Brisket from last night
 

This 12.5 lbs took 8 hrs. I smoked it with walnut and 2 chunks of orange wood. The flavor is amazing and the smoke ring is beautiful. The only thing I need to work on is timing. It was the first time using the maverick 732 but I slept through the alarm and meat was a touch overcooked. Still good eating for the next week.

Bigbeef24

Big Pappa UDS

Overcooked in 8 hours? At what temperature?

Nice hows strong is the flavor from the orange wood?

I cant figure it out but it was hot when I started at 325 for the first 45 minutes and then got it to stay steady between 225-250. The butts Ive smoked are the same way 5-6 hrs at 225-250. Any feedback would be appreciated.

Its nice with the walnut and gives it a unique flavor. I did some ribs with the orange but used 6 chunks and paid the price of strong smoke.

Doesn't sound you like you are not overcooking the meat, sounds like you are undercooking it.

Typically at 225-250 pork butts will take about 1.5 per pound to get to the point where you can do the bone wiggle test. (wiggle the bone in the pork butt, if it starts releasing the meat is done)

For brisket, I am not 100% sure what the timing is per pound to start probing. I will normally start to probe the meat at about 195ish internal temperature. And then do it every 30mins or so after that till the brisket probes like a knife in warm butter.

The thing with beef and pork, you can't bbq by time or by internal temperature. You use time and temperature as guidelines. You have to go by the feel or the way each piece of meat acts to test for doneness. Brisket - Probes like butter, Pork butt - bone wiggle test, Ribs - bend or toothpick test.

The meat is very tender with the brisket but a touch dry. The first 2 butts I smoked the bone wiggled right out and the on the one cooked for 10 hrs the bone didnt wiggle. Ive been trying different techniques.

When you say the brisket was very tender, did you probe it for doneness? The probe will literally go in like a knife through warm butter.

What temp and how much did the pork butts weigh on those cooks? When i cooked them at 225-250ish range an 8lb butt took me 14+ hours.

Have you tried doing hot and fast method on the pork butts? After doing a couple cooks for low and slow I did hot and fast and it procuded great bbq. Hot and Fast method I use, I will run the smoker at 325-350. Once the bark forms and I get the color I want, I pan it up with a cup or so of apple cider vinegar and wrap it tight in foil and back on the smoker. At about 195-200 temperature, I will start doing the bone wiggle test. Once the bone starts to release I take it off the smoker and put it in an oven (that is off) to rest for a minimum 1 hour (normally 2-3 hours rest for me). Then I pull the butt and add in the fat that was collected in the pan and finish with an Eastern Carolina style sauce/dip.


And since I'm still trying to get the hang of briskets, I cook them at 275-300ish. I have had decent results but trying to get it so that the ends pieces don't burn.

Looks and sounds Great Did you calibrate your thermometer to make sure it is accurate

When you say "The probe will literally go in like a knife through warm butter" which end of the brisket are you referring to? The last one I done probe went in like you say on the thick end but was firm on the tip.

Brisket from last night
 

The point (thick part) will get there quicker than the flat. I let mine ride until the point and flat are both probing good.

One of the mental hurdles I've had to overcome is realizing that tough doesn't mean overcooked with this. Its usually just the opposite. To me, a tough piece of brisket/butt means I didn't let it cook long enough for all the fatty goodness to breakdown properly.

The point (the thick end) will get to probing like butter faster than the flat (thin end) When you probe the thin end, you want to make sure you probe several spots on it to ensure proper tenderness and moistness.

I think my thermo is off on my drum and thats throwing off the cooking times. The brisket was very tender, to the point that I couldnt slice it real thin because it would fall a part. I was happy with the cook just disappointed that it was a little dry.

Looks good from here!

I think it looks really good!