Yoder Smokers Community Forum

Finally decided to give brisket another try. My first one on the 640 didn't turn out like I was used to. It wasn't as tender and juicy as I was used to and it didn't have much of a smoke ring. That is when it hit me that the Yoder was a different style of cooker and was gonna require a bit of a learning curve.

So, I went out and got me a 14lb brisket and rubbed it down with some of my rub.



I fired up the cooker with some Lumberjack OHC pellets and put the brisket on the cooker at 4am yesterday morning. For the first 1 1/2 hours I had the temp set at 200 and then at 5:30 I bumped it up to 230. At about 10:30 in the morning, it was starting to smell good outside and the line was already starting to form to get some.



I wrapped it when it hit about 165 and it finished cooking at about 5pm. This one ended up finishing at a higher temp than normal. I had to take it to about 205 before it was done. The tenderness was good and this time there was a very nice smoke ring. It was still a bit dryer than normal but better than my first one. I don't know if this is related to the cooking environment somehow compared to my other cooker (my other cooker is a more humid cooking environment) or if it is just the brisket I got. It was a Choice, Excel brisket.

A few slices of the finished product. Sorry it is a bit blurry

Please pass the brisket...

That looks good from here. Not sure why it was dry, could be the brisket. It also looks maybe a touch over cooked, but I bet it was still very good.

You're lucky. The only pests that line up for my BBQ are flies. I'd take the birds any day.

Oh, it was still good.

I may have overcooked it a bit but it actually probed like it could have cooked a bit more. But as I sat and pondered the situation, I have noticed the bark is much crispier than my other cooker so I think that may be why it feels different when I probe it. When I first started cooking, It took me about a dozen or so briskets before I started producing consistently good results with my other cooker so it taking me a few on the 640 is no big deal. Just means I get to eat brisket for lunch at work. The smell of brisket wafting through the office gets folks noses going.

Well it looks great Mike!

Beautiful brisket indeed! 2 quick thoughts: 1) you could put a little pan of water on your top or bottom shelf if you want the environment a bit moister. 2) How long did you rest it after you cooked it before slicing? Other thought would be to try two at a time rather than one and see how they compare. Could do one w/ injection and one without.

I typically like to let them rest about 2 hours before I slice but this one only got to rest about 45 minutes before it was time to eat. I may give the water pan a try to see what happens. I like to eat some brisket so practice is a good thing.