Franklin Bbq brisket take 2

All I can say is I ate at Franklins for lunch today and it was great. So sounds like yours is very good as well. Just need a sample to do the comparison. Looks great Sir!
 
I got Franklin's book a while back. I like his approach to brisket. I use a lot of store bought coarse pepper (fresh ground is too strong) and wrap in pink butcher paper. Works like a charm.
 
I'm still afraid hot and fast is not going to give enough smoke taste for me liking.

I guess if you are cooking with straight wood only on a stick burner like Franklin does that it still taste amazing but in an insulated vertical cabinet I just believe that more low and slow will give it the smoke taste I'm looking for.

How can Franklin cook that high and keep a brisket on for 11-12 hours like he's said in so many vids I've watched of him, and not over shoot the temps??

I also read somewhere here that he put in his book that he lets the briskets rest for almost 10 to 11 hours before serving them at lunch?
 
Big Swole said:
I'm still afraid hot and fast is not going to give enough smoke taste for me liking.

I guess if you are cooking with straight wood only on a stick burner like Franklin does that it still taste amazing but in an insulated vertical cabinet I just believe that more low and slow will give it the smoke taste I'm looking for.

How can Franklin cook that high and keep a brisket on for 11-12 hours like he's said in so many vids I've watched of him, and not over shoot the temps??

I also read somewhere here that he put in his book that he lets the briskets rest for almost 10 to 11 hours before serving them at lunch?
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When I do hot and fast I throw on a greenish stick every know and then. That should help with the smoke flavor.

A long hold is what a lot of tx bbq joints do.
 
I pattern all my briskets after Aaron's method-s&p wrapped in butcher paper although I cook hotter and with KB instead of wood. They always turn out great. I live about 4 hours from the office but normally work from home. Last Thursday night I threw a packer and butt on the uds around 8:00 PM. I wrapped the both of them around 4:00 AM and the butt was done at that time so I put it in the cooler. I meant to get up at 5 or so to check on the brisket but it was pouring rain and I couldn't seem to get out of bed. At 6:30 I woke up and freaked out because I over slept. I ran out and checked the brisket and it was hard looking and at 178 degrees and the drum was at 155. I quick threw it in some foil and in the oven for an hour or so. I then covered it up real good in a cooler and headed to KC. It rested until noon and it returned out awesome. It must have gotten hot enough and then cooled down when the rain came. I guess the moral of the story is that brisket is has a fairly high margin of error.
 
The smoke taste is going to be subjective and it doesn't matter what cooker you use. You can use a true stick burner with a clean fire and get less smoke than someone using a dirty fire in a WSM. The other side of it will be someone like me that wants to taste a hint of smoke taste along with my beef flavor compared to someone who likes a hint of beef with their smoke.

My roommate loved smoke. I loved meat. He burnt me out on BBQ.
 
THoey1963 said:
The smoke taste is going to be subjective and it doesn't matter what cooker you use. You can use a true stick burner with a clean fire and get less smoke than someone using a dirty fire in a WSM. The other side of it will be someone like me that wants to taste a hint of smoke taste along with my beef flavor compared to someone who likes a hint of beef with their smoke.

My roommate loved smoke. I loved meat. He burnt me out on BBQ.
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I will have to say my new smoker burns extremely clean that the smoke flavor is in the background and the meat flavor is front and center. This is even true when burning all mesquite I get a very mild smoke. On the positive side my wife prefers a delicate hint of smoke, I like it either way.
 
Well I just think that if we're gonna spend all the money on expensive "smokers" and time smoking them with wood, that we should taste some good smoke flavor.

Maybe I'm weird. lol
I just love smelling and tasting the good smoke flavor ALONG with the meat.
 
I put the wood chunks on the bottom of the basket and then put the charcoal on top of it. I am not sure it makes a difference, but it seems to give a better smoke flavor than when they where on top of the charcoal.

I do freeze the other briskets. I have not noticed any difference in them from not frozen.
 
Kaptain Kadian said:
I put the wood chunks on the bottom of the basket and then put the charcoal on top of it. I am not sure it makes a difference, but it seems to give a better smoke flavor than when they where on top of the charcoal.
.
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Interesting...I'll have to get that a try and see. Thx
 
I just wrapped up Franklin's book for the first time today. I've watched his BBQ with Franklin videos, seasons (1&2) a couple times so I feel like I'm pretty worn out on what he has divulged in media. In his book and videos he cooks at 250-275 (275 he says is his go to temp and he varies from there depending on conditions for the day). In season two (episode "the smoker") he did a single brisket on a smallish Old Country pit. He has the cook chamber at 250 and adds a water bowl to the firebox side of the chamber. In season one episode one "the wrap test" he has three briskets in a large trailer pit he built at 275. In his book he mentions that he always uses a water pan in his cooks. I haven't seen water in his pits at Franklin BBQ, but that doesn't mean they aren't under the grates or way up against the firebox side of the cook chamber. His belief is that the gaseous particles of smoke adhere best to a moist surface, and that in turn produces better flavor and bark. According to his belief, a dry surface won't take on the characteristics of an environment like a moist surface would. Makes sense to me. He says he doesn't open the cook chamber for the first three hours, then after that he's adding moisture to the surface by way of a water pan, or spritzing with water, vinegar, juice, etc.

A few other things stood out to me about his book. He spends a long time describing wood. The seasoning, the burn characteristics of each wood, and the flavor profiles of the woods. After all this, he mentions something even more important to him than wood type, and that is burn quality. He is adamant that the flavor type of wood has negligible effect on the meat when compared to the importance of burn quality coming from the firebox. He mentions that part of the reason he sprays during the cook is to wash off any large particulates on the meat resulting from any dirty smoke.

He definitely throws out mixed messages in terms of cook time. He uses 8-10 hour timeframes when talking about the home cook and brisket, but also says sixty to seventy five minutes per pound. That doesn't add up if you're cooking a ten plus pound brisket (unless he's done the math and factored in lost weight from reduction during a cook (which I wouldn't put past him. He seems like a clever dude)).

All in all I find him passionate and professional about cooking. I feel he gets legitimate pleasure from his craft and is more than willing to share what he's learned with anyone willing to listen. He's proven that he can make a phenomenal brisket (and I genuinely feel like he wants us to be able to do it do), but mass producing quality and consistency on a daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly basis is another beast entirely. It's this reason alone that I get the impression that he doesn't mind giving out legitimate knowledge.

Wow that was way longer than I anticipated
 
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