had the brisket last night.. Was pretty good, a bit salty for me, the sweet spot was pretty good, texture good, a little dry outside of the sweet spot.. but the point made really good burnt ends. There was definatley a smoke ring all around, but nothing like a stickburners. These cooks are more about learning the cooker, the timings the characteristics, etc.
the brisket was 16.9 lbs. Went in at 7, cooked it at 160* pit temp until midnight. then pushed to 240 and went away for 7 hours.
AM: Was at 155-165 for 3+ hours from 6-930. Then broke loose and hit 190 at about 12:15. checking it at the 180 mark and it was still super tight. Even at the 190 mark, it just dint feel right to be at that temp, still very tight. I dont like going to high in the pit, so I wrapped it and left it in a warm oven(Preheated to 140 and turned off) wrapped in heavy towels. It climbed on its own to 197 and it sat for several hours in the oven. 197 is a very high temp for me. i start feeling for doneness at 180 and pull when the probe feels right regardlesss of temp. This one was a stubborn hunk of beef. If it would have gone higher, it would have dried out. Not sure if my oversalting it had an effect(read below) on drying it out and needing to cook so high.
it was still pretty good, but ..... OOPSS..
Although the wife enjoyed it, so much so she had it for breakfast too, i think i overdid the salt and it actually puckered me up when i some sections.. Im not a salt fan to begin with).
I made 2 mistakes while prepping. Allowed myself to get distracted and had to go back 2-3 times while i was working the rubs, and lost track of what I was doing.
The plan was a layer of kosher salt, some tony C Hot for heat and flavor, some sweet, then black pepper. Simple.
Well, that was the plan.
What actually happened
I got sidetracked and pulled away after I put on the Tony C. then pulled away again shortly after and when I came back, i was actually going to wash it off and start over. I should have.
What got put on instead was
Kosher Salt,
Tony C,
Celery Salt(which was supposed to be Celery
seed),
Onion Salt, (was supposed to be
Granualted onion),
Garlic Salt(Supposed to be
granulated Garlic)
Sweets
Black Pepper.
So.. with the amount of salt on there.. I probably cured the farking thing. May explain why it was a little on the dry side, and tough. Thats my critique. james and the wife say it was really good.. but they pour salt on farking everything.
(knowing the way things work sometimes, a judge may have scored it high. I found alot of times when i think somethings too salty and I give up on it, I wind up taking a walk to pick up a check and trophy.
:tongue
doing another porkloin tomorrow and i have to bring a batch of chicken and ribs to the gym for the trainers. :twisted::twisted:
. then next week I am cooking a load of stuff for a friends wedding, the following week coking for a judging class, and after that is williepalloza, which i wont be at since im going to dover. So i will be getting some time inside of this pit. problem is, one more cook, and I am out of pellets. Hope candy sets up delievery soon!.