Texsox Posted January 3, 2021 Share Posted January 3, 2021 I passed along my big offset smoker, I just wasn't enjoying 14 hour brisket cooks anymore. But, I still enjoy some Central Texas style brisket. I picked up a Weber Smokey Mountain a couple months ago and I'm really pleased with how simple and easy it is and I'm getting good results. I put on a small brisket, just the flat, around 4:30 this morning and went back to sleep for a few hours. It took about six hours at 250 to get to 170 when I wrap the brisket in pink butcher paper ala Aaron Franklin. I just took it off the smoker about an hour ago when it hit 203 degrees and felt squishy. Now it's resting in a cooler inside an insulated bag. The bark looked great when I wrapped it. I'm using a slightly different seasoning blend. I have close family coming in an hour so I'm hoping it tastes as good as it looks. The WSM maintains heat very steady and responds smoothly to changes in the vent. I filled the basket with unlit charcoal and post oak then dumped about a dozen lit coals on top. I didn't have to add any for an almost 9 hour cook. It did seem to take a while to get up to temperature today. I assume mostly because it was hovering near freezing when I started. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
he gone. Posted January 4, 2021 Share Posted January 4, 2021 19 hours ago, Texsox said: I passed along my big offset smoker, I just wasn't enjoying 14 hour brisket cooks anymore. But, I still enjoy some Central Texas style brisket. I picked up a Weber Smokey Mountain a couple months ago and I'm really pleased with how simple and easy it is and I'm getting good results. I put on a small brisket, just the flat, around 4:30 this morning and went back to sleep for a few hours. It took about six hours at 250 to get to 170 when I wrap the brisket in pink butcher paper ala Aaron Franklin. I just took it off the smoker about an hour ago when it hit 203 degrees and felt squishy. Now it's resting in a cooler inside an insulated bag. The bark looked great when I wrapped it. I'm using a slightly different seasoning blend. I have close family coming in an hour so I'm hoping it tastes as good as it looks. The WSM maintains heat very steady and responds smoothly to changes in the vent. I filled the basket with unlit charcoal and post oak then dumped about a dozen lit coals on top. I didn't have to add any for an almost 9 hour cook. It did seem to take a while to get up to temperature today. I assume mostly because it was hovering near freezing when I started. I've had the Weber going back to 2012? I think. Ol' trusty. When i lived down in houston i became friendly with a few of the pitmasters down there just out of curiosity. They were all super friendly ... basically just said do you mind if i swing by and just learn a bit ... they all said yes. Turned out i was getting some of the better advice. Guy now runs Pinkertons BBQ in Houston and San Antonio and the other guy runs Feges BBQ with his wife. Former pitmaster at Killen's. That community is super nice - actually at the Windy City Smokeout Feges was there and invited me to go hang out with Rodney Scott. So we sat and did some bbq with them that day. (if anybody knows anything about BBQ community Rodney Scott is in the top tier, Pinkertons may make a run as the top bbq spot in TX this upcoming period & Feges cranks out some of the best and more creative BBQ out there) Long story short the advice i kept getting was super simple - make sure your fire is good and steady. That's the key to the whole thing. Don't let it bounce from 220 to 240 to 230 to 240 and back to 220. A consistent fire from the beginning is the biggest key. After that they said to source meat well & to trim well. Trimming a brisket to keep it even is huge. Also keep it simple with the rubs and let the meat do the talking. Finally - the meat is done when its done. Which to me was just yogi berra talk -- I need a temp!! -- but in a yoda like fashion, now i dont use a thermometer on my briskets - all by feel. I just kind of push down on the fat (fat side up) of the brisket and when it bounces back like jello then it should be pretty good. After about a decade of briskets i can say confidently that i would put mine up against any restaurant (in chicago) outside of Green Street Smoked Meats in the West Loop. my rubs are just coarse salt 50%, coarse pepper 40%, and coffee 10%. My keys: all of what they said above, also let the brisket rest for about 1-2 hours in a blanket inside a cooler. Also never pre-slice a brisket.. Wait until you're going to serve. Brisket dries out so easily - which is why it's so hard to serve in a restaurant Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Texsox Posted January 5, 2021 Author Share Posted January 5, 2021 In Franklin's book he spends a couple pages just on cutting for serving. When I was travelling more for work I would keep the Texas Monthly rankings in my truck and plan my route around visiting some of their small town picks. Pinkerton's is near the top of my list to visit when they get opened here. I haven't tried that much coffee in my rub. This time I tried some of Fiesta's Uncle Chris Steak Seasoning which was an interesting twist. But course salt and pepper and a dash or two of coffee is my usual go to. One issue with the WSM is being just 17" I'm kind of maxing out with about a six or seven pound brisket. I do miss my offset where I would put in six 12 pounders. I had a few neighbors that would bring me theirs when they knew I was going to be cooking brisket. This one was just the flat which is a challenge. Plus the butcher had over trimmed it. I'm still a bit of a slave to my thermopro. Who can resists bluetooth cook gear? I'll adjust when I wrap from about 165 to 170. If it stalls at 165 or so I'll let it run out a little before wrapping. Then I start checking when to pull it off at 203 or so. There was a rib joint near one of my customers on the south side that I would stop at back in the mid 90s. He didn't have much indoor seating but folks would be sitting on hoods of cars eating. And those cars ranged from barely running to showroom Mercedes. I wish I could remember the name of the place. He's probably retired by now but I hope someone kept it going. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
he gone. Posted January 5, 2021 Share Posted January 5, 2021 The Texas Monthly rankings ... love that issue. Pinkertons has really rose to fame once he made that list. When I met him he was just a food truck outside a bar right near my apartment. Not sure if you still live in Texas or not, but those BBQ festivals are an awesome way to knock off all these places. I usually can't eat brisket or bbq for like a month afterwards, but the ability to try the top places back to back to back is awesome. I probably knocked off 20 or so of the top 50 at this point. Some of my favorites -- majority are going to be in Houston since that's where i lived.... Willows*, Truth, Feges, Pinkertons, Killens, Henderson & Kane/El Burro & Bull*, Louie Mueller*, Blood Bros, La Barebecue, Pecan Lodge Ya, that smaller WSM is tough for bigger cuts of meat. I went with the 23" or thereabouts - whatever that bigger size model is. Can usually fit a well trimmed 13-14lb brisket on. All this BBQ talk is making me hungry... ha. Actually headed down to houston in a few weeks & going to do a mini BBQ crawl around the Heights. Looking forward to it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Texsox Posted January 6, 2021 Author Share Posted January 6, 2021 My daughter lives in the heights, I'm in San Antonio. Franklin started with a food truck as well. I think you'll relate to this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.