the cooking, like I do with ribs, or just let it go.

Looking forward to reading your report of your second brisket effort end result.   ;)

[fishrman]

You might have been in a fat pocket with that higher reading.

Did you get the probe wire wet during the mop?  Those probes are notorious about failing when moisture gets in there.  (been there done that)

I didn't reposition the probe, so would think that the reading pre and post mop would be consistent.  And it was a slow drop over 30 minutes, not a sudden change.  Didn't soak the meat with the mop, just a nice even layer and the probe is in a position such that any mop that got on it should run down the solid metal to the wire and floor of the smoker, not down into the metal probe itself. 

Back to the Maverick chamber probe.  Stuck it in a glass of Ice/water and it still reads 164F.  Definitely toast.  Just ordered the replacement from Yard and Pool.  If it ain't one thing, . . .

[fishrman]

Smoker was loaded with 20 pucks (half apple, quarter hickory, quarter mesquite).

Wow, that's nearly 7 hours worth of smoke.  I think most people on here do the smoke part for 3-4 hours max.  I don't know if additional smoking would hurt it but there's a question of whether it does any good after a certain point when the meat gets to a certain doneness and stops absorbing the smoke.

I've been aging my first brisket in the fridge coming up on two weeks now.  I plan on seasoning it this afternoon and then start cooking it tomorrow evening.  I'll probably go with 3 hours of hickory smoke.  I've been debating on whether to foil it with a bit of apple juice for a few hours near the end of the cooking, like I do with ribs, or just let it go.

Looking forward to reading your report of your second brisket effort end result.   ;)

It is a lot of smoke, but the family likes a strong smokey flavor so thought I'd give it a good dose.  This brisket sat in the fridge for 3 and a half weeks, so hopefully nicely aged.  And it was a very flexible one as well, so I have high hopes.  I plan to pull it out at about 185-190 (fork test) and FTC it with som apple juice for 2-3 hours.  This weird temp thing has me flummoxed though.  I did put my maverick food probe into it to make sure my Guru meat probe wasn't hinkey, but the two read the same temp.  This really is an art, isn't it ;D

[KyNola]

With your Maverick, swap positions with your probes and see what temp readings you get.  Plug the chamber probe in the meat probe socket and vice versa.  The issue may not be the probe.  It may be the sending unit itself.  Don't ask me how I know that. :o 

[hal4uk]

Do you have an instant read thermometer to double check with?

[fishrman]

With your Maverick, swap positions with your probes and see what temp readings you get.  Plug the chamber probe in the meat probe socket and vice versa.  The issue may not be the probe.  It may be the sending unit itself.  Don't ask me how I know that. :o

Did as you suggested and it is definitely the probe.  The food probe reads the same when plugged into the smoker port and the pit probe still is off when plugged into the food port.

[fishrman]

Do you have an instant read thermometer to double check with?

I do have an instant read, but the Maverick and Guru food probes are within 1 degree of each other, so I'm comfortable on the food temp.  I did take a 3rd digital thermometer I have (one can never have too many, right ;)) and shoved the food probe down the vent.  It is reading 20F cooler than the Guru probe on the bottom shelf.  I've got the temp set at 242F right now and that is what the Guru believes it is supporting, but the vent probe says only 222F.  Food temp is now up to 170F so moving the right direction.  I'll calibrate the GURU probe after this smoke to make sure it hasn't taken a time out.

[hal4uk]

Roger that -- I mis-read the issue.
I assume you don't have an extra probe and you already re-purposed your good one?

What's the ambient temp where you are?  Just wondering if the outside air slightly mingling with the exhaust could give a false reading there?  Especially if it's COLD out?

A regular oven thermometer is good to have handy in these situations too.  You can set one right next to the cooker probe and check next time you open the door.  Sometimes we get so hung up on fancy gadgets we overlook some obvious (and cheap) tools.  I have several of these and they are also handy to disperse on different sides/levels of a cooker to learn the hot/cold spots.  Kinda like a biscuit test without the biscuits.

[OldHickory]

Things are  looking good Tom.  Glad to see you are happy with the 2nd element, I knew you would be.  I use the Texas crutch to finish the brisket in the oven.  Tucked into the foil with some juice of choice.  Sometimes I use chicken broth because I want to taste the meat and not so much the juice.  Your bark is looking good.  My Thermapen is my back up temp probe, instant read.  The other probes can poop out as suggested by others.  A little moisture at the wire-metal probe junction is all it takes.