[montyguitar]

This past weekend I had a chance to take a trip up to Arkansas to visit my son and future Daughter in law.  On Saturday we threw on a brisket with a couple of racks of ribs.  I've been cooking brisket for the last twenty years and the last two that I've cooked have been the best.  I am starting to figure out what most of you out there already know.  What I thought I knew was wrong and what I think I know hasn't been figured out yet.  I recently tried some of that Old Charcoal Company charcoal and I don't know if this is the difference or not but as I said, my last two briskets have been the best.  My problem before was my brisket had a great taste on the outside but not much flavor on the inside.  The last two have been excellent all the way through.  I am learning the technique of using foil.  Who would have ever thought that letting the brisket and ribs sit in foil for awhile would improve the taste and tenderness.  I have to be honest though.  We had a couple of what we call snow cones (what you would call a mixed drink) and forgot all about one of the racks of ribs.  We got up the next morning and it was still in the ice chest (recovering).  Needless to say, the dog loved that.  Have a great July 4th and be safe out there.  Thanks for listening.

[Mike (AZBarbeque)]

Monty,

Great recap.  The best part of BBQing is the trial and error part.  It's always fun to try new methods and ideas and see what works, that's what makes the BBQ Competitions so much fun

Keep on experimenting and posting your results, we love to hear these stories.

Mike

[Rookie]

Hey Monty, how do you mean "technique of using foil"??  Now, I've haven't tried brisket yet (too intimidating for a beginner like me), but if foil makes it easier/better I'd be willing to try it.  Thanks for the advice!

[Smokin Blues BBQ]

Hey Rookie,

You are probably asking the wrong person about using foil but as I see it......cook the brisket until almost done and then wrap in foil and place in an empty ice chest.  The brisket will continue to cook in the foil.  Take it out of the chest prior to serving and let rest for a half hour.  Slice then serve.  I will tell you that we tried this technique at home and the brisket was excellent.  We tried it in a contest this past weekend and ended up with brisket mush.  The meat was so tender we couldn't cut it with a knife.  It just shredded into mush.  We had to present it "Pulled" style.  Here is the funny thing.  We got a comment from one of the judges saying the brisket was excellent.  go figure!

[desert smokin]

I know I'm new here but I've had some experience with foiling on the smoker side. Generally you smoke your meat at 225 to 250 degrees and when the meat hits about 140F, you foil it. Some folk add apple juice or other concoction to keep it moist. After foiling, back to the heat till it hits about 180F. For pulled beef take it up to 190F. Keep it in the foil, wrap a towel around it and put it in a cooler for 30 minutes or more. I do mostly pork and I've had butts in the cooler for up to 14 hours and the meat was still hot and fell off the bone when I pulled it.
Will be doing a 9 lb. picnic for pullled pork tomorrow. I'll let you know how it comes out.

[montyguitar]

In our last contest we cooked four briskets (one for us and thre for peoples choice).  I took them all up to 170 then foiled and took to 205.  Don't do that if you intend to try to cut the brisket into slices.  I like the idea of taking it to 180 and removing.
I think we would have better off.  The brisket was so tender that you couldn't pick it up.  We were able to get six small chuncks and we shreeded the rest and combined with sauce.  We were so disapointed.  We got a comment card back from one of the judges and he "LOVED" our brisket.  Go figure.  Now we are inclined to "overcook" the briskets at our next contest.  You just never know.

[montyguitar]

I saw some pics of brisket in this forum that looked almost black.  They looked great.  How do you get your bark to look like that.  Ours is always a light brown.  It's good but I want that black bark.  I used to go into bbq joints when I was younger and just order the bark.  Hey, I didn't know back then it was supposed to be bad for you.  I just loved it.

[ron b]

4 things occur when you get black bark like you were speaking of.

1.to much beer passed out

2.not enuff beer went to store forgot about it

3.oops used wrong wood!

4.good amount of sugars in the rub<<< this maybe what you were looking for.

take your pick i am sure it all has been done before .    

good luck
ron b.

[jminion]

I saw some pics of brisket in this forum that looked almost black.  They looked great.  How do you get your bark to look like that.  Ours is always a light brown.  It's good but I want that black bark.  I used to go into bbq joints when I was younger and just order the bark.  Hey, I didn't know back then it was supposed to be bad for you.  I just loved it.

The sooner you foil the less chance of having a the black bark. The dark bark is a combination of time, heat, sugar and smoke. When you foil you take the smoke out of the formula and the color will be lighter.

I smoke brisket to 190 internal (no foil) at that point it goes into foil and into a dry cooler for 2 to 4 hours. During the time in the cooler the brisket continues to tenderize but because you are not applying heat the brisket will not dry out as it would in the cooker. I look for a dark brown bark rather than black, I find that the sugars in the rub don't get bitter.

Jim

[force]

jm,
what size brisket and for how long did you smoke it?  What kind of smoker do you have?  thanks

[force]

regarding the pork........ how long was that smoked for?  Usually use a 10 lb pork butt in the 70 series......... say about 12 hours.......... then rest in a box for 2?