RE: Re: RE: Time vs Temperature
Mr. Kick has good advice. At 7 lbs I'm guessing you had a flat and not a packer. A little bacon over the top, as Willkat98 likes to do, wouldn't have been a bad thing. I also keep thinking about the time you cooked, about 1 hr 40/lb. I've had some briskets take longer per pound and some cook faster. If it was a flat that sounds a little long to me. If you haven't already read the brisket info in the Roadmap section at the top of this forum that might help. I'd check my thermometers in boiling water and ice water to make sure they are accurate. Could be you just got a tough brisket, and that happens to everyone now and then.
Soaking wood...NOOOOOOooo. I'm an anti-soaker. I want the cleanest burn I can get from the wood. Soaking in water just makes that more difficult. Try using some dried chunks and set them on top of the firebox to preheat them before adding to the fire. You should get a much cleaner burn, and better quality smoke, which in turn yields better taste. That being said, if you prefer to soak and it gets you the flavor you are looking for then more power to you. Very few rules to Q.