Occasionally, I have briskets that come out with a very hard, crispy bark that is honestly inedible (very bitter taste). This doesn't cover the entire brisket, but I would say maybe less than 5% most of the time, and sometimes half of the bottom layer of brisket as it sits on the grate. I smoke around 70 briskets per year, and I would say this occurs on roughly 1/3 of them. This only happens when I don't use the "Texas crutch", but when I let the briskets 'smoke' all the way thru to completion. I prefer not wrapping in foil on the smoker, as it seems to steam the brisket and make it more like pot roast.

I've tried fat side up, fat side down, water in the bottom of the pit, no water in the pit, removing brown sugar from my rub, and several different types of wood. The next thing I will try will be to flip the brisket half way through the process. I've also read some of you mention that you wrap the brisket in wax paper or something of that sort to let the brisket breathe, but insulate it from the heat somewhat. Thought I would come on here to see if there are any other suggestions or if any of you have had this problem.

I have noticed that it seems to be more prevalent on the briskets that are placed closer to the flame (I typically smoke 5-10 at a time), so this leads me to believe it is related to the higher heat at one end. I aim for 225 for my smoking temperature, but with no reverse flow, and varying temperatures, that means 225 at one end, and 275 at the other. However, I've read that Kreuz Market smokes their briskets uncovered at something like 400, so that confuses me, as well.

I appreciate any suggestions if you have any.

Just a guess, smoke is bitter....the heat closer to the fire is searing smoke to meat

Brown butcher paper is the paper people use.

If you're getting a bitter taste then you aren't burning a clean fire. All you should see coming out of your stack is a thin blue smoke. If you've got a lot of thick, white smoke then you are choking you're fire and that's where bitterness comes from.

Also, the hard bark is a result of cooking too hot. You have to remember that the temperature at grate level (where the brisket is) varies +\- 50 degrees. So, if you think you're cooking at 225 by going off of your temperature gauge reading, you are actually cooking closer to 275.

My suggestion would be to swap your briskets around during cooks so that the same brisket doesn't stay closest to the fire box the entire cook. Wrapping in butcher paper once you have the color/bark you want will also help with this. And, unlike foil, you don't end up with a pot roast flavor/texture.

How long are you sweating/resting it? I noticed my bark softens up when I toss my briskets in an ice chest for 30min or so and I don't have near as much inedible bark nowadays.

Thanks for the replies. AustinAg, my smoke stays pretty clean. It gets a little dirty sometimes when I throw a new log on, but I don't know of a way to keep that from happening other than getting a side fire going for coals. Think I'll try the butcher paper.

EagleFord, I'm typically resting them overnight in a cooler. I do this because I'm typically smoking for an event the following day, so I cook them the day before and keep them at temperature. I agree that it does moisten them up considerably.

My guess is the uneatable part is where the drip is occurring, and the higher heat is searing that drip point making it bitter

That is a good point DeWrecking Crew, and would be consistent with what I am seeing. The good news is I am talking about not much that has to be trimmed off, and the rest is very good by my standards, but I hate to throw anything away.

Pre-burning your wood, separately, will work very well - that, or knocking the bark off the wood, but pre burning is easiest.

No idea about brisket, per se, but it's improved what I smoke.

There is a method in some old cookbooks I have, from the 20s, which talk about wrapping a roast in brown paper, after covering it with either rock salt, or sugar. Rock salt might be very tasty.

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There is a method in some old cookbooks I have, from the 20s, which talk about wrapping a roast in brown paper, after covering it with either rock salt, or sugar. Rock salt might be very tasty.

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A very experienced cooker I know covers his brisket with Big Red soda before wrapping. Tastes awesome.

Bitterness is generally a sign that the wood has not seasoned long enough.


Couple of things I do is, I always mix a fruitwood (preferably apple) with my flavor woods. I also pour a half gallon of apple juice in my water pan. My water pan hold 5 gallons so I use 4-1/2 gal water and 1/2 gallon of Apple Juice.

Always fat side up, never wrapped in anything, and 225-250 degrees period. Flash cooking brisket is a waste of good meat.

Don't get me wrong, the briskets are not bitter...they have great flavor. I'm only talking about small parts of the bark on the corners and sometimes the bottom of the brisket that get hard as wood. The bark that doesn't solidify tastes great to my standards.

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Don't get me wrong, the briskets are not bitter...they have great flavor. I'm only talking about small parts of the bark on the corners and sometimes the bottom of the brisket that get hard as wood. The bark that doesn't solidify tastes great to my standards.

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How far away is your heat source?

It's a typical setup on a trailer with a indirect firebox that flows into the pit. So, to answer your question, the heat source is right next to the cooking area, just separated with a plate of steel.

And is it your lower racks that do this or if on one level, the ones closer to the box?

I suspect your meat closest to the heat source is giving you the issues, or am I wrong?

Indirect heat is the only way to go. If the piece closest to the fire box are the ones, you may have to fabricate a heat shield baffle plate to help spread the heat more evenly. I think I read you don't have a reverse flow smoker, that is likely the root of the problem. You make need to make some modifications to your smoker.



I built a huge rotisserie so my shelves move around the smoke box and since then I've manage to produce my best stuff.

make sure your cooking wood is properly aged (dry)
wood that is even remotely wet (green) is going to be bitter.

I agree with the other posters that if wood is not seasoned it will cause bitterness. Also wrap in heavy duty butcher paper instead of foil. You still get the benefit of the Texas Crutch but doesn't steam the brisket like foil.

Barnes, you are correct, and it looks like I need to install a baffle similar to your drawing. It is definitely happening on the briskets closest to the heat source. Again, the meat is not bitter, and its not the wood. When I say bitter, I'm referring to the wood-like bark that forms on bottoms and corners (presumably from the more intense heat). The bark that does not harden has zero bitterness and perfect flavor. I think the bitterness I mentioned from the solid bark, is just because those small pieces are burned beyond belief, not because of wood or smoke flavor.

This mornings catch



They should explode with juice when the rest and are sliced

Bon Appetite

Just some advice.

Make you baffle removable and of heavy stainless (10 or 12 ga) broke and slanted to drain the grease away from an ignition point.

Man, y'all are making me hungry.

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Thanks for the replies. AustinAg, my smoke stays pretty clean. It gets a little dirty sometimes when I throw a new log on, but I don't know of a way to keep that from happening other than getting a side fire going for coals. Think I'll try the butcher paper.

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I don't use a stick burner, but i have read that warming your smoke wood on top of the firebox helps with running a cleaner fire. Maybe another barbeque myth but might be worth a try.

Harvest of the mobile unit

Where do y'all get your peach paper?

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Thanks for the replies. AustinAg, my smoke stays pretty clean. It gets a little dirty sometimes when I throw a new log on, but I don't know of a way to keep that from happening other than getting a side fire going for coals. Think I'll try the butcher paper.

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I don't use a stick burner, but i have read that warming your smoke wood on top of the firebox helps with running a cleaner fire. Maybe another barbeque myth but might be worth a try.

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Just have to make sure you pull it off the top of the fire box before it starts burning. Has happened to me multiple times.

Definitely seems to reduce the amount of creosote smoke when you put the log in the box,though.

Also, I have noticed that pecan wood has a greater tendency to produce bitter taste than oak or mesquite.

And you also have to realize that there will be some edges of the brisket that will over cook in the process of getting the entire brisket to the right temperature. You're gonna lose some of it.

The key to great smoking is smoke, the key to good tasting smoked food is AIRFLOW! You want your meat always surrounded by smoke but you want that smoke to always be moving. You want even and complete coverage, which is why a reverse flow pit is so key and essential to great meat, unless you're going to keep the meat moving in the smoke chamber by use of a rotisserie. But the key is moving air flow, whether natural or mechanical.

And for heavens sake if you catch someone soaking their woodchips or smoke wood in water, just shoot them and put them out of their misery. That steam coming off that soaked wood is forming creosote faster than you can say Texas BBQ. And please for the sake of the Pope's virginity, don't buy one of those expensive electric/electronically controlled smokers that feed those hockey pucks into a electric heat box, that are fired by a heating element. Just stop trying to reinvent the smoker got the love of christ.

Pecan needs to age longer than mesquite/oak to avoid bitterness.

When this brisket picture was posted, I wondered why someone would be smoking brisket on a Monday morning. Now, I get it.

haha.

I bet he got all those smoker pictures off of google

that dude is a psycho!

Dude has some serious mental issues. He should check into a hospital asap.

He was so great at trolling

LOL, the gift that keeps on giving! M F Barnes!