I smoked my first brisket on Saturday and although the end product was really good, the smoke didn't go as well as I had hoped. I'd really appreciate the assistance of the experienced people here.
Basic Facts
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[*]Brisket was a little over 11 lbs., USDA Choice
[*]Smoker is a Smokin-it Model 1, which means I had to cut the brisket in half so it would fit
[*]I followed the instructions from the Lazy-Q Book: I trimmed the fat cap to about 1/4" and then criss-cross scored it. I then smeared it all over with yellow mustard, kosher salt, and fresh ground pepper. I covered both halves with plastic wrap and put them in the fridge overnight
[*]Although the Lazy-Q Book doesn't give a cook time, I read a bunch of topics here and saw people getting cook times from as little as 7 hours to as long as 12 hours
[*]I placed the thicker half of the brisket on the highest rack (in the second position) on the theory that heat rises. I inserted my Weber iGrill probe into the center of the thicker half and threaded it out through the smoke vent. The thinner half of the brisket I put on a rack two levels down.
[*]I put a chunk of wood in the smoke box, closed the door, and set the temp to 235
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The Smoke Itself
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[*]Everything went fine, at first. After about 4 hours, the temp was around 140.
[*]After about 6 hours, the temp was around 160
[*]After about 8 hours, I started getting nervous as it was only around 170. At this point, I decided I needed to wrap the brisket halves in foil (the Texas Crutch). I wrapped them as quickly as possible (I felt terrible about opening the door) in heavy-duty aluminum foil and then closed everything back up.
[*]This is when the frustration set in (we had to cook a frozen pizza at this point!) :-\
[*]After 15 hours, the temp was still only 183. I had to call it at that point. I pulled both foil-wrapped halves out and put them in the fridge.
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The Aftermath
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[*]Because the temp never hit 190, I was worried about the done-ness.
[*]My original plan was to reheat the leftover brisket (it's just my wife and I, so there's a lot of leftover brisket) in a sous vide based on advice I had received on reheating. As the brisket had never hit 190, I decided I would sous vide them to temp.
[*]I pulled them out of the fridge and opened the foil. They looked amazing! I was very pleased with the smoke. I cooked each of them (separately) in the sous vide for 2 hours at 190. Each one got a rest in foil/towels/cooler for 1 hour.
[*]I sliced it for serving. Despite all of the ordeal above, it was really good. Yes, it was a little dryer and denser than I had hoped but at least I didn't end up with an inedible (and expensive) piece of meat. I'd give it a B+. My wife loved it, so there's that!
[/list]
Request for Assistance
Sorry for such a long post but I wanted you to know all the facts. What went wrong do you think? Why could it never get to 190 after 15 hours, even foil-wrapped? I'm open to any and all advice. Thank you!
Basic Facts
[list type=decimal]
[*]Brisket was a little over 11 lbs., USDA Choice
[*]Smoker is a Smokin-it Model 1, which means I had to cut the brisket in half so it would fit
[*]I followed the instructions from the Lazy-Q Book: I trimmed the fat cap to about 1/4" and then criss-cross scored it. I then smeared it all over with yellow mustard, kosher salt, and fresh ground pepper. I covered both halves with plastic wrap and put them in the fridge overnight
[*]Although the Lazy-Q Book doesn't give a cook time, I read a bunch of topics here and saw people getting cook times from as little as 7 hours to as long as 12 hours
[*]I placed the thicker half of the brisket on the highest rack (in the second position) on the theory that heat rises. I inserted my Weber iGrill probe into the center of the thicker half and threaded it out through the smoke vent. The thinner half of the brisket I put on a rack two levels down.
[*]I put a chunk of wood in the smoke box, closed the door, and set the temp to 235
[/list]
The Smoke Itself
[list type=decimal]
[*]Everything went fine, at first. After about 4 hours, the temp was around 140.
[*]After about 6 hours, the temp was around 160
[*]After about 8 hours, I started getting nervous as it was only around 170. At this point, I decided I needed to wrap the brisket halves in foil (the Texas Crutch). I wrapped them as quickly as possible (I felt terrible about opening the door) in heavy-duty aluminum foil and then closed everything back up.
[*]This is when the frustration set in (we had to cook a frozen pizza at this point!) :-\
[*]After 15 hours, the temp was still only 183. I had to call it at that point. I pulled both foil-wrapped halves out and put them in the fridge.
[/list]
The Aftermath
[list type=decimal]
[*]Because the temp never hit 190, I was worried about the done-ness.
[*]My original plan was to reheat the leftover brisket (it's just my wife and I, so there's a lot of leftover brisket) in a sous vide based on advice I had received on reheating. As the brisket had never hit 190, I decided I would sous vide them to temp.
[*]I pulled them out of the fridge and opened the foil. They looked amazing! I was very pleased with the smoke. I cooked each of them (separately) in the sous vide for 2 hours at 190. Each one got a rest in foil/towels/cooler for 1 hour.
[*]I sliced it for serving. Despite all of the ordeal above, it was really good. Yes, it was a little dryer and denser than I had hoped but at least I didn't end up with an inedible (and expensive) piece of meat. I'd give it a B+. My wife loved it, so there's that!
[/list]
Request for Assistance
Sorry for such a long post but I wanted you to know all the facts. What went wrong do you think? Why could it never get to 190 after 15 hours, even foil-wrapped? I'm open to any and all advice. Thank you!
