I am currently a senior and have been into BBQ for a while. I just purchased my first grill a chargriller akorn. I have smoked several briskets already and want to do Texas style for this Saturday and the game. I have been using hickory and I know it calls for post oak. Is there much of a difference between the two? What do y'all think is the best?
Saturday Brisket Question
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Last: 5 yr ago by Rattler12
When I did camp brisket at A&M, we had a session where we tasted briskets cooked over post oak, hickory, mesquite, and one other wood that I can't remember. Post oak was my favorite and won the group consensus. Hickory was a close second, both personally and as a group. I think you'll be just fine with hickory. Have fun!
You should mentally make a list of the many, many variables involved in Texas brisket. Then rank them into order of how much to how little they affect the final product.
At the top would be stuff like quality of smoke, meat grade, final temp when taken off the smoker, and seasoning/rub. In the middle would be stuff like cooking temp, wrap or no wrap, etc. At the bottom would be stuff that matters very little. IMO, wood species would be very near the bottom. There are many variables that are more important.
But yes, Post Oak is the best.
At the top would be stuff like quality of smoke, meat grade, final temp when taken off the smoker, and seasoning/rub. In the middle would be stuff like cooking temp, wrap or no wrap, etc. At the bottom would be stuff that matters very little. IMO, wood species would be very near the bottom. There are many variables that are more important.
But yes, Post Oak is the best.
Ornlu said:
You should mentally make a list of the many, many variables involved in Texas brisket. Then rank them into order of how much to how little they affect the final product.
At the top would be stuff like quality of smoke, meat grade, final temp when taken off the smoker, and seasoning/rub. In the middle would be stuff like cooking temp, wrap or no wrap, etc. At the bottom would be stuff that matters very little. IMO, wood species would be very near the bottom. There are many variables that are more important.
But yes, Post Oak is the best.
I dunno if you had a brisket cooked on straight mesquite it can get pretty potent. Could've had to do with the smoke quality though. I didn't cook it, only tasted.
Other than mesquite, I can't tell the difference.
Fury_239 said:
I am currently a senior and have been into BBQ for a while. I just purchased my first grill a chargriller akorn. I have smoked several briskets already and want to do Texas style for this Saturday and the game. I have been using hickory and I know it calls for post oak. Is there much of a difference between the two? What do y'all think is the best?
Way more important to have a good fire and clean smoke than a certain type of wood.
Mesquite and oak can get a little bitter or "char" tasting if you get too heavy. Hickory and pecan can be a lot more mellow and mild for the most part.
I love mesquite for grilling and shorter smokes. For all day smoking, hickory is my preference.
Edit:
Some unsolicited advice for "TX style" brisket rub:
50/50 - coarse black pepper/kosher salt
The 50/50 is by volume, not by weight. Like 2 dry cups of each.
I love mesquite for grilling and shorter smokes. For all day smoking, hickory is my preference.
Edit:
Some unsolicited advice for "TX style" brisket rub:
50/50 - coarse black pepper/kosher salt
The 50/50 is by volume, not by weight. Like 2 dry cups of each.
I've wrapped using pink butcher paper and also foil right after getting through the stall.
I have to say foil usually keeps the lean flat more tender than the paper... just my experience
I have to say foil usually keeps the lean flat more tender than the paper... just my experience
Understood. Thank you all I think I'll give post oak wood a shot on gameday early morning! Cheers and BTHO Vandy!
evan_aggie said:
I've wrapped using pink butcher paper and also foil right after getting through the stall.
I have to say foil usually keeps the lean flat more tender than the paper... just my experience
It's more tender because it's becomes more like pot roast. I prefer paper for a better crust but different strokes for different folks.
Hickory is a great universal wood, pecan works as well. The biggest thing with brisket is to always allow more time than you think to get it done. Make sure you allow enough time to rest as well, 1 hour is good, 2 is better. That was probably the biggest revelation I had with brisket, resting is very important. Also, if making adjustments to the fire, small adjustments are better than big ones. If you notice your temps are dropping, don't just open it all the way up, backing the temp down is a lot harder than bringing it up.
There is a fine line I think with How long you let it sit in the foil or perhaps unwrap after and let it get another 30 minutes of exposure?
I tried various things to keep the leanest part from being dried out and always struggled to make it tender. Part of that could have been my first few cuts of beef. Of course when I went Prime it was better. I'll say this though, the untrimmed Costco $2.58/lb is probably the same as trimmed $3.99/lb at HEB.
I tried various things to keep the leanest part from being dried out and always struggled to make it tender. Part of that could have been my first few cuts of beef. Of course when I went Prime it was better. I'll say this though, the untrimmed Costco $2.58/lb is probably the same as trimmed $3.99/lb at HEB.
In an Akorn/kamodo/egg type cooler make sure you use a water pan or something between the fire and the top rack. I think a small Weber grate will fit on the pegs below the main grate and you can pick up at most HD.
I'll have my smoker running about 6pm tonight. You're welcome to bring your brisket, hang out, drinks some beer and/or bourbon, play some 42, and learn my method. I'm not saying it's the best, but plenty of others have. I'm in B/CS.
Great advice here.Max Power said:
Hickory is a great universal wood, pecan works as well. The biggest thing with brisket is to always allow more time than you think to get it done. Make sure you allow enough time to rest as well, 1 hour is good, 2 is better. That was probably the biggest revelation I had with brisket, resting is very important. Also, if making adjustments to the fire, small adjustments are better than big ones. If you notice your temps are dropping, don't just open it all the way up, backing the temp down is a lot harder than bringing it up.
Mesquite is fine if you build a separate fire and just add coals to the box as needed. Cuts the acrid strong taste considerably but you use a lot of wood that way. It's the addition of "cold" wood to the fire box that causes the problem. JMHO. that being said I cook with live oak . mainly because that's what I have available...in abundance. 
This is origin of why any region uses the wood they use. Back in the day, folks didn't care much about the difference between mesquite/oak/hickory/pecan. They used what was readily available.Rattler12 said:
Mesquite is fine if you build a separate fire and just add coals to the box as needed. Cuts the acrid strong taste considerably but you use a lot of wood that way. It's the addition of "cold" wood to the fire box that causes the problem. JMHO. that being said I cook with live oak . mainly because that's what I have available...in abundance.
Edit: Obviously folks in the east figured out that pine makes terrible BBQ wood
That's why we have such diversity in BBQ styles too. Different meats and different woods available.
It's one of my favorite things about BBQ.
Happy gameday. Going very well, doing the boat method since I don't have butcher paper.
Pressure treated 4x4's leave a metallic taste in the brisket.
Good advice
Put her on around 5:30 at 171
At 171 now
So I only gave myself about 9 hours today to cook a 13-lb brisket. Been at 300 since 9am. How badly did I screw myself?
Ornlu said:
So I only gave myself about 9 hours today to cook a 13-lb brisket. Been at 300 since 9am. How badly did I screw myself?
Brisket for breakfast
If you wrap it in foil you can cut down cooking time by 2 hours, or so I've read.
Just hit 203. Time for a 1hr rest.
Nice and juicy!
looks beautiful! what was your process?T Durden said:
Nice and juicy!
Go to Amazingribs.com and look under tested recipes for texas brisket. I mainly followed that, but did not mop or inject anything like that. No liquid when I wrapped after the bark looked nice.
I did trim and salt about 5 hours before it went on the egg. Large lump charcoal and pecan wood chunks. 225, wrap when you like the bark, take off at 203 (check a bunch of areas to ensure it is at 203). Then I put it in a cooler with towels for a few hours.
Oh and I text my brother 50 times for advice
I did trim and salt about 5 hours before it went on the egg. Large lump charcoal and pecan wood chunks. 225, wrap when you like the bark, take off at 203 (check a bunch of areas to ensure it is at 203). Then I put it in a cooler with towels for a few hours.
Oh and I text my brother 50 times for advice
I think it also wood choice/preference may have something to do with what you grew up eating. I've noticed that people from South Texas and West Texas prefer mesquite. People in Central Texas prefer oak. People in North Texas prefer pecan.
Living all over the state since graduating has let me try BBQ in all of the regions. I also experimented with all the different woods. My briskets and briskets from other areas never tasted right to me. I went back to mesquite and voila tasted like the brisket taste I remember. With mesquite it is very important to have clean smoke, though. It's probably the hardest to cook with because of that. It's very easy to get that creosote taste into your meat if the smoke is heavy/yellow. I mostly cook on an Egg and to get a good clean mesquite smoke I get my rig going about 1.5 hours before the cook to get the heavy smoke out and the temp settled.
Your on the right path, have fun!
My 2nd favorite wood is oak, it's also more forgiving than mesquite.
Living all over the state since graduating has let me try BBQ in all of the regions. I also experimented with all the different woods. My briskets and briskets from other areas never tasted right to me. I went back to mesquite and voila tasted like the brisket taste I remember. With mesquite it is very important to have clean smoke, though. It's probably the hardest to cook with because of that. It's very easy to get that creosote taste into your meat if the smoke is heavy/yellow. I mostly cook on an Egg and to get a good clean mesquite smoke I get my rig going about 1.5 hours before the cook to get the heavy smoke out and the temp settled.
Your on the right path, have fun!
My 2nd favorite wood is oak, it's also more forgiving than mesquite.
And people from East Texas prefer pine...I kid, I kid.ValleyRatAg said:
I think it also wood choice/preference may have something to do with what you grew up eating. I've noticed that people from South Texas and West Texas prefer mesquite. People in Central Texas prefer oak. People in North Texas prefer pecan.
I lived in almost every area of Texas.
It's actually 50/50 by weight at 4/1 pepper/salt by volume
I don't want to argue with you if you use this blend all the time, but I can tell you from experience that 50/50 kosher salt/coarse black pepper by WEIGHT is waaaaay too salty for most people.CrawfordAg said:
It's actually 50/50 by weight at 4/1 pepper/salt by volume
4:1 by volume way too salty? Aaron Franklin calls for equal amount by volume, not weight.tsuag10 said:I don't want to argue with you if you use this blend all the time, but I can tell you from experience that 50/50 kosher salt/coarse black pepper by WEIGHT is waaaaay too salty for most people.CrawfordAg said:
It's actually 50/50 by weight at 4/1 pepper/salt by volume
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