December 8th, 2015, 1:53 am
#1
* Abilene ** Abilene *
  • Joined: December 8th, 2015, 1:13 am
  • Posts: 1

Proud owner of a new Yoder 640, did my first smoke a whole turkey that went fairly well except for the Yoder popping the GFI breaker after only a few minutes. No matter what I did I couldn't fix that issue so ran an extension cord inside and that solved it. Spoke to the reseller he recommended plugging the yoder directly into the socket - no extension cord.

last weekend i fired up the yoder to do smoke #2 this time a brisket, I got a 4 lb brisket, made sure the fat was not more than 1/4" inch, using a dried rub I put it on at 225 degrees until it hit 190, wrapped it foil, added 1/3 cup apple juice and increased the temp to 300 till it hit 225 pulled it off and let it rest for about an hour.

When we cut into it was chewy, not tender and it was not juicy as one would expect.

The good news was that by plugging the yoder into the wall without an extension cord solved the GFI popping issue.

Looking to get a better technique in order to try the brisket again.

Cheers

December 8th, 2015, 6:47 am
#2
* Abilene ** Abilene *
User avatar
  • Joined: December 1st, 2015, 6:28 am
  • Posts: 24
  • Location: Charlotte, NC

SmokeInTheHole

If I understand your second paragraph correctly, you cooked your brisket till it got to 225(F)? Two things I would like to suggest and or point out on this cook.

Firstly, Brisket is finished at 205 (max) cooking it to 225 is way over kill which probably toughed it a bit. Then letting it rest of an hour, it probably raised a few more degrees. I would suggest pulling your brisket between 195 and 200... Letting it rest at that point.

Secondly, Brisket is a little more temperamental (pun intended) to temp spikes, especially when cooking low and slow. You should maintain your smoker at or around 225 for the full duration of the cook. Taking this big muscle and warming it up for hours then spiking the temp to 300 could (probably) cause it to seize up like an overheated muscle would. The only option to go that hot is if you cook the whole time at that heat level referred to as "Hot and Fast" (HAF). Personally not suggested.

For your next cook, cook unwrapped till 160-170 range when the meat temp starts to stall. Then wrap it like you did previously until the internal temp hit 190-195. Then pull the meat and let rest in an insulated cooler or some kind of thick blanket (still wrapped in foil).

December 8th, 2015, 7:47 pm
#3
Site AdminSite Admin
User avatar
  • Joined: April 18th, 2014, 3:12 pm
  • Posts: 2408

You should never cook by time and temperature. The meat will tell you when it is done, you just have to know how to "listen" in the right way. For brisket, no matter if you wrap or not, 195 should be the target temp for you to start "listening" to the meat to tell you if it is done or not. You do this by using a temperature probe as a "feeler" to test the meat in different places. When you put the probe in the meat, if you feel any resistance, it is telling you that it is not finished cooking, and is not fully tender. When the probe feels like it would if you pushed it into a stick of butter, the meat is telling you it is done, and has reached optimum tenderness. Immediately remove it from the cooker and let the sit (if it is in foil, open the foil to vent) for 10 to 15 minutes. This will allow the meat to cool and to stop cooking. Then you can wrap in in foil, and a towel and drop it into a cooler to rest. Minimum rest should be an hour, but the longer the rest the better the outcome.

For reference, if you cook hot and fast, the meat might not be totally tender until the internal temperature is North of 215 degrees. Also, if you cook wagyu low and slow, it might not achieve the optimum tenderness until the internal temperature is North of 210 degrees. Just remember, neither time nor temperature matters, the "feel" is what matters.

Yoder_Herb

Return to Cooking Questions, Tips and Tricks