# Spritzing Necessary?



## Dunstablegrizzly (Apr 5, 2020)

So I have transitioned to using no water in my pan and have noticed no issues with meat being moist. Now water does provide that insurance of keeping temps from getting out of control but I have no issues with my wsm keeping temps without that heatsink. So this brings me to another conclusion... is spritzing really neccessary? Seen a bunch of youtube vids on this, for example baby back maniac and T-Roy did a rib vid on some ribs to show three diffrent methods of no spritz, apple juice spritz, and some cranberry pomegranate thing. Anyways they all looked the same as far as texture and color somewhat.  Now since spritzing stops the cooking process as the meat cools it took longer to cook which in turn is exposed to more smoke. So the ones that were spritz were somewhat darker. So now it brings me to my main question which is should I even bother spritzing my next brisket? I am not a big fan of bark so I usually cook brisket to color them wrap in foil. So do you guys and gals see anything that can go wrong if I dont spritz??


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## mike243 (Apr 5, 2020)

Spritzing lets more smoke stick to the meat better, it can also help stop meat drying out. I wont peel the back of ribs off as it will let moisture leak out faster imo. lot of ways to skin-A_cat  pick a method and practice till you get where you want to be, no bad way to cook just different


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## tx smoker (Apr 5, 2020)

I have never spritzed ribs...ever, nor do I wrap them. They are never dry or unappealing. I have however started basting/mopping chuck short ribs (Dino ribs) and briskets with a mixture of beef gravy, beef broth, and bourbon and that does seem to help maintain moisture. It also adds a lot of flavor to the droppings which I use at meal time as a dipping sauce versus using BBQ sauce.

Robert


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## phathead69 (Apr 5, 2020)

I know if wrong someone will correct me, but I seem to think I read something and goes like this. You can not add moisture to meat, you can slow or mitigate the loss of moisture by say wrapping in foil. Injection of a liquid while it is inside the chunk of meat is still not in "fibers " of the muscle so to speak so it falls under the mitigation area. In others words smoking dried out shoe leather is pretty much going to produce dried out smoke flavoured shoe leather. Now the phosphate stuff I dont know anything about. Like you starting out I spritzed for moisture as shown on videos and reading. Now the only time I spritz is to add some kind of flavor. Take this for what worth.


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## SmokinAl (Apr 5, 2020)

I spritz, or baste, or mop most of the things I smoke.
But that is just works for me.
I actually cook to my wife Judy’s taste.
And she likes it that way, and so do I.
Al


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## Bearcarver (Apr 5, 2020)

I'll Spritz or Baste when grilling, but not when smoking in my MES 40, because I won't open the door for something like that.
I'll only open it for Foiling things & adding Foiling juices at that time (at about 165°).

Bear


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## Dunstablegrizzly (Apr 5, 2020)

So I will be trying it maybe this weekend when I do my thighs. I will keep track of it and post how it comes out. I'll pick up a 10 to 12 pound packer to try it.

Now I know pork has a ton of fat so I can see why it isn't a problem. But I'm not too sure of brisket.


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## sawhorseray (Apr 5, 2020)

Hmmmm! I spritz when smoking ribs or a butt on my offset, and now I'm thinking I might not be doing much but adding a ton of time to my cook by lifting the top to spritz. Takes time for the heat loss to recover. I'll try no spritzing next time to see how things go. RAY


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## smokeymose (Apr 5, 2020)

I'll give ribs a little mist once while cooking if it looks dry and once just for the foil. 
I don't spritz anything else, but I baste or mop chicken a little. As you can see, everyone has a method they like. There's no right or wrong as long as it works for you.


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## smokeymose (Apr 5, 2020)

Dunstablegrizzly said:


> So I will be trying it maybe this weekend when I do my thighs. I will keep track of it and post how it comes out. I'll pick up a 10 to 12 pound packer to try it.
> 
> Now I know pork has a ton of fat so I can see why it isn't a problem. But I'm not too sure of brisket.


Most briskets have quite a bit of fat, especially the point.


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## sandyut (Apr 5, 2020)

Just like this!


tx smoker said:


> I have never spritzed ribs...ever, nor do I wrap them. They are never dry or unappealing.


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## Dunstablegrizzly (Apr 9, 2020)

Ok I know I said I was trying the brisket this weekend but I totally forgot it was Easter so we do a spiral ham every Easter. I'll will push the brisket off until the following weekend.

Now when I do the brisket I've decided to not even trim it. I'll let the fat render out and baste the meat. It's easy to simply push the remaining fat off to the side of the plate as im eating. Again I'm putting the meat in and pulling it to wrap around 160 IT as I'm not a huge fan of bark. I wont spritz at all and will be running dry in my wsm.


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## tallbm (Apr 9, 2020)

Dunstablegrizzly said:


> Ok I know I said I was trying the brisket this weekend but I totally forgot it was Easter so we do a spiral ham every Easter. I'll will push the brisket off until the following weekend.
> 
> Now when I do the brisket I've decided to not even trim it. I'll let the fat render out and baste the meat. It's easy to simply push the remaining fat off to the side of the plate as im eating. Again I'm putting the meat in and pulling it to wrap around 160 IT as I'm not a huge fan of bark. I wont spritz at all and will be running dry in my wsm.



I don't spritz anything and havent had to in my MES.  Maybe a different system might make it necessary but so far not for me.
Also with you wraping at 160F I wouldnt bother doing anything to it since you are wrapping at that temp.
Normally I recommend people trim off the thin portion of the brisket so that what is left of the flat is about even thickness.  The thinner end of the flat often dries out.  Now, with you wrapping at 160F you may not face this problem so give it a whirl and see what you get :)


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## noboundaries (Apr 10, 2020)

I do not spritz anything, except to add flavor. About the only thing I'll spritz these days is a double smoked ham. 

Keeping the *surface* of the meat moist definitely causes more smoke to adhere to the meat. That has been proven with research. BUT, I've never read any research that proves spritzing keeps the INSIDE of meat moist. All the evidence I've read about spritzing and moist insides is anecdotal, not research based. I have read research that proves that spritzing can increase the evaporative flow of water OUT of the meat, but it did not mention collagen, which is what makes briskets and butts juicy, not water.

Spritzing with a concoction of juices and seasonings absolutely adds flavor. Until some researcher spritzes a brisket with water only, and proves the inside of the meat is juicier, I'll skip the spritz.


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## 1MoreFord (Apr 13, 2020)

If spritzing added moisture to food the pot roasts would have oceans of gravy inside them.

I also question the wisdom of a moist surface attracting smoke flavor.  If it does then why does it seem most everyone wants a dry pellicle surface on smoked fish?


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## smokeymose (Apr 13, 2020)

1MoreFord said:


> If spritzing added moisture to food the pot roasts would have oceans of gravy inside them.
> 
> I also question the wisdom of a moist surface attracting smoke flavor.  If if does then why does it seem most everyone wants a dry pellicle surface on smoked fish?


I'm curious about the wet surface, too. I've always let my sausage get a bit "tacky" before smoking. I do the same with bacon.


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## noboundaries (Apr 13, 2020)

A pellicle is a surface protein formation that at its base is sticky, not wet, causing more smoke to adhere than a wet surface, and much more than a dry, non-pellicle surface.


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## Bearcarver (Apr 13, 2020)

smokeymose said:


> I'm curious about the wet surface, too. I've always let my sausage get a bit "tacky" before smoking. I do the same with bacon.




Yeah, I quit trying to figure out where they get a "Wet surface allows smoke to stick better than a Dry Surface".
I have found that Smoke sticks better to a Dry Surface than a Wet surface. That's why I put my roasts on a wire cooling rack in a pan, so Smoke can get all the way around the roast, and so the meat isn't sitting in any liquid. I want to smoke it, not make a stew out of it.
Pellicle is a different story. Pellicle makes it sticky---Not Wet !!
My 2 Piasters,

Bear


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## chopsaw (Apr 13, 2020)

My understanding  is  dry surface lets smoke into the meat , wet surface , all the smoke stays on the outside .


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## Winterrider (Apr 13, 2020)

chopsaw said:


> My understanding  is  dry surface lets smoke into the meat , wet surface , all the smoke stays on the outside .


This is what I gathered all the time also.


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## texomakid (Apr 13, 2020)

Actually I spritz upon occasion but I also do a majority of  my cooks with no spritz. I was guilty of over spritzing years ago & washed all the rub off of the ribs. When I do spritz, I do lightly and toward the end of the cook (Maybe the last 2 or 3 hours on a 6 hour rib smoke.) 
Unlike 

 tx smoker
 I prefer to drink my Bourbon although it does well in a few sauces & rouxs.


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## tx smoker (Apr 13, 2020)

texomakid said:


> Unlike
> 
> tx smoker
> 
> ...



Hey...you just stop that now   I do drink my bourbon (Booker's, Knob Creek, etc) but use that other stuff (Jack Daniel's) in my basting liquid. The "other stuff" is left here by a friend so it's fair game. If however you get within a hundred yards of my beloved Booker's with a can of coke, that's grounds for justifiable homicide 

Settin' the record straight,
Robert


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## Fueling Around (Apr 14, 2020)

I don't waste my time spritzing.

I use a chilled old fashioned glass to serve my finer liquors neat.


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## unlgrad2002 (Apr 14, 2020)

Dunstablegrizzly said:


> Ok I know I said I was trying the brisket this weekend but* I totally forgot it was Easter* so we do a spiral ham every Easter. I'll will push the brisket off until the following weekend.



You are not alone! Best wishes for the brisket!


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## gmc2003 (Apr 15, 2020)

Spritzing isn't going to add moisture to the meat your smoking. It will however aid in achieving a deeper smoke ring.  It does this by allowing the Nitrogen Dioxide to meet up with the meats Myoglobin and do their wild monkey dance a little longer. They longer they're allowed to dance the better the smoke ring. 

Chris


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## mike243 (Apr 15, 2020)

You every notice the moisture on top on your meat while its cooking? or not?  . most recipe's call for resting meat when removed from the heat to allow moisture to be reabsorbed, depending on the heat in the cooker it may reabsorbed before it has been taken off. I don't pull the membrane off the bottom of pork ribs in order to stop moisture leaching out of the bottom as easy. lot a ways and thoughts but a wet food will have more smoke cling to it imo.


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## Dunstablegrizzly (May 25, 2020)

Ok it's been a while since I started this thread and I mentioned I was going to do a brisket but work got extremely busy and I had to do a lot of work on the house so I didnt get the chance to do the brisket. But since its memorial day weekend and I took tuesday off becuase it's my daughters 18 birthday and also my birthday I decided to do the brisket today to cook through until tomorrow.  

I did trim just one spot that had a huge hard piece of fat by the seam which was just horrendous. but I left everything else untouched.  I rinsed the brisket and just seasoned it.  I did inject with beef broth becuase I noticed the brisket was select. I thought I purchased a choice. It was still very flexible.   

Placed on my 18.5 wsm fat side down at 12:40PM. I wont touch it until about 160 if I decide to wrap it. If not then it will go until about 190 then I will start to probe. WSM is running with empty water pan and I am gearing for 225 for about 18 hours or until probe tender.

Will keep posting throughout the cook.


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## Fueling Around (May 25, 2020)

Happy Birthday


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