First SI smoke.. Brisket Flat

[upright]

Hello...

First post, and first smoke in the SI2.  I'm a long time WSM user.  My wife and kids bought me the SI2 for father's day and decided to give it to me early so I could play around with it.  I went to SAMs club yesterday in hopes to grab a pack of baby back ribs.  Unfortunately they were all out, so I ended up with a 5.2 lb brisket flat.  I used a simple broth/worcestshire injection and my usual brisket rub.  In the SI2 around 8am @225, fat side down, 2nd to top rack, with 5.9 oz of hickory chunks that came with the SI2 and a loaf pan full of water.  I read a lot and this combination seemed to be what most would recommend for brisket.
 
My observations so far:
- Heavy smoke for the first 45 minutes, including a "woosh" backdraft
- After 45 minutes, the smoke thinned out to a small wisp of blueish smoke (what i'm used to from WSM) and I began to smell the goodness
- The internal temperature of the meat is coming up very fast.. after an hour it went from 53 to 118. 

So..  does everything seem normal so far?  I'm a little surprised the temp is coming up this fast.. I will closely monitor.

I'll try to post some pics from my Ipad.

Thanks,
Brian

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[EFGM]

Only suggestion I could make would be to perhaps start with less wood. It is easy to over do the smoke with the "lazy Q" cooking. You can find your favorite smoke profile by adding, but if you get too much, well. Looking forward to more pictures and posts!

[upright]

Almost at the two hour mark.  144 IT and 0 smoke coming out the top.  I sure hope there is a long stall coming.  Should I add more wood since it has stopped smoking?

[Glock_21]

No need to add more wood.  Most agree that the meat doesn't take on any extra smoke flavor after ~140.  Keep the door closed and trust the box to do its job.  Embrace the "Lazy-Q" process. 

[EFGM]

Upright, how did your Brisky come out?

[DivotMaker]

Looks normal, to me, Brian!  How'd it turn out?

[upright]

Start: 53 IT
1hr mark: 118 IT
2hr mark: 144 IT
3hr mark: 153 IT
4hr mark: 156 IT
5hr mark: 157 IT.  Now it's acting like a brisket!
6hr mark: 158 IT
7hr mark: 160 IT
8hr mark: 167 IT
9hr mark: 170 IT - had to pull it off here and head for foil and the oven as I was expecting company. 

Double foiled it and put in a 300 deg oven to finish.  Out of the oven at 197, and rested for 45 minutes.  I was out of time or else I would've rested longer. 

The final result was slightly tougher than I usually get but given my mad dash to the finish line I was happy enough.  My guests raved and even the children ate some.  The best part was the 3 minute clean up, and I didn't stink of campfire all day.  Thanks for the support !

[EFGM]

Mighty fine looking piece of beef. Good work Brian!

Doug

[SconnieQ]

Welcome Brian, and congrats on your #2! I too came from a long WSM background. So far, I haven't used my WSM since I bought my SI. For some reason, when you buy flats alone, they tend to be "over-trimmed" of fat, probably to appeal to the average consumer who is afraid of, or doesn't want to pay for fat. Too much trimming can get dry, no matter which smoker you use. Looks like your flat has a little nugget of fat left on it. Try a whole brisket next time (and trim it yourself), and I think you will find it to be more moist. Leave at least 1/4 inch of fat cap if you are trimming it yourself. Costco has Prime whole packer briskets at a good price.

The internal temp will rise quickly in the beginning as you noticed. Lots of people find this alarming. But it will stall. You did the right thing wrapping in foil and putting in the 300 degree oven. I've done this several times when I was in a pinch. The lack of a good long rest I'm sure has something to do with the tougher than usual meat. I'm getting to where I allow lots of extra time for the cook and the rest. I've rested up to 6 hours (double wrapped in foil, 2 towels) in a cooler, and the meat was still hot.

[DivotMaker]

Brian, your "whoosh" was combustion.  This will diminish, over time, but good wood helps, too.  I pretty much use Smokinlicious.com wood now, and never have a problem with wood catching fire.  The whoosh you got was the fire blowing out.