Hello, new to smoking wsm 22 so so brisket

[Gixxersixxerman]

Hi guys, I’ve always had this want to smoke up brisket. Born and raised in Texas it was common to have bbq all the time with family. Life happened and I moved all over the US. When my grandpa passed almost 2 years ago, I went back to Texas for the funeral. Once there I had to have some good old fashion Texas bbq again. Since then I just wanted my own setup to smoke brisket. Couple weeks ago I spent the money bought a new WSM 22 and some wood chunks and some other tools like long brisket knife and cutting board, injection, rub and such. Hell we even bought a food saver and 7cuft deep freezer lol.

I have been watching hours of YouTube and decided to smoke some ribs and a tri tip first since my fiancé doesn’t do much pork. Ribs came out great after about 3 hours of smoking. The WSM stayed at a steady 250ish the whole time. Once the ribs came off I wrapped and then after cooking for a hour I added the tri tip and smoked it for about a hour until 125*. Both came off and onto my gas grill for searing. Both came out amazing for us. Best tri tip I’ve ever made, ribs were really good also. Slightly dry maybe and a pinch to much rub I think, but otherwise really good. I was happy how the meat came out and how the smoker worked.


Now to what I’ve been waiting for. I bought a nice prime brisket from Costco. I know it’s not a snake river farms that every YT person seems to buy but I didn’t want to mess up a 200$ brisket.. and thank god.. because my brisket is more pot roast then brisket lol. I started it about 11 o’clock last night, got up every 2 hours to spray to keep moist. Used 1 bag of Kingsford blue and 2 chunks of cherry 2 chunks of pecan. It was “cold” and windy here in Vegas, showing 41* and 21 mph gusts. The smoker temp read 210* my grate level digital temp showed 275* but is about 20* off from tests. I probably should’ve pulled it off around 5 am, but thought a 17# brisket should cook longer from what I seen at those temps. Around 7 I pulled it as the temps really never changed. I wrapped in foil and put it in my oven at 250. I did add a can of beef broth. Also I did inject it and now I see some claim that can give it a more roast flavor/texture. After about 4 hours it was around 190* the thin part of the flat was stupid probe tender, the point the same, but the thicker part was not that tender at all.. not hard, just not what it should be from what I’ve watch. About another hour it hit 200 and I felt it was tender enough. I pulled it out the oven, cut open the foil and let it rest for 2 hours.

Finally can cut into it.. and it pretty much fell apart. The middle was ok, but no way it would pass any laying it over the finger test, it just falls apart. The flavor is amazing. But the texture not so much. The burnt ends seem to be nice and juicy. I think I left slightly to much fat on the fat cap. Over all I’d say a 4 out of 10 brisket. Though luckily it taste great. On the way tomorrow to buy another brisket lol, probably will cook it weekend after next and do it during the day.. but yeah... disappointed in the texture. I never took pictures of the finished product. Just cut it up and put it in bags to warm up when the other half gets home here in a hour.. smoke ring is ok too. Just failed over all.

TL;DR, bought my first smoker, made great ribs and tri tip. Not so great brisket.... too excited about this stuff and no one to talk to locally that I know so I ramble to much... sorry

 

[mike243]

Looks like you should have left it on the smoker as it should have been on there another 6-7 hrs or so,looks like you steamed it when adding foil and broth and unless you cut all the fat off of it spritzing wasn't needed imo and just slowed down cooking. Did you use water in the pan? you will get it figured out to get the best results testing is fun and repeatability is what you want to shoot for. Change 1 thing at a time to see how it affects your cooks because when you change a bunch of stuff you really wont know what is working and whats not,that 22 will hold a lot of food so throw some potatoes' on there next time and make some smoked tater salad lol

 

[Zevon668]

Tri tip looks great! Brisket on a WSM is an excerise in patience. I run with no water and lump, trying not to wrap unless bark gets to dark. Had to learn not to watch temps, and pull when it “probes like butter”, also had to learn what that meant! Keep doing research and experimenting, this forum is an awesome resource.

 

[Gixxersixxerman]

I did not use any water in the pan. I follow Harry Soo, idk if it’s his personality or what but like the guy. So I follow more of his cooking method then any other YT channel. That said I do watch a ton of them and try to mash them together some.

I really thought that putting it on at 10-11 pm.. I think it was closer to 10. And around 5 am it was reading 150*ish. At 730 it was still around the same, 157 in some areas, I thought that was “the stall” and why I pulled it. I guess I though almost 10 hours of smoking it was good. That it had to go in foil... I did just order a roll of butcher/peach paper. My next one I plan on just rub and not injecting. Doing it when it’s a little warmer and not windy. And during the day when I can keep a eye on it better. I’ve learned a lot just reading through these forums and on YouTube. Thanks

 

[Steve S]

How much charcoal did you have left when you checked in the am?

 

[Gixxersixxerman]

How much charcoal did you have left when you checked in the am?

At 5am it was starting to drop temp, I opened the vents and went back to sleep. When I went to check on it and pull it, it was right around 180 on the smoker temp gauge, my grate level probe showed 240, and I believe it reads about 20* high. The charcoal was just about done then. I believe it being as cold as it was and windy it didn’t last no where near what it did when I smoked the ribs and tri tip running it about 6 hours and still pulled half or more charcoal out.. I started with a fresh bag just in case.

 

[Monkey Uncle]

My opinion: start simple, and once you nail it that way, then you can start fiddling with things.

Salt and pepper, cook unwrapped at 250 until the thick part of the flat probes tender. Rest uncovered for 20-30 minutes, then slice and serve. The whole process will probably take 14 - 15 hrs or so for a full packer, but the taste and texture will be perfect and it will have great bark.

I've never progressed beyond this basic method because I like the results. I know lots of people cook hot and wrap so that it finishes faster, but I've never felt a need to do that. Yes, you can get great results that way, but it's more difficult to get it right.

 

[Steve S]

My WSM likes to run between 275 and 300. There's no reason to spend 12 hours cooking a brisket unless you want to. 4 hours +/- to get the color, wrap and cook for a couple more hours until it probes how you want, then rest.

 

[Cook]

My last one took around nine hours in the WSM, didn't wrap until it was done. I slept while it cooked...that was about the first seven hours...then opened all the vents and let it finish. "Finished" to me is probe tender in the thickest part of the flat. Wrapped it and let it rest for another seven hours or so. Perfect results...and will be every time

EDIT...oh yeah...nothing but S&P.

 

[SmokinAussie]

I do run water in the WSM but I use a really hard and long burning lump charcoal called mallee root. Maybe charcoal made from mesquite might be close... But anyway agree with most of the above. Run the WSM at 280-300. Don't wrap, don't spritz and just leave it alone for as long as possible. Perhaps a little hard to do in your weather conditions but finishing it in the oven definitely didn't help.

Good luck with the next one.

Cheers!

 

[EyeBurnEverything]

My advice is this. Plan for at least 12 hours, if its done before then, let it rest in a well insulated cooler. The brisket and the people eating it will thank you.

 

[Gixxersixxerman]

Thank you guys so very much for the advice. It’s great to get personalized feedback. My next smoke I’ll just let it smoke until it’s done. I’ll also try just S&P instead of the moola beef rub I used.