First Brisket in First UDS (2nd Brisket Ever) w/ pr0n

J

joeysmac

Guest
DISCLAIMER: Please feel free to give advice/tell me what I did wrong (or what you would do differently)

So this is my 2nd brisket, but since the last one was before I found this forum (or knew the first thing about smoking) I would call this my first "enlightened" :idea: brisket.

I'm sure I did a ton wrong, but the goal for today is to cook a decent brisket in about 12 hours. I got a 12# packer brisket from Kroger and decided to remove the point for a couple of reasons, 1) it wouldn't fit in anything in the fridge, and 2) to hopefully get it done faster so I didn't have to wake up at 3 AM to get started :icon_sleepy

woke up and got the briquette, lump, hickory mix going about 5:45 AM. By 6:00 AM the temp was 200 so I capped the two intakes and by 6:15 the smoke had calmed down. Here's the temp stats so far:

6:15 AM: UDS 200, Meat 60
6:30 AM: UDS 175, Meat 95 (uncapped the two intake valves)
6:45 AM: UDS 200, Meat 108
7:00 AM: UDS 245, Meat 130

QUESTIONS:

1. Should my meat already be at 130 (coming up on 140 by the time I write this)? Could my UDS temperature gauge be that off and I'm smoking too hot?
2. Is it normal to get more white/gray smoke when taking the temp up (I got a good bit more smoke when I took the caps off to raise the temp)

PRON:

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Depends on where your thermometer probe is located. if near the outside, remember that the middle portion of the rack where your brisket is likely located is considerably warmer, usually 20-30 degrees difference IIRC.
 
the UDS got up to 250 so I put the caps back on...I think I probably should have left it alone when the UDS temp was 175 before, since there is such a temp difference between the middle and outside. The brisket is at 152 right now, so hopefully it's going to stall and I can get it under control.

I stuck the probe in the side showing on the first picture (where the line of fat runs through the middle. This is the side I cut the point off of. It should be fairly close to the center of the meat all the way around, but it may be a little closer to the top or bottom of the meat.

Oh yeah...I did fat-cap down.
 
Congrats Joey! Your first UDS Brisky! :thumb:
Take what I tell ya with a grain of salt...or some other seasoning...

Start out with a good ol' piece of meat. I will not smoke a brisket unless it is a CAB (Certified Angus Beef) or higher. CAB just means that it is high choice or better. I've wasted too much time and money trying to save briskets that should have been destined for hamburger.

I would have left the point on. I personally think it adds flavor and juiciness to the flat when cooked together....of course, I've never cooked a brisky without a point...so what do I know:confused:

Your brisket temp was 60° internal temp when you put it on? Try to get it colder next time...the colder the meat, the more smoke flavor is absorbed and the better the smoke ring.(or so I've been told by people in the know)

It's good you are keeping track of you temps...I highly recommend this to anyone getting started. Keep a log the first 10 or so times until you know it by heart. And don't fret the small stuff. It will get done when it is done. I don't know if you are planning on foiling it or not...either way...when the probe goes in like a knife thru warm butter...that is when it is done.

Also curious...what is your target smoking temp on your UDS. I've got short stemmed thermometers on my drums and while they register a constant 225°...I know that the actual temp in the center of the drum is 25° to 40° higher...and sometimes, the upper rack is actually hotter than the lower rack (I use Weber lids...think convection oven) depending on how I have things arranged inside the drum.

Just some food for thought...hope it helps. Most of all, kick back and enjoy it:wink:

Hope to see some of the finished pron:cool:
 
Looks like you and I have some of the same questions. I put my first UDS brisket (or first brisket ever for that matter) on at 6:00 this morning and 3 hours in it is already at 158. Seems a little high to me, but I surely don't know.

how long had yours been on when it was 152?
 
Thanks for the tips everyone. My target temp in the drum is 225, so I'm trying to keep the gauge at 200 or so...I just got my spice wine ironworks gauge in the mail, but I haven't gotten it on yet...this on has a really short probe (that's what she said)

Here are some updated temps:

7:30 AM: UDS 200, meat 153
7:45 AM: UDS 190, meat 155
8:00 AM: UDS 190, meat 159
8:45 AM: UDS 175, meat 166
9:30 AM: UDS 160, meat 165 (yikes?)

I plan on foiling it once it starts going up between 170 and 175. I've got all day and was planning to be done around 6 PM, so I'm trying to hold her back a little at this point. I just opened a valve to get a little more air to the coals...we'll see...
 
You will probably finish sooner than you expected since you removed the point. My experience with briskets has been they finish quicker than butts...usually about 5 hrs from putting them on until I foil them, then another 2-3 hours til "feels like budda" time...rest for an hour or two and there you have it.

You should hit a plateau...it may only last 45 min or so...but don't worry...The meat will be done when it is done. If you want it to be done later...when you pull it, wrap it in foil, then plastic wrap, then newspaper (insulation) then plastic wrap again to hold the newspaper on, then throw it in a cooler with towels to take up any extra space...you can keep it in there up to 5 hours usually....

Regarding the smoke question earlier...once you put the meat on...you will get a white smoke...that is from the drippings hitting the coals in the fire basket...just make sure that before you put your meat on, you have a fine blue smoke... Never put anything on when you have a heavy white smoke when first firing up the drum.
Hope this helps...
 
So I decided to take one of my Spicewine gauges that haven't been installed and I stuck it in one of the exhaust holes on top of the drum to see the difference (the other gauge is in the side about 9" down, just under the rack). These pics were taken back to back to show the temp difference that I am getting:

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Alright, update temps so far (all temps in this post were from el-cheapo on the side)...

10:30 AM: UDS 190, meat 170
11:00 AM: UDS 190, meat 172
11:15 AM: UDS 190, meat 173

Current temp in foil:

12:15 PM: UDS 210, meat 183 (slow down, slow down...it was supposed to be dinner, not lunch :doh: )

I wrapped the meat at 11:30 and the temp held at 173 throughout the foiling process. All the air that got into the UDS made the temp get up to about 300 or so. Should I hold off on putting it back in to let the coals settle back down?

I took a pic of the brisket before I foiled it...how's it looking? (be honest):

IMAG0102.jpg
 
That's lookin' might fine to me Joey!
I'm sure you are done with your cook by now...but when you take the lid off to remove something or add something or take a temp...don't lolligag around...and put the lid back on as soon as you can...but I guess you know that now...

Let us know how it all turned out...:thumb:
 
I took the brisket off about 3:00 PM, the temps up until that point were:

1:30 PM, UDS 175, meat 195
2:15 PM, UDS 175, meat 193
3:00 PM, UDS 200, meat 191

The bummer was that a hole was ripped in the foil because it stuck to the grate, and I set it back down...i could hear my juices running out and hitting the coals :doh:, so I got some more foil to put on the towel that I wrapped the brisket with...hopefully it still had some in there. I tried to maintain 190-195 for a while (hopefully it didn't dry out or anything) partly to buy some time and partly because I wasn't convinced it felt like butter. It probed like butter right after 3:00 (9 hrs in the smoker), so I think I'll be okay. Dinner won't be til 6:30ish, so it may get warmed up in the oven...hopefully it will stay warm enough in the cooler. I'll get some pics and post them in after dinner...I haven't seen it since i foiled it and its driving me :loco:...
 
Well I would call it a success for sure...not perfect, but everyone was happy and I hardly have any leftovers for tomorrow :mad:.

It sat in the cooler for 3.5 hrs and was still steaming hot at 140 degrees when I pulled it out.

It seemed a little dry in the thinner parts, not sure if I left it in too long once it hit 190 degrees. Flavor and texture was great. Thanks brethren for the tips along the way...can't wait to do another.

Here are some pics:

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