Texas Brisket

[FireJoe]

I have been cooking on my WSM 18.5" for over a year now and I still have issues trying to dial in and keep temp at times. This past Saturday I made a 14.5# brisket. I got up at 4AM and got the fire started and by 5 the brisket was on. The night before I trimmed the hard fat and also took the fat cap down to about 1/4" and then covered it on equal parts salt and pepper. I placed it on the cooker with a full water pan and full KBB charcoal. The reps came up to 225 and I closed down the bottom three grates 1/2 way each. I put the monster brisket on the top rack and then went in for a fresh cup of coffee. My grate probe on my Thermoworks Smoke read 245 and I was happy. A couple hours later the thermometer was at 215, my low alarm, and I opened the one vent all the way to get it up. My top vent is always open full. It came back up and I turned it back down to about 3/4 open. I was maintaining temps and at the 5 hour mark wrapped it in pink butcher paper and placed it back on. I put the meat probe in the brisket flat and it was at 153 and that's about right. I let it in from this point on now. I monitored both and all was going well. The temp dropped once more so I opened the vent again and it leveled off. At about 10 hours I pulled it as it was an internal of 202. Put it in a cooler to rest for 2 hours and took it out to separate the point and flat. I sliced the flat and cubed the point and returned them to the smoker in a pan for some burnt ends. What a cook and it turned out AMAZING! What happens that causes the low temps with the WSM? 


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[Jed.cook]

Looks damn good. Sorry I can't be of any help with the temp issues, but looks like you're doing great work in spite of the temp flux.


-Jed

[Mike in Roseville]

Texas Brisket and a can of Sixpoint...that's an excellent pairing in my book!

So, I never really have temps drop too much. I use the Soo's donut lighting method (modified minion) and after getting close to target temp, close all bottom 3 vents off to 1/4 or less to get it to stabilize (depending on how hot I'm running). I usually rock temps a little higher, 250-275ish (especially for beef) which helps with the fat rendering. Throughout the cook, you will open the vents a little more every so often to burn the remaining coals left and maintain a constant temp. It stays steady; you just have to slowly open the vents over a long cook to accommodate.

[FireJoe]

Thanks Mike!  I'll try that on my next long cook. I may be doing a couple pork shoulders next weekend. I usually do the Soos donut for ribs but did not think it would last for the longer cook I needed for the large brisket I had. I should just stick to the fried and true


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[michaelmilitello]

You saw the temp drop after putting it on because the brisket was a huge heat sink.   That's perfectly normal.  To avoid the temp from going too low, let the WSM go a bit higher in temp before you put the meat on.   

If the temp drops later in the cook, make sure you tap the bowl to knock the ash off periodically.  The excess ash, which kbb is famous for, will impede airflow.  That should help.  If you're pondering an atc, they are cool but not necessary.  Briskets are just a bit more finicky to cook. 


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[HoosierKettle]

You saw the temp drop after putting it on because the brisket was a huge heat sink.   That's perfectly normal.  To avoid the temp from going too low, let the WSM go a bit higher in temp before you put the meat on.   

If the temp drops later in the cook, make sure you tap the bowl to knock the ash off periodically.  The excess ash, which kbb is famous for, will impede airflow.  That should help.  If you're pondering an atc, they are cool but not necessary.  Briskets are just a bit more finicky to cook. 


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This exactly.

I use weber charcoal exclusively in the wsm. It helps tremendously with the ash problem and it burns forever. 12-14 hours easy.


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[addicted-to-smoke]

I thought about the heat sink, too, but could not reconcile it with this: "I put the monster brisket on the top rack and then went in for a fresh cup of coffee. My grate probe on my Thermoworks Smoke read 245 and I was happy. A couple hours later the thermometer was at 215, my low alarm,"

If he put the meat on and pit temp was 245 ... that seems like not a problem. And "a couple hours later" it's at 215 tells me the meat wasn't a heat sink issue. But it's hard to know without actually being there I suppose.

[michaelmilitello]

You saw the temp drop after putting it on because the brisket was a huge heat sink.   That's perfectly normal.  To avoid the temp from going too low, let the WSM go a bit higher in temp before you put the meat on.   

If the temp drops later in the cook, make sure you tap the bowl to knock the ash off periodically.  The excess ash, which kbb is famous for, will impede airflow.  That should help.  If you're pondering an atc, they are cool but not necessary.  Briskets are just a bit more finicky to cook. 


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This exactly.

I use weber charcoal exclusively in the wsm. It helps tremendously with the ash problem and it burns forever. 12-14 hours easy.


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Got 16.5 hours from a full ring of Weber in my 18.5 WSM on Memorial Day!  Amazing.  225-275 all that time.


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[au4stree]

Great looking brisket


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[HoosierKettle]

You saw the temp drop after putting it on because the brisket was a huge heat sink.   That's perfectly normal.  To avoid the temp from going too low, let the WSM go a bit higher in temp before you put the meat on.   

If the temp drops later in the cook, make sure you tap the bowl to knock the ash off periodically.  The excess ash, which kbb is famous for, will impede airflow.  That should help.  If you're pondering an atc, they are cool but not necessary.  Briskets are just a bit more finicky to cook. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

This exactly.

I use weber charcoal exclusively in the wsm. It helps tremendously with the ash problem and it burns forever. 12-14 hours easy.


Sent from my iPhone using Weber Kettle Club mobile app

Got 16.5 hours from a full ring of Weber in my 18.5 WSM on Memorial Day!  Amazing.  225-275 all that time.


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I believe it. They are awesome cookers. Especially with weber coal.


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[Filibuster]

   Eliminate the water in the pan, just foil the pan, that's gonna help also.

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[Mike in Roseville]

   Eliminate the water in the pan, just foil the pan, that's gonna help also.

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This. Run the pan foiled/dry and spray if it looks dry prior to wrapping.