Forgive me for not searching through all of the past threads covering brisket on this subforum. I am sure some of the things I want to ask about or ask for "help in thinking about" are already covered elsewhere. By way of background, my local Costco seems to have started carrying full packer "cryovac-ed" brisket for $2.99 a pound. It may even be prime, I do not recall. About darn time!! So I got an eleven pounder and put it, trimmed to about a quarter inch of fat on top, slavered, rubbed, and let sit in the fridge for about eight hours, then cut in two and placed in my dorm fridge-type electric smoker with apple wood and a water pan at 225 degrees about 6:00 pm Saturday night. About 3:00 am it was raining really hard and I did not have the smoker under cover so I pulled the brisket pieces off and put then in a 225 degree conventional inside gas oven with a pan of water underneath. I think the internal temp was maybe upper 150s when I moved it to the inside oven. I would say it in smoke for maybe six to seven hours. At 8:00 in the morning or so, the meat's interior temperature was perhaps 170s. It slowly crept up to the high 180s, with some parts in the low 190s at 1:00 pm, when I pulled it out of the insider oven wrapped it loosely in aluminum foil and put both pieces in a cooler for the next six hours or so before serving. It was very tender and the flavor was great, although perhaps a bit dry.
Note I did not use a crutch during while it was cooking.
Issues:
1. I was really shooting for an internal temperature of 203, but it did not seem like it was ever going to get there, and I was afraid of it truly drying out. It was on at 225 degrees for 18 hours. Twisting a fork in it, it seemed very tender. I have read about pitmasters saying that a brisket is ready when it is ready, regardless of interior temp. Does this sound right? Did I chicken out? Should I have gone for 203 degrees and however darn many hours that might take? I have had nearly everything I have ever smoked stall in the mid-150s or so. This seemed close to stalling at 170 and it was a very slow rise in temp to get to the high 180s.
2. Does a crutch help with any dryness? For that matter, I am no expert in Texas brisket. I do not know how "dry it is supposed to be." Seemed pretty awesome to me. I have done smaller flats before. Seems to me I would rather have excellent bark that take a chance with a crutch and I was not really looking to cut cutting time. But now I am not sure.
3. I thought the apple wood did pretty well. I like hickory but to me there is little bacon flavor to hickory that is not really authentic to Texas brisket. Are we all convinced that after x number of hours additional smoke is really unnecessary/ineffective? Is it worth it to track down and order real post oak on-line?
4. Are we all convinced that one can't get a smoke ring with an electric smoker? Does it much matter?
Again, these are all things I am trying to think through re brisket. I am real pleased to be able to get whole briskets all of a sudden!
Thanks, Gentlemen.
Note I did not use a crutch during while it was cooking.
Issues:
1. I was really shooting for an internal temperature of 203, but it did not seem like it was ever going to get there, and I was afraid of it truly drying out. It was on at 225 degrees for 18 hours. Twisting a fork in it, it seemed very tender. I have read about pitmasters saying that a brisket is ready when it is ready, regardless of interior temp. Does this sound right? Did I chicken out? Should I have gone for 203 degrees and however darn many hours that might take? I have had nearly everything I have ever smoked stall in the mid-150s or so. This seemed close to stalling at 170 and it was a very slow rise in temp to get to the high 180s.
2. Does a crutch help with any dryness? For that matter, I am no expert in Texas brisket. I do not know how "dry it is supposed to be." Seemed pretty awesome to me. I have done smaller flats before. Seems to me I would rather have excellent bark that take a chance with a crutch and I was not really looking to cut cutting time. But now I am not sure.
3. I thought the apple wood did pretty well. I like hickory but to me there is little bacon flavor to hickory that is not really authentic to Texas brisket. Are we all convinced that after x number of hours additional smoke is really unnecessary/ineffective? Is it worth it to track down and order real post oak on-line?
4. Are we all convinced that one can't get a smoke ring with an electric smoker? Does it much matter?
Again, these are all things I am trying to think through re brisket. I am real pleased to be able to get whole briskets all of a sudden!
Thanks, Gentlemen.