OK so, it never came down from 300 for all the remaining mops. The egg does not respond well to opening it for mopping. It just takes off, and is impossible to slow down again. Yet, sometimes the biggest variable in briskets is your pride. Sometimes she wants to come off early. Fingering them is the best test. The finger test tells us when she is ready. I just got her off, 3 hours early. We shall see the full effect of getting her off early. Now this gives me more time for the beans and slaw. Anyone want to make the potato salad? Really. Why not? I'm not a big fan of Traeger when it comes to buying...but surely they don't have a fatal flaw wrt Brisket. do they? done <img src="https://sphotos-a-dfw.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/1176256_10201114930408948_1410620436_n.jpg" width=800>
yep yep, me too. Stump or custom. New Braunfels gave out blue prints of their smokers before they got bought out. I have one that only needs one adjustments...if the "wife" lets me.
No there is...you can see it in "Mop #1" picture (foil pan), which looks like grease in the last picture (glass) But yeah, water pan is a must in eggs and definitely in Colorado I'd like to chat with you sometime about your alternatives to the Egg.
Why are you mopping your brisket anyway? You want the outside to dry, that's how you get nice bark. You mop food that you cook to temp, like chicken. Ribs, pork butt, and brisket get moisture from the collagen and gelatin that's breaking down in the meat over time. Any moisture you add to the meat will be lost because you're cooking that hunk of meat well past 160 degrees (well done) to somewhere between 195 to 205. Basting a brisket disrupts that low, even temperature that causes that tough piece of meat to break down and soften up. So don't mop your brisket!
I agree, no need to baste because the fat on top should keep it moist unless you over cook it. Then again I have a huge water pan in my WSM so it keeps things nice and moist. Here is good video from Aaron Franklin for his show. There are things he isn't clear on because it's a TV show such as temperature. In the show he smokes at 225-250. At the restaurant he smokes at 325-350 because he's smoking much more meat. I like his butcher paper technique. Sometimes I use it at the end when the brisket is ready on the outside and not ready on the inside. <iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/VmTzdMHu5KU" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> <iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/sMIlyzRFUjU" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Brisket was fine. I'm happy, kinda.. But we can do better. Weird thing is it melted in your mouth and fell apart as desired. But it had no ring. That's an egg thing I guess, not same amount of wood/smoke used?? I need more data Oh and No. I'm simply not going to agree about no mop. Certainly not is Colorado. Arid and high altitude. Smoking is a completely different animal at 6000 feet up in arid dessert climate. I'm telling you, I have 250 briskets under my belt in Houston. Then I moved here and Mother Nature just redefined everything. When I say that I am fighting the fire box here, please understand I never fought a fire in Houston like I have to do here In Houston. Maybe you can tell me a mop is unnecessary. But not in boulder and I will counter with science to prove the power of mops regardless It's called the Law of Capilarity. As discovered by Escoffier We can call this a matter of taste. But leave at that
instead of water in the pan, try apple juice or coke. a simple substitution that can add a subtle sweetness to the meat.
The point was devoured in 5 minutes. It's gone. It's good, but not worhy of posting except to show others what a first run brisket on an egg might be. I get wired at first cut and lack of sleep so often dont remember to take pictures vs fockassing on slicing. My neighbor took the remaining flat home. I think I can post a picture of that. But warning. There is no ring. It's wierd I can't explain it. I would think no ring is impossible. That you'd have to try very hard to prevent it Kilns
Not having a ring is weird since it is caused by the carbon monoxide in the smoke. So as long you were using combustion, you should have a ring. Crazy Colorado.
Found some insight on your smoke ring problem. Maybe that is why my briskets always have a great smoke ring.
Awesome read, thx rockbox. I like to study the history of smoking meat. If you think about it, that article is actually explaining why humid states like Houston and Mississippi are successful smoking states I think you are right. I should have put the water pan in at Hour 1 I love this game. Teach me more
Oh, and further data my Oklahoma Joe has no problem with the ring here in colorado. So it's an egg issue that hopefully I can fix. It's going to be part more water and more wood. The lack of wood in the egg was always one of my skepticisms
I have cooked a lot of briskets in the egg and you should never mop it. Honestly, I don't think you should ever mop a brisket ever - not if you want a good bark. If you are worried about it not getting enough moisture you should fill the drip pan with with liquids. I usually fill the drip pan with a mixture of beer, apple juice and doctor pepper. Also, I marinade the brisket over night which helps keep the moisture in. But the egg is specifically designed to keep the meets moist anyway. The key to smoking a brisket on the egg is to leave it alone. I have a maverick remote thermometer so I can monitor the temperature without being there. It starts to beep if it gets too hot or too cold. Other than that I leave it alone and they have always turned out great. For your original question I usually use a mixture of apple and pecan or cherry and pecan. I only use cherry if I am out of apple.
I don't think that is your ring problem. You can get a nice ring with just charcoal. At least I have on an offset and now wsm
Smoke rings are purely a factor of time and temperature. Your smoker was either burning too high or it wasn't putting off enough nitrogen, so the meat didn't come into contact with sufficient nitrogen to create the ring before the brisket hit a temp of 140 degrees. After 140, you can't get a ring. You can fake a smoke ring with nitrates and no smoke, which is why competitive BBQ judges are trained not to judge for it (and also why pastrami is pink, the nitrates turn the whole brisket into a "smoke ring" during the pickling process). Amount of smoke is purely subjective. It doesn't take a ton of wood to impart a smoked flavor to the meat. Ceramic cookers are just different than stick-burners. The wood isn't your primary fuel source so you get good smoke flavor out of very little wood, and it's a much more sealed and insulated environment so you don't waste as much fuel or smoke as you do with offset pits. I can get great smoke flavor for chickens on my Weber kettle with a foil pack of wood chips for the same reason. If you're having problems keeping the fire stable, you could look into a PID-controlled forced air kit. They have computer controls that keep your fire rock steady by pulsing an electric fan and monitoring the fire temperature with a electric probe. This may overcome many of your altitude problems.
I know you didnt ask me, but I still prefer pecan for my smoking...I have tried apple a few times and thought it worked well also. I'm old school tho...forget all these newfangled "pits", aint nothing does long-term smoking better than one of these.
Just an FYI for you swampers, here in the Hill Country, the heart of Texas BBQ, it's called "sop" not "mop".
I find it very difficult to regulate temperature on an offset. I like actually sleep when I make brisket. I don't want to check on it in the middle of the night. My weber allows me to set and forget.
