Corned Beef Brisket Disaster...

[Thevenin]

Ok this was the first test of the smoker with all the parts intact.  I'll give you an exact play by play and you can let me know where I went wrong and ended up with a dissapointed guest and a trash can full of beef.

1st took a corned beef brisket from the store, rinsed and gave it a quick soak.  Then following the recipe from S&S did the deli cured brisket rub.  Patted the meat dry and then rubbed on the mixture.  Wrapped it in plastic and in the fridge for overnight.  
Pre-heated smoker and let the beef come up to temp to room over about 1 hour.  Then set the BBQ guru for 185 internal and 275 pit temp with ramp mode in place.  Put in 4 hours worth of oak 2 bubba pucks and another oak puck as the kicker.  Then 1/4 crack on the vent enough to get the wires in and then cut to 12 hours later.

Ramp mode seemd to work fine.  Meat was at the right temp next morning.  Took it out.  Wrapped in plastic, then foil, then towel then cooler for about 4-5 hours. (pulled at 9:30 am at at about 2:00)


Results:  Nasty.   WAAAAAAAAYYYYYY too salty.  Follwed the rub exactly and the rub itself had far too strong a pepper taste.  Meat itself was tender, but not really moist enough.  Cut against the grain, but still didn't really have the "melt in the mouth" feel I was going for.  

Conclusion: Store bought corned beefs probably need to be boiled to get most of the salt out.  2nd...basting.....what's the word on this?  I think it might have helped this one, but hard to tell.  I'd be worried about the heat loss.  However, not basting eleminates the chance to get more flavor i.e. vinegar note, into the meat.  Finally Guru makes it pretty idiot proof, so I don't feel I lost too much it's not like I stayed up all night.

I'm not F-ing around this time.  I've got a 6lb boston butt in the fridge and I'm following S&S to the T.  Rubbed and wrapped. 4 hours of hickory await in a 12 hour cook time as does a 2 hour rest in the cooler.  If this sucks, then I might have to send back this new toy.

Maybe 12 hours is waaaay to long.  I just don't know, but am pretty dissapointed.  I've made several things in the smoker so far and no real winners.  But I've not played to the smoker's strenghts.  Ie. butt and straight brisket, ribs.  So this butt had better kick Butt.

Thev.

[BigSmoker]

Thev.
Just a few thoughts(my 2 pennies).  I don't think I would put rub that has salt in it on a corned beef or any cured product.  I would think the cure would have added plenty of salt flavor and I would have rinsed, soaked for an hour then repeated.  

My Guru only works on my grill at the moment but I have only used the ramp mode once and found my results to be fair at best.  As I understand it the ramp mode decreases the pit temp as the meat temp reaches set point.  So by the time meat set point temp is reached pit temp is equal to or a little less than meat set point thus extending cook time which can equal a dryer end product.  I seem to remember in my Guru instructions that they do not recommend ramp mode.  

Keep experimenting and you will get the hang of it.  Remember if you don't have the time don't start.  It's done when its done.  Wrap in foil then a towel let it rest and then eat.  Give Olds tee-shirt method a try.  Keep it simple at first.  Try some beer butt chickens they are cheap.  Have fun.

Jeff
www.bbqshopping.com
Some say BBQ is in your blood, if thats true my blood must be BBQ sauce.

[PAsmoker]

Thevenin,  for a brisket, I wouldn't use a corned one.  Also, the deli cured  rub probably had a lot of salt as well.  I think that if you'd boil it, that would defeat the purpose of cooking low & slow.  To me, boiling gives a bland taste and shouldn't be used near any self-respecting piece of meat.  

When I do a brisket, I usually set the pit temp to about 200-225* and let the meat come up to 180-190*.  I use a milder smoke than most.  I like the maple.  Usually, for a brisket, I'll load up at least 6 hours of smoke.  I know I use more than most folks do, but I haven't oversmoked one yet.

As for a butt, they're hard to mess up.  Don't open the door too much & let the meat get up to about 190 for an easy pull.

[MallardWacker]

T,

I have found out that when you own a BS, there are no such things as disasters~~~just adventures.  Things alway get better.

SmokeOn,

mski
Perryville, Arkansas
Wooo-Pig-Soooie

If a man says he knows anything at all, he knows nothing what he aught to know.  But...

[Thevenin]

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by MallardWacker</i>
<br />T,

I have found out that when you own a BS, there are no such things as disasters~~~just adventures.  Things alway get better.

SmokeOn,

mski
Perryville, Arkansas
Wooo-Pig-Soooie

If a man says he knows anything at all, he knows nothing what he aught to know.  But...


<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">

Ok, but this adventure tasted like crap.

On the butt.  What's the consensus of basting in a Bradley, I've heard that it doesn't need the extra moisture, but it might be nice to get the flavor on the meat?

BigSmoker, I've got the Guru hooked up the the Raptor and that feeds the power to the BS.  On the one try it seemed to work.  What's the forum's view on Guru and ramp mode.  It wouldn't be too difficult just to use it as a thermostat for the smoker.

Thev.

[bsolomon]

Consensus is no basting.  Try to open the door as little as possible.  Basting shouldn't be necessary from a moisture standpoint.  If you want to baste purely to add flavor, that's fine, but expect that you will need to add 20-40 minutes of cooking time for each opening of the door.

As to the other issues you listed, obviously the Bradley is not responsible for the too much salt issue.  I do have two possible areas of concern based on your write up.  First, you say you used a pit temperature of 275 degrees.  Most of us typically go no higher than 225 degrees and many like to stick to around 200 degrees - remember the motto "Low and slow." My thought on this is that the higher temperature might account for lower moisture and a tougher texture in the finished product.  The second possibility is the BBQ Guru.  While I have read rave reviews, there is always the possibility that any temperature sensing apparatus may not be calibrted or accurate.  If they don't give you a way to test the meat probe, you might want to add another meat thermometer to your next experiment. That way you can make sure that what the BBQ Guru thinks is the internal temperature is really the internal temperature.

[BigSmoker]

Thev.,
A boston butt is a very forgiving piece of meat.  I personally have started injecting the meat with a solution of apple juice and Johnny Fleemans(similiar to Dales).  I mix 50% apple juice and 50% johnnys.  Use 1 oz.  solution per lb.  of meat.  After injecting I take my favorite rub and heavily cover the meat completely.  Wrap the meat in platic wrap tightly and put in fridge overnight.  Remove butt and let sit for 1 to 2 hrs.  Place in smoker at 200-225f on next to top shelf.  Use 4 hrs of pecan smoke(use your favorite wood with top vent about 1/3 open).  I cook the meat until internal temp is 195-200f.  I remove from smoker wrap in heavy duty aluminum foil then two old towels and place meat in a small empty cooler for 2hrs.  After the two hours I by hand pull the pork and seperate out the large pieces of fat.  Serve warm on a bun.  Some people sauce some don't.  Some put cole slaw on the bun some don't.  The only time I open the door is after the smoking period to dump the burnt pucks.  The butt will normally take between 1 1/2 hr-2 hrs. per pound to cook.  HTH with the butt.

IMHO I leave the corned beef in the cooler and grab a raw brisket flat and cook it my way[:D].

The only basting I've ever done is fatty bacon on the top rack and let the fat drip on the meat but I rarely do that.  The bacon is a nice treat though[:p].

I will during a cook throw the Guru into ramp mode if I need to run an errand or have to leave the house but change it back to normal setting as soon as I get back.

Jeff
www.bbqshopping.com
Some say BBQ is in your blood, if thats true my blood must be BBQ sauce.