Brisket and UDS (again)
 

Folks,

I have a question for all of my UDS using bretheren. I have struggled A LOT with brisket on my UDS. I find myself not able to get a dark, heavy bark on my UDS when I smoke briskets. So my first question is am I alone? Is anyone else getting a nice bark?

Second question, I know it is done when it is done. But I am smoking my briskets for a really long time (14-16) hours and having to wrap and crank up the temp for the last few hours to get the meat up to temp. I am smoking 16 pound packers at 225°-235° and I know that my temp is accurate. Is this a normal phenomenon?

I am at the point of wanting to use an offset for Brisket because I have had so many turn out like crap on the UDS...

Thoughts?

Crank up the heat, nuff said :thumb: I cook all my briskets at a minimum temp of 300 now and never foil. Meat gets done in a reasonable time and the bark firms up nicely.

Where is your temperature being taken? If you hadn't said you had checked your thermometer I would have suggested it.

Bark is overrated!

When I cook brisket on my drum, Direct heat NO deflector, I turn them, foil them then cooler them.

Normally 4 hours or less in my drum.

I have a hard time understanding how you can cook a brisket for 14-16 hours unless you have a waterpan or deflector? Longest I ever cooked one was 10 hours (direct) and it was a shoe leathery dog treat!

I cook mine bout 10-12 hrs @ 240-250 and never have a black bark like a offset. I guess we just have to live with the mahogany colored bark, still good though.

I run brisket at 325°. It generally takes about 45 minutes per pound on average. I also take trimmings from the fat cap and cover the meat side with them, and cook fat down.

I love smoking on my UDS, but in my opinion, your smoking to low and slow. I like to do mine between 275° and 300°. Cuts hours off your time and you get a good 'Bark'.

Question: Are you using Lump charcoal? It's hotter. Smokes faster.
Question: How high above the charcoal is your grill surface?
Question: Have you checked your temp. gauge on your UDS?
Question: Are you really at 235° degrees?
Question: Where is your Gauge located? (Lid temp. is not accurate)
Question: How heavily do you rub your Brisket?

Any or all of these can make a difference in your Brisket/Bark.

Sorry I disappeared for a few days, dang work always getting in the way...

Question: Are you using Lump charcoal? It's hotter. Smokes faster.
Answer: I have used both. It seems like temps are more stable with Briqs instead of Lump. For that reason I have just been using Blue Bag.

Question: How high above the charcoal is your grill surface?
Answer: The meat sits about 22" above the charcoal when the basket is full.

Question: Have you checked your temp. gauge on your UDS?
Answer: I have. I checked it with boiling water.

Question: Are you really at 235° degrees?
Answer: I believe so.

Question: Where is your Gauge located? (Lid temp. is not accurate)
Answer: I use an ET-732 with the temp probe hanging off the bottom of the grate directly under the meat.

Question: How heavily do you rub your Brisket?
Answer: Pretty heavy. I usually rub and wrap, refrigerate over night, then hit it with fresh rub before it hits the smoker.

The consensus seems to be that I need to start off with a higher temp. I have a brisket in the fridge right now so I will try that this weekend and see how it goes. I appreciate the support fellas.

Brent

^^^^^^^^^^What he said^^^^^^^^^^

OK guys, trying this again.

http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6097/6...b6a02a4f1d.jpg

I shaved it a bit, rubbed it hard and fairly heavy (wow, lots of room for jokes there), and it is ready to go on the smoker.

I have my intakes on the UDS wide open. I am seeing the need for lump now. I can only get the UDS up to 315°. I think I might have a basket design problem. More on that later after I collect my thoughts.

I run my drum 275 to 325. Fat down for more than 1/2 of the cook. I like to foil the brisket when the color gets right. I love the flavor of Texas BBQ Rub, but on a brisket it turns to mush. I now use a a salt,pepper and garlic combo that seems to combine with the bark that naturally forms from the outgoing juices.

I also think a brisket benefits from a very long rest. 3-4 hours.

OK, temp up to 330° and I am happy to let it sit there.. Let's see what happens...

The KB doesn't burn as hot as most burquettes. I'd recommend going with an alternative for hot and fast. If you like KB try Kingsford Competition. I use it to light my basket and personally prefer Royal Oak Chefs best as my main charcoal. You can get it in 40# bags from do it best online and have free shipping to your local store. It burns hotter and with less ash than KB. The burquettes are larger and are not as pressed as KB but its all I buy now. I use the Comp to light it as it lights easier. If you have a bunch of KB stocked up you could always mix them.

LUMP!
and what everyone else recommended.


Also are you complaining about not getting bark AND using foil? Those two don't go together so well IMO:-P. So try kicking the temps up in the drum and avoiding the foil. I have only smoked about 20 briskets in the drum now and I had to use foil one time (had a catering gig and they were taking tOOOOOOO long to get done!) and the bark wasn't very good at all compared to my normal anti-foil method :thumb:

Taste over looks for me