Soggy Brisket on WSM

[FatDaddy]

Well i cooked about a 5# brisket flat and 3 racks of spares on the WSM today. All you WSM cooks out there. How do ya get a good bark on your brisket if u are cooking with water in the pan and the brisket on the lower rack? mine came out like mush. i just scraped it off cause it looked like chit. Other than that everything came out tasting really well. and brisket was moist and tender. and ribs were just right.

 

[thirdeye]

Well i cooked about a 5# brisket flat and 3 racks of spares on the WSM today. All you WSM cooks out there. How do ya get a good bark on your brisket if u are cooking with water in the pan and the brisket on the lower rack? mine came out like mush. i just scraped it off cause it looked like chit. Other than that everything came out tasting really well. and brisket was moist and tender. and ribs were just right.

How heavy did you go on the amounts of paprika and chili powder in your brisket rub? And if you did go heavy, how long after you rubbed it did you smoke it? That could be the problem.

 

[Kirk]

I just did a brisket on the lower rack of my WSM last weekend and the bark was awesome, not mushy at all. And this was with a butt dripping on it from the top rack (BoB: butt over brisket). Can you give us more details on the cook?

 

[Wildcat]

Never had that problem.

 

[BBQchef33]

me thinks you need more sugar in your rub. i put a load of turbindo and get a decent bark. if you want a really heavy bar, use dark brown sugar, as the molassas will carmelize heavier in that.

also, did you wrap in foil? if you did, thjat will make the bark mushy and you need to return it to the pit to reset the bark if u wnat it crunchy.

 

[FatDaddy]

me thinks you need more sugar in your rub. i put a load of turbindo and get a decent bark. if you want a really heavy bar, use dark brown sugar, as the molassas will carmelize heavier in that.

also, did you wrap in foil? if you did, thjat will make the bark mushy and you need to return it to the pit to reset the bark if u wnat it crunchy.

I did wrap in foil at about 150F then left it in the foil till it hit 190 or so then toweled it and in the cooler. SO ya i think that was my problem. I was busy house shopping and what not all day as well so i didnt get to pay much attention to it. but i figured id have better have taken it off at 190 or so

 

[MilitantSquatter]

150 deg seems way too soon to foil the brisket if you're looking for a harder exterior...

I had a few mushy briskets since using the WSM's for briskets in contests..

Made some changes for the last contest at New Holland and we improved scores greatly for a 7th place...

1) did not foil until 180 deg and took off at around 188-190 when probe was moving freely.. Only foiled enough to capture some drippings but did not fully cover the top so I could keep the bark on the flat exposed to the heat (I cook brisket with cap down).

2) changed rub. This one had turbinado sugar as one of the ingredients...

Bark was pretty good...

Good Luck and keep experimenting... It's not the WSM...

 

[FatDaddy]

Think the next one i will do in my pit. go with what i know lol..

 

[CarbonToe]

I always cook the brisket on the top shelf, and cook soon after applying rub.

I'm not sure that it's the sugar content (as long as you had some), it sounds like the steam from the juices in the brisket has kept the bark 'moist' when it was enclosed in the foil. I only foil when I rest my brisket not when it's cooking.

 

[Sawdustguy]

I agree with Carbon Toe. I only foil to rest the brisket or in a rare instant when I want to accererate the cooking process.

 

[FatDaddy]

I used Spicewines Hefferdust and also some rub HoDeDo sent me in a little white paper sack. It looked like it had brownsugar and some vinegar in it which he said would open up the pores in the meat. I prepped the meat the night before and stuck in the fridge. It tasted great. but i think maybe having it sitting right on top of 2-3 gallons of water in the pan and then foiling to 190+ was a little to much. Just one of them learning curves with the little smoker. In my big smoker. it is all dry heat and have never had a problem with the bark.