Brisket on a Vertical Cabinet Smoker - Water or Dry?

BigThicket

BigThicket

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To those of you cooking brisket on vertical cabinet smokers- Do you find that using water changes the texture of your brisket? I rswitched to a cabinet smoker after years on an offset and I’m not really satisfied with the texture of my brisket anymore. My pulled pork is better than ever and I’ve had really good results with sausage, boudin, and turkey, but I just don’t care for the brisket that I’m pulling. I’ve been changing little things at a time trying to get them back to where they were, but it’s still not where I want it. Water is the only other factor that I can think of to change. I never used it on my offsets.

Is there another trick to using a vertical that I don’t know of? I bought the cabinet for capacity vs. cost, but I don’t want to put out inferior product just to be able to make more at a time. The grain seems to be a lot tighter than it was before. The briskets feel more dense at the same temperatures. What am I doing wrong?
 
I remember a year or two ago, reading an article from someone with both a water smoker and no-water smoker who did a comparison. He thought that water smokers would soften the bark somewhat. His ultimate decision was, cook meat half on both, to solve the "soft bark" delimma. :blah: :crazy: Have you tried a dry run to see if you liked the results better? I haven't used a water smoker, or put water in my cabinet, so I can't offer advise.
 
I run my humphreys dry 90% of the time and have little issues. If bark is concern and you are wrapping use butcher paper. Otherwise, i like this walkthrough but their are others. Happy smokes.
 
I cook them on my Humphrey’s over night 235° to 240° with water then in the morning crank them temp to 275° and always have nice crisp bark. When cooking this way I never wrap. Only time I don’t see water is if I cook one ar 300° and wrap in butcher paper.
 
I never use water in my insulated cabinet. Bark comes out just the way i want. You can change bark by wrapping sooner or later.

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Explain the tighter grain and temp. Is the brisket tight when you think it should be done? Cook chamber temps or internal brisket temps?

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pjtexas1 said:
Explain the tighter grain and temp. Is the brisket tight when you think it should be done? Cook chamber temps or internal brisket temps?
Click to expand...

Yes, on my offsets I would usually probe soft at around 203-205. At those internal temps on the cabinet smoker the brisket is still tight. The grain on the brisket even looks different than what I was turning out before.
 
I have a wood-burning vertical pit — not insulated — sort of a horizontal offset that’s been turned vertical. It has a huge water tray between the fire and the meat rack, which I use all the time. I never noticed any difference in the bark or tightness of the brisket between using that and my horizontal offset, but then I never wrap. I do find the brisket far more moist, and have concluded that steam from the water tray helps keep the meat moist and counteracts the drying effect of the wood smoke.

I also find the water volume helps smooth out the temps and avoid wild temp swings.

But my situation might not be applicable to yours because mine isn’t an insulated vertical cabinet smoker.
 
OklaDustDevil said:
I have a wood-burning vertical pit — not insulated — sort of a horizontal offset that’s been turned vertical. It has a huge water tray between the fire and the meat rack, which I use all the time. I never noticed any difference in the bark or tightness of the brisket between using that and my horizontal offset, but then I never wrap. I do find the brisket far more moist, and have concluded that steam from the water tray helps keep the meat moist and counteracts the drying effect of the wood smoke.

I also find the water volume helps smooth out the temps and avoid wild temp swings.

But my situation might not be applicable to yours because mine isn’t an insulated vertical cabinet smoker.
Click to expand...

Mine isn't insulated either. It sounds very similar to your setup. I'm using an uninsulated Boathouse Smoker.
 
Could be direct heat is cooking different than indirect. I'd check temps at grate level to make sure you are cooking at the temps you think you are.

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pjtexas1 said:
Could be direct heat is cooking different than indirect. I'd check temps at grate level to make sure you are cooking at the temps you think you are.
Click to expand...

I checked that this weekend with digital thermometers set at grate level. It turns out the center area is about 20 degrees hotter than the outside areas over the drip edge (which is where the Tell-Trus are mounted). My second cook of the weekend turned out better with that knowledge, but still not where I want. I spoke with a professional pitmaster friend and he thinks that I'm just pulling them a little too soon. I have more research to do this weekend. Thanks for the help, everyone.
 
Pulling too soon is what i think too and it might have something to do with how the 2 cookers cook.

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another vote for dry.

if I was running every shelf full of brisket, I would run water to minimize the hot spots, but I've never hit that limit yet.

cabinets keeps an insane amount of moisture in the chamber without the need for water.
 
I have a Stumps gravity feed insulated smoker. Never put water in it and I don’t see a reason to start.
 
Well, might as well put my 2 cents in.:-D

Won't be much difference in moisture in the product between dry&wet unless you are cooking it without wrapping, then it will not be great difference. There will diffently be a difference between bark formation between the two.


I would guess the biggest problem you are encountering is the difference between direct and indirect heat, you just need to cook it to a higher finish temp, I agree with your friend, you are just a little short of being properly cooked.


As a great brisket cook once told me, keep good notes and only change ONE thing at a time....he was a wise one!
 
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