Trying another no wrap brisket

[chashint]

11# choice packer.
Trimmed it up and seasoned with salt, pepper, garlic powder, & onion powder.
Let it rest wrapped in butcher paper on the counter for about an hour.
Put it on the grill just a little while ago.
Using oak chunks in foil bags for my smoke.

[limey]

Nice looking brisket. Like the simple rub.

[chashint]

07:00 update.
Woke up at 3:00 and checked the cook.
Grill running at 250 F, meat at 167 F.
Refilled the water tray and lowered the burner just a bit.
Between 3:00 - 7:00 the grill ran 225 - 240 F.
Meat still at 167 F.
Nothing to do but wait it out.

[chashint]

Saw water and oil pooling around the casters of the grill.
Popped the hood and the water tray it was almost empty.
Turns out it sprung some pin hole leaks.
Grill clean up is usually real easy but the water leak overflowed the grease catcher so I will have to scrub the cart section down real good.
Replaced the tray and filled with tap water.
Grill has recovered and is running stable at 230 - 240 F depending on the wind.
The meat is at 181 F.

[chashint]

Well the flat never really probed like butter.
Maybe I should have stuck with it a little longer but I pulled it at 205 F.
Cook time was 15 hours, grill never got over 250 F.
I sampled the thin end of the flat and it's a little dry.
Tender and tasty but not succulent melt in you mouth goodness.
Oh well it's only the family, right?

[Boots]

Chas, perhaps I can help. Two suggestions to make more juicy:

1. If you have a burner on directly under the brisket, turn it off if you can and use the other burners only to maintain about 225. If they can't maintain temp, only then turn on the burner under yer brisket, and only enough to maintain temp. This eliminates direct heat and contributes to convection.

2. You can also try putting yer brisket fat side down in a cheap aluminum roasting pan after rubbing, then pour in 1 Shiner Bock around it to make a shallow pool. Cook as before, flipping fat side up halfway through. Over the cook, the renderings plus the Bock may build up a bit, no worries unless they dry up and start to carbonize. If so, add water sparingly to maintain the shallow pool.

If you try this and it works, let me know. Buena Suerte.

[chashint]

Thanks for the suggestions.
Only the far left burner was used so no direct heat under the brisket.

After resting in the cooler wrapped in parchment paper it was not as dry as I thought it was going to be, just not up to my expectations.
You know how it is, anything less than BBQ perfection just bugs the cook (or maybe it just bugs me when I am the cook).

There were five of us for dinner and I don't have very much left over so the family liked it plenty good.

[chashint]

First brisket on the 22" WSM.
It went in the cooker Friday night ~11:00.
250 degrees cooker temperature achieved at ~12:20 am.
Saturday ~1020 am, the meat temp just hit 180, this is the first peek inside since the cook started.
The brisket still has a little ways to go, but looking pretty ok.
At ~10:45 the meat temp is 187, probes like warm butter, the brisket feels real loose when I picked it up, double wrapped in foil and into the cooler to rest.
We have not eaten any yet, but I have high expectations.
Here is the update on the eating.........oh my this is very good.
If I want to nitpick, it is very slightly over cooked but we are talking about the very finer nuances of brisket cooking.

Additional info....
The brisket was trimmed and seasoned with kosher salt, black pepper, onion powder, and garlic powder right before the cook.
My target temp for the cook was 250, hi/lo alarms set for 265/235 on the Maverick thermometer.
Water pan foiled, no water or heat sink.
Top vent full open 100% of the time.
Minion method to light charcoal, full fire ring of briquettes, ~20-30 lit briquettes poured on top, 5 big fist size chunks of oak placed on top of lit coals.
Meat went into the smoker as soon as the lit coals and smoking wood went on.
Monitored the temperature on the grill with the Maverick and at 225 I closed one intake completely, at 235 I closed the second intake completely and the third intake was closed to ~40%, at 245 the intake was closed to ~25% and the cooker seemed to be settled at 250.
Over temp alarm woke me up ~2:30 am, the temp was 267 by the time I checked so I closed the intake to ~10%, saw the temp go down 4 degrees and went back to bed, I didn't wait to see where the temp stabilized.
Woke up at 5am and checked cooker while I was up, temp 244.
Meat temp alarm (160) woke me up at 8, decided not to foil the brisket and reset alarm to 180, the WSM was running at 257 and I closed the vent so it was open just a crack and with the sun hitting the WSM it settled at 253.
Everything stayed that way for the rest of the cook.


After opening the cooker to get the meat off it is running 282, I may leave it and see how long of a burn is possible.

[chashint]

A 12 pounder on the WSM.
Lo & slow, no wrap.
Tasty, moist, & tender.
The cherry is a milder flavor than the oak I usually use.


Cherry brisket 11-8-14 by chashint1, on Flickr


Cherry brisket 2 by chashint1, on Flickr


Cherry brisket 3 by chashint1, on Flickr


Cherry brisket 4 by chashint1, on Flickr