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CuriousLayman
09-03-2013, 08:57 PM
I plan to smoke my first brisket Saturday. I have read lots of threads and my plan is to use a simple rub, run about 300 and wrap with butcher paper. I know it's done when it probes like butter, but how do you check? Do you just keep part of the paper to where you can easily and quickly unwrap it to probe? It would seem like trying to probe through the paper wouldn't work that well. I smoke on a uds so I want to keep the lid closed as much as possible.

Any advice is welcomed and appreciated.

marubozo
09-03-2013, 09:00 PM
Depends on how sharp your probe is. If it's like a thermapen, just right through the paper with ease. If it's a more blunt object, just unwrap it for a quick probe, or just go through the paper anyway. Once you pass the resistance of the paper you'll still just get the feel for the tenderness of the meat.

CuriousLayman
09-03-2013, 09:05 PM
Thanks. I have a fine pointed therm i can use.

jeffturnerjr
09-03-2013, 09:08 PM
Depends on how sharp your probe is. If it's like a thermapen, just right through the paper with ease. If it's a more blunt object, just unwrap it for a quick probe, or just go through the paper anyway. Once you pass the resistance of the paper you'll still just get the feel for the tenderness of the meat.

Lots of folks, including myself, just go right through paper/foil.

Bludawg
09-03-2013, 10:23 PM
You only need to probe in the thickest part of the flat I poke a small slit in the paper in that area wit a knife point so there is a window to probe through. Cook fat cap down wrap after the 4th hr finish fat cap up and check it after 1 hr after wrapping if it aint done it will be real close 1 hr or less.

sliding_billy
09-04-2013, 09:28 AM
I totally agree on the "butter probe" test being the final determinant, but I do like to keep a permanent probe in (Maverick 732) to get me in the ballpark before I start opening and closing the lid needlessly.

ButtBurner
09-04-2013, 09:49 AM
I just use a bamboo skewer

El Ropo
09-04-2013, 01:30 PM
Bamboo skewer is my weapon of choice too.

Lake Dogs
09-04-2013, 01:33 PM
You only need to probe in the thickest part of the flat I poke a small slit in the paper in that area wit a knife point so there is a window to probe through. Cook fat cap down wrap after the 4th hr finish fat cap up and check it after 1 hr after wrapping if it aint done it will be real close 1 hr or less.

^^^+1 I do this only I'm fat cap down the whole way....

Bludawg
09-04-2013, 01:34 PM
http://i968.photobucket.com/albums/ae164/Bludawg51/DSCF0066Modified2.jpg

joshcary
09-04-2013, 01:50 PM
http://i968.photobucket.com/albums/ae164/Bludawg51/DSCF0066Modified2.jpg

Is that the same tool you use to kill the cow before you cook it?! :-o

aawa
09-04-2013, 02:43 PM
I use a bamboo skewer for a probe. I typically go completely nekkid and do not need to poke through anything. If I do wrap I do it with foil, as I have a huge roll of that and too cheap to go out and buy butcher paper. I just open up the foil and probe.

CuriousLayman
09-04-2013, 04:01 PM
Well, honestly I wanted to try not wrapping. But I'm a little chicken. Maybe I should just bite the bullet try naked. With pork shoulder I stopped wrapping until I put them in the cooler and liked the results better. But I know that brisket is a whole different game.

Any opinions on not wrapping until I rest it?

aawa
09-04-2013, 07:23 PM
Well, honestly I wanted to try not wrapping. But I'm a little chicken. Maybe I should just bite the bullet try naked. With pork shoulder I stopped wrapping until I put them in the cooler and liked the results better. But I know that brisket is a whole different game.

Any opinions on not wrapping until I rest it?

I am not for or against wrapping. I look for color when I decide to wrap or not.

Here are a few pieces of meat I did where I didn't wrap because the color never got darker than I wanted.

Brisket set it on foil once it was done on the smoker. But was naked the entire time.
http://i.imgur.com/KJ911Xx.jpg

This brisket was nekkid too. This was taken right before I sliced and after I had let it rest wrapped up in foil. This is about the furthest I would take my briskets color too.
http://i.imgur.com/mVPOsOH.jpg

A couple of racks of ribs (each has half glazed up) that went nekkid at 325 degrees.
http://i.imgur.com/yRp5PNn.jpg

Pork butt that went nekkid at 330-350 degrees. This is pushing the color I would want on a pork butt.
http://i.imgur.com/7Yml13P.jpg


Here is a pork butt that had a commercial rub that had quite a big of sugars in it. I ended up wrapping it at about 175 degrees because the bark was at the color I wanted it to be.
http://i.imgur.com/wGJcG.jpg

I have started making my own rubs lately and dont use a lot of sugars. The low sugar content allows me to cook nekkid and not get too dark of a bark. I have yet to see where wrapping or going nekkid effects the texture of the finished product, so I use it as a tool to control the color of the meats.

JS-TX
09-04-2013, 08:25 PM
I also use a bamboo skewer and go right through the paper. Are you going to be using a heat deflector in your UDS? If so I would expect 7-9 hours before it probes tender.

CuriousLayman
09-04-2013, 08:52 PM
Thanks for all the advice. I plan on using a no-sugar rub, so maybe I can make it without covering. I'll make a game time decision. Hopefully there will be a few photos afterward!

retired trucker
09-04-2013, 09:53 PM
I have a large ceramic flower pot saucer full of sand to use as a deflector in my UDS that is on a rack about 6 - 8 inches above the basket. I cook my briskets fat cap down until the flat shows about 185 - 190 on my Maverick 732. I then put it in an aluminum throw away pan fat cap up and cover the top with foil and added some apple juice and continued to cook until it probed like butter. Usually about 2 1/2 hrs when cooking at 300 degrees. I just cooked one Sunday, and it probed tender about 212 degrees. I try to keep the lifting of the lid to a bare minimum. Brisket turned out great, fork tender and very juicy. Just used a Dalmatian rub with a little garlic powder on it. Total cook time was about 9 hours.

Blessings,
Omar