I have been using the HNF method in my WSM for some time now for briskets, with no water in the pan (just a wrapped clay saucer). Out of curiosity more than anything else, on Saturday I decided to actually use water in the pan and to cook at a lower target temperature.
Seasoned a Choice 12# trimmed weight brisket with SPOG and put it on about 9 AM. Water pan was full of hot water. Had a packed out ring of KBB, and used the "coffee can in the middle" Minion method, with 3 or 4 nice chunks of Hickory. The WSM seemed to settle in between 250 and 265, which was fine by me.
One thing I encountered was that the temps started crashing in the early afternoon. That seemed strange, as the 22" WSM is supposed to go many hours on a full ring of fuels. I ended up adding about 15 briquettes and then about 15 additional lit. Had to give it all a good stir a few times during the course of the afternoon. Also, opened up the bottom vents from mostly closed to at least halfway open. My take on all of that is that the 22" just doesn't like to run in the lower temps. Another factor might be to use a different charcoal, maybe something that doesn't ash over so much. Any suggestions would be welcome.
I wrapped it in butcher paper at about 3:00 and took it off at about 6:30 or so. It probed pretty well (a few resistant spots) and average temps were 203-ish. I let it sit on the counter unwrapped for about 20 minutes, then wrapped it tight in foil for about 45 minutes.
Results? A nice moist brisket all the way through, even in the flat! Good flavor profile, although I had used pure ground black pepper in the SPOG instead of my customary coarse ground, and I didn't like that quite as much. Problem: it just wouldn't slice. In other words, had to shred and chop. I have always heard that if it is moist and won't slice then it was over-cooked. What I am thinking is that it was not overcooked in the smoker; rather, I foil wrapped it on the counter when it was still too hot and that effectively was the reason it "over-cooked". I probably won't do that again.
So, I think next time I may keep it in the same target temp range, use water, and open up the bottom vents some before the charcoals go so dormant. Also, will either not wrap the brisket on the counter, or let it cool down much more and then wrap it for a few hours in a faux cambro.
Seasoned a Choice 12# trimmed weight brisket with SPOG and put it on about 9 AM. Water pan was full of hot water. Had a packed out ring of KBB, and used the "coffee can in the middle" Minion method, with 3 or 4 nice chunks of Hickory. The WSM seemed to settle in between 250 and 265, which was fine by me.
One thing I encountered was that the temps started crashing in the early afternoon. That seemed strange, as the 22" WSM is supposed to go many hours on a full ring of fuels. I ended up adding about 15 briquettes and then about 15 additional lit. Had to give it all a good stir a few times during the course of the afternoon. Also, opened up the bottom vents from mostly closed to at least halfway open. My take on all of that is that the 22" just doesn't like to run in the lower temps. Another factor might be to use a different charcoal, maybe something that doesn't ash over so much. Any suggestions would be welcome.
I wrapped it in butcher paper at about 3:00 and took it off at about 6:30 or so. It probed pretty well (a few resistant spots) and average temps were 203-ish. I let it sit on the counter unwrapped for about 20 minutes, then wrapped it tight in foil for about 45 minutes.
Results? A nice moist brisket all the way through, even in the flat! Good flavor profile, although I had used pure ground black pepper in the SPOG instead of my customary coarse ground, and I didn't like that quite as much. Problem: it just wouldn't slice. In other words, had to shred and chop. I have always heard that if it is moist and won't slice then it was over-cooked. What I am thinking is that it was not overcooked in the smoker; rather, I foil wrapped it on the counter when it was still too hot and that effectively was the reason it "over-cooked". I probably won't do that again.
So, I think next time I may keep it in the same target temp range, use water, and open up the bottom vents some before the charcoals go so dormant. Also, will either not wrap the brisket on the counter, or let it cool down much more and then wrap it for a few hours in a faux cambro.
