- Jun 18, 2015
- 62
- 19
Hi All,
So a friend occasionally works at a local butcher shop and got me a flat on Saturday. He said was approximately 4 lbs. tried to get bigger but they had already cut them. So I planned on smoking on Sunday. Sunday I started my smoker. WSM 22 using cowboy lump and cherry wood. Started some lump in chimney and put on one side. Putting over top seemed to burn to quick last time. I think I need gasket kit for my WSM but that's another thread.was having trouble keeping temp at 225. Hovered between 230-250 mostly. Shot up to 260 and practically had vents closed and temp still climbing. Quick went inside and got some cold tap water and put that into water pan in an attempt to cool it down. I don't open lid often and when I do I shut down vents in bottom bowl to prevent coals from being overstoked.
On to the meat. I injected with mix of beef broth and some worcestershire sauce. Used a little bit of A1 on outside of brisket and went Texas style in rub (kosher salt and coarse black pepper). I know it was a small piece of meat, but looked like it had about a quarter inch fat cap, but didn't measure it and don't have much experience with brisket. I cooked fat side up and let it go for 3 hours. Decided not to wrap and that probably came back to bite me. When I probed after 3 hours it was at an IT temp if 169 degrees according to Maverick ET-733. I inserted probe in thickest part of flat. It hung at 169 for about an hour, maybe a little more before it started to climb. My goal was 195. I didn't toothpick test and seemed to be okay. Was some resistance in places though but figured t would still rise a bit more during rest. Looking back I should've started testing earlier at oil 180. After 195 I wrapped in foil, towels and put in cooler to rest for an hour. After the hour I unwrapped with eagerness only to be disappointed by dry, tough meat. Wouldn't have passed the pull test and don't think it would Have even folded over on itself if I tried. Flavor was good and had a nice smoke ring. It was just missing that tenderness and moistness. First thought was that I just cooked too long for such a lean/small cut of meat and dried it out. Then I was thinking maybe I didn't cook long enough. So in the oven it went trying to salvage. Put oven at 250. Checked every half hour to see if there was any change. After an hour and a half I gave up. I did cut apart and found one sliver of meat that was just below fat cap and moist and tender and flavor profile was really good. Did end up making some good chili.
So where'd I go wrong? Was just too lean and I should've wrapped? Also, worried thermometer might have been giving bad reading since I read stall is usually in 150s and I was stuck at 169. Pictures to follow.
Thanks All!
So a friend occasionally works at a local butcher shop and got me a flat on Saturday. He said was approximately 4 lbs. tried to get bigger but they had already cut them. So I planned on smoking on Sunday. Sunday I started my smoker. WSM 22 using cowboy lump and cherry wood. Started some lump in chimney and put on one side. Putting over top seemed to burn to quick last time. I think I need gasket kit for my WSM but that's another thread.was having trouble keeping temp at 225. Hovered between 230-250 mostly. Shot up to 260 and practically had vents closed and temp still climbing. Quick went inside and got some cold tap water and put that into water pan in an attempt to cool it down. I don't open lid often and when I do I shut down vents in bottom bowl to prevent coals from being overstoked.
On to the meat. I injected with mix of beef broth and some worcestershire sauce. Used a little bit of A1 on outside of brisket and went Texas style in rub (kosher salt and coarse black pepper). I know it was a small piece of meat, but looked like it had about a quarter inch fat cap, but didn't measure it and don't have much experience with brisket. I cooked fat side up and let it go for 3 hours. Decided not to wrap and that probably came back to bite me. When I probed after 3 hours it was at an IT temp if 169 degrees according to Maverick ET-733. I inserted probe in thickest part of flat. It hung at 169 for about an hour, maybe a little more before it started to climb. My goal was 195. I didn't toothpick test and seemed to be okay. Was some resistance in places though but figured t would still rise a bit more during rest. Looking back I should've started testing earlier at oil 180. After 195 I wrapped in foil, towels and put in cooler to rest for an hour. After the hour I unwrapped with eagerness only to be disappointed by dry, tough meat. Wouldn't have passed the pull test and don't think it would Have even folded over on itself if I tried. Flavor was good and had a nice smoke ring. It was just missing that tenderness and moistness. First thought was that I just cooked too long for such a lean/small cut of meat and dried it out. Then I was thinking maybe I didn't cook long enough. So in the oven it went trying to salvage. Put oven at 250. Checked every half hour to see if there was any change. After an hour and a half I gave up. I did cut apart and found one sliver of meat that was just below fat cap and moist and tender and flavor profile was really good. Did end up making some good chili.
So where'd I go wrong? Was just too lean and I should've wrapped? Also, worried thermometer might have been giving bad reading since I read stall is usually in 150s and I was stuck at 169. Pictures to follow.
Thanks All!