July 4th Food

[unkoricky]

What yall cooking/smoking this weekend through July 4th.

I wanna try smoking some brisket again cause the last i did it on smoker, it didnt turn out so well.. I've done brisket 3 times and for some reason it came out over too hard to chew and not juicy.


Every grocery store is having a sale, i just grabbed some ribeye steaks from Tom Thumb for 5.49/lb.. i'm going man vs food and gonna try to finish a 2lb steak tonight

[Silverback]

if your brisket is coming out chewy and dry, then you can try a couple of things.

first, make sure you leave the fat cap on it, and cook it fat side up, in a foil pan to collect the fat

second, put a water pan in the firebox area to create moisture.

third, wrap the brisket in foil after 3-4 hours, you really aren't absorbing anymore smoke flavor at this point.

[unkoricky]

third, wrap the brisket in foil after 3-4 hours, you really aren't absorbing anymore smoke flavor at this point.

I did everything you listed except this. I've been experimenting with small 2lb briskets and i'll usually let them sit for about 30 minutes and we'll have it for dinner.

Do you brine your brisket? I saw one of the judges on pitmaster saying he does it.

[BradM]

What temp are you bringing them to? What was the problem with the last one? Dried out, tough?

[mstng86]

you sure you're not cooking it too fast?

[unkoricky]

What temp are you bringing them to? What was the problem with the last one? Dried out, tough?

It was a dried out.Cooked it to about 165.

I think i just cooked it too fast. I couldnt maintain it at 225 for some reason that day. It would go below 190 and i'd try to bring the heat back and it'd end up at 300.
I wanna blame the weather that day but i dont think it was a factor LOL.

[BradM]

Dude, you gotta cook it to 195-205ish.

[Silverback]

ask a group of people and you'll get 20 different responses.

200-225 is where 90% of competition BBQ'ers cook for low and slow BBQ. You can cook at 300, and I've done it, the key with cooking at that temp is smoke 2 hours plain, then wrap in foil and continue cooking for 2 hours (or until it hits 180-185 degrees), then place in a cooler with no ice, wrap the foiled brisket in towels to keep warm, let it sit for two hours.

This of course is with a 7-10 pound brisket. For a 2 pounder it shouldn't take but a few hours to smoke that thing at 200-225 starting at room temp.

[unkoricky]

Dude, you gotta cook it to 195-205ish.

I'm screwing up somewhere.

I've always been cooking it to 165, wrapping it and letting it sit 30-45 minutes and serving. The other times i've done this, my brisket has been fine.

[Silverback]

you also don't want to pull a brisket off at 165, no wonder it's chewy. That thing needs to get to 185-200 degrees to continue breaking down the meat.

[BradM]

ask a group of people and you'll get 20 different responses.

200-225 is where 90% of competition BBQ'ers cook for low and slow BBQ. You can cook at 300, and I've done it, the key with cooking at that temp is smoke 2 hours plain, then wrap in foil and continue cooking for 2 hours (or until it hits 180-185 degrees), then place in a cooler with no ice, wrap the foiled brisket in towels to keep warm, let it sit for two hours.

This of course is with a 7-10 pound brisket. For a 2 pounder it shouldn't take but a few hours to smoke that thing at 200-225 starting at room temp.

I cook to 195 and throw it in the cooler for an hour. I guess I should have explained that better. But 165 I would say is way too early to pull. I agree that the smoker temp doesn't matter as much as when you're cooking ribs.

[unkoricky]

you also don't want to pull a brisket off at 165, no wonder it's chewy. That thing needs to get to 185-200 degrees to continue breaking down the meat.

Thanks for the info.

[Silverback]

truth is for most BBQ you want to "overcook" it. 170 is considered Well-done in the beef world, and I wouldn't even think of pulling a brisket at that.

for pork, "safe" is 140, well is 160, and i wouldn't pull a pork butt til 190-215

ribs are tricky, because what i enjoy is a very overcooked rib, pulling well off the bone, and falling off. by competition standards this is too overcooked and unacceptable. I don't even check temp on my ribs, i just let them cook wrapped in foil, and check them until i see plenty of bone on the ends.

[mstng86]

anyone know of a good price on brisket?

[unkoricky]

truth is for most BBQ you want to "overcook" it. 170 is considered Well-done in the beef world, and I wouldn't even think of pulling a brisket at that.

I think thats where i got mixed up. Since i feel so new to all this, i'll use a chart with meat temperatures and when to pull it.