Brisket to Roast beefy tasting

what kind of vertical smoker did you use?
how much wood? what kind of charcoal?
so many variables. had the same phenominon when i first got my vaut.

Lot of variables as mentioned I guess. Not really sure what you mean by to "roast beefy" I guess, it is after all roasted beef. Did you use a beef injection or broth? As for smoke ring, could be the amount or type of wood?

KC

As far as smoke ring goes, pitmasterT (Donnie) were talkin on the phone the other day. He said he doesn't get good smoke rings on his UDS like he does on his stick burner. Wood has lignens just like meat, and wood has nitrates just like curing salts, and smoke contains guaicol which flavors your meat, so you get where I'm going with this? I told him to lightly sprinkle some tender quick on for 15 minutes, rinse well, pat dry, never a problem with smoke ring ever again. He said f*** that!!! My response was you wanted to know how to get it perfect every time, and that's the answer. Your not leaving it on so your not eating the curing salt, so what's the problem? He still said F*** that. My response to that is "we'll then I guess it's not that important after all, keep doin what your doin then.
There are three camps of people on the smoke ring subject:
1. Those that don't care if there is one because it doesn't reflect the flavor of the meat
2. Those that amsolutely must have one and the above stated method is the cure for lack of
3. The comp cookers that do it as a fail safe that have perfected the method and get stellar results. Also another method is to go to a well know sausage making place and ask for "sausage seasoning with cure for 25lbs", and they will give you Baggie of seasoning. Sprinkle a little of that on the brisket before you season. About the same amount you would garlic powder. Problem solved again.
I bench rest my brisket overnight in the cambro, so it's usually 60-65 degrees before it goes on the smoker, and as Hott as I cook its out of the 140 degree range in 2 hrs so I get little smoke ring formation. And that's how I do It

Now onto the smoke flavor fix:
1. You can add a small pan of water to the drip pan of the smoker. A steamy environment makes smoke stick better to the meat.
2. Switch from kingsford to lump fill the basket up and add a 12" mini split of wood. Light just the corner of the basket and control your temps from there. If you have a tight and well sealed pit and have a good general knowledge of how to control fires in pits this should be easy.
3. Smoke your salts first in the smoker on a sheet pan till its light brown if you make your own rubs. Or if you buy store bought, add hickory powder which is a tip that I got out of the "wicked good BBQ" book. That will be $24.95 for that tip btw :biggrin1:

JMoney has some good info. You can also use celery salt as a base layer under your rub it has a Chit load of nitrates in it. I either cook on a UDS or a Stick burner and have never had Smoke Ring issues.I wouldn't loose sleep if I didn't get one as it is just lip stick turn out the lights and it still tastes like BBQ.
As far as the Roast beefy flavor it is one of those things that comes from switching from an all wood fire to a charcoal fire augmented with a little wood. I have always believed that the Best Tasting BBQ Flavor comes from an all wood fire. Switch to Lump and use MORE wood, mix a 1/2 bag of Chunks into your lump or as Jmoney said add a Mini log or 3.

Wow bludawg, good tip on the celery salt! I never knew that, but do recall the circumstance happening to me. Here is a brisket I did a while back and I didn't use tender quick but got a big ol mohunker smoke ring. The rub flavor glow has a strong celery salt taste. Durrr de durrr!

If your meat goes in cold (refrigerator temp), it will stay in the 140° range longer, and that will will help with the smoke ring. That and jmoney's tips should get you the smoke ring of Saturn around your brisket.