First Attempt H&F Brisket

[grosen84]

Cooking my first brisket today. Also experimenting w/ lump as opposed to briquettes (I've tired of cleaning the ash). 11lb prime from costco. Injected a little beef broth/worsch/franks red hot into the flat (probably less than an actual "injection", it didn't go great...) than topped w/ S/P/some celery seed overnight. This morning I decided to sprinkle on some paprika and garlic powder...because taste. I don't want to wait until late to eat, so I'm trying a hybrid method from Harry Soo...hot (between 350-400) and fast until bark sets, I'm then going to separate the point, wrap both, then put them both back on lower...going to do the point up into burnt ends...........wish me luck :pray:

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[mytmouz]

Luck! And I do all mine HNF. A long rest is the key, IMO. When I was a UDS guy, I did the brisket first, then did other stuff do to limited space, so the long rest worked out. Now, I have reverse flow trailer unit, so I just stagger the cook.

[grosen84]

2nd hour spritz...Was holding in the 370's, shot up after the spritz...waiting to see if I can avoid touching any vent controls...

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[grosen84]

Looked good, grabbed something from the store, came back for the next spritz and stuck the probe in.....205...crap. Not much left of the point to save, probably going to make chili. Flat was just at 200 so might be salvagable, it's wrapped and resting until the smoker is down to 250.

[sudsandswine]

205* is still a fairly low internal finishing temperature for a hot and fast brisket. When I'm cooking around 275-300* my finishing temp is usually above 210*. I wouldn't throw in the towel yet, if it's probing how it should be then you should be in good shape regardless of temp.

[grosen84]

205* is still a fairly low internal finishing temperature for a hot and fast brisket. When I'm cooking around 275-300* my finishing temp is usually above 210*. I wouldn't throw in the towel yet, if it's probing how it should be then you should be in good shape regardless of temp.
Well have of the point was toast, like 1/2 jerky. Cubed the rest and put it in a chili. The flat was still probing hard so it stayed on the smoker for another hour or so, wrapped, until probing soft. It's now resting in the warm oven for dinner. We'll see...The outside was very dry. I think my spritz/hour wasn't sufficient. I may do every 1/2hr next time...

[sudsandswine]

Well you were more or less cooking direct (drum cooker directly over hot coals) at 400*+ by the sound of it, at least for a little while...not sure a light spritz is gonna buy you much even if you do it every half hour. If the point was like jerky then it got way, way overcooked.

[Big George's BBQ]

Brisket takes a while to learn. You don’t wan to open every 1/2 hr. If cooking direct that will cause you problems

[pjtexas1]

How long before you wrapped?

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[Burnt at Both Endz]

Brisket takes a while to learn. You don’t wan to open every 1/2 hr. If cooking direct that will cause you problems

Might get away with it on the briquets, but lump is not very forgiving when it comes to air.

[Dinkle]

Your too hot for a drum @ 370. Offsets can run hotter because the fire is further away. I think you will have more success at 275 to 325

[sthamm]

As you mentioned, when Harry Soo is doing it on his WSM, he's wrapping in foil as soon as the bark sets. I can see how yours turned into a lump of coal going naked all the way up to 200+. At temps that high with direct cooking, you need to preserve that internal moisture by whatever means necessary (e.g. crutch).

[grosen84]

Appreciate the feedback from everyone. All was not as desperate as it seemed. Yes, I did end up with some jerky edge point, but had about 2 cups once cubed to chili-ize...

https://imgur.com/wOg1cfS.jpg

Other than being a little dry, most of the flat was actually good. It wasn't ready once I noticed my error, and being more uniform, there was only a little waste around one side (that had been cut in processing and I didn't notice while shopping), I think I got a decent hang, and it was pretty consistent considering. I wrapped as soon as I noticed, which was after 3.5 hrs. The flat went back on wrapped with some apple juice added for maybe another 2 hours at 250-ish (after the drum cooled) until it was probing tender, temp was around 210. It rested in the oven that I occasionally switched on to keep it around 100-150. I ended up slicing the flat when it was about 160. I wonder if I had just let it rest in the oven w/o toying w/ it then sliced at 150 it would have retained some more moisture.

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I monitored the temps closely. The majority of the cook took place between 365-380. Only near 400 once and at the beginning. I was only getting ~10 degree spikes when opening to spritz. My inexperience led me to not know what was a "set" bark, and I'm still not quite sure. It did rub off some when being grabbed with my gloves, definitely not majorly adhered, but as you can see by the slices, it isn't just falling off. I assume being large ground pepper, it's not going to turn into an encasement, and will still come off somewhat easy if rubbed? Or is this a result of the exterior edge drying too quick? For lump vs. charcoal...I fail to see, scientifically, how 400 degrees is different from 400 degrees? I can understand it's propensity to spike higher when exposed to air, but I didn't notice that in my cook. On the flip side, I've been running into a problem where after 5 or so hours, my bricks begin to choke themselves w/ ash and I have to shake them loose a little (releasing an undesired plume of ash).

I think for the next cook, I'm going to baffle with a large roasting pan full of water, and cook w/ a temp probe in, so I can monitor the goings-on (this was my first time ignoring it...whoops). And maybe I'll aim for 350-375, as I was trying to have it ready for dinner, not lunch...If you read this far, thanks for taking the time and assisting.