First Brisket Cook on WSM

[jdoan]

I'm still waiting for my Montreal Smoked meat to cure, so this weekend, I decided to smoke a my first brisket on the WSM 18". This cook was done overnight using the FireBoard drive and Pit Viper fan and finished in the morning.

Weight: 7.2 lbs trimmed USDA choice
Fuel: B&B charcoal, minion method
Wood: post oak & pecan; 4-5 chunks buried
Rub:  ½  kosher salt, ½ pepper, yellow mustard binder
Meat was brought to room temp after trimming and application of rub
11:00 pm - Coals fired after completing prep and taken to 250F
11:30 pm - Brisket loaded onto smoker
2:30 am - 1st look and spritzed with cider vinegar before turning in for the night.
7:30 am - unfortunately, temps dipped to 205F due to insufficient loading of fuel, so I had to get up earlier than planned to refuel. Internal temps at this point were about 165-170F for both point and flat. 
8:00 am - temps revived and set to 265F for the rest of the cook. This would have been an opportunity to wrap, but I wasn't happy with the bark at that point, so I made the call to finish the cook unwrapped. Went back to bed until 11:30 am
11:30 am - pulled at internal temp of 201F. Wrapped in foil and rested in warm oven for 2-3 hours.
12-2pm - cleaned up all my toys, rendered beef fat/tallow from trimmings

Result:
The point was great, but the flat was drier than I would have liked. This could have been due to the unexpected temp fluctuations extending the cook time or maybe due to skipping the wrap to finish the cook. Next time, I'll make sure to fully load the fuel basket and try wrapping.
There was a bald rub patch on the front flat that could have been avoided with a little more care to trimming.
Wood flavor was strong. This could have been due to either too much wood and/or completing the entire cook unwrapped - I may bump back down to 3-4 chunks next time or just wrap next time.
1:1 ratio of salt pepper was good but I may dust even lighter on the seasoning next time as it was a little peppery for me - and I love pepper haha




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[Gringo]

@jdoan, grate write up! I would say 3-4 chunks is plenty for smoke.

Your brisket looks good! For your first brisket on WSM I'd say you hit it very good!

Your wrapping will help with a darker color. Try butcher paper if possible. See if there is a difference. Also, encourage you to trying pushing your resting times to 5+ hours...I've seen big improvements on final product with 7-9 hour rests.

Thanks for sharing the details!


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