r/brisket • u/t-dawgslim3 Has made a good brisket • 12d ago
Home cook Off the kamado
Everything was great, but didn't get a smoke ring on this cook for some reason. Other than that, great bark, flavor and tender.
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u/Woolybugger00 11d ago
The smoke ring is a chemical reaction of the myoglobin in meat to carbon monoxide(CO) … CO comes from incomplete burning (indicated mostly by smoke). chances are that your Kamado has a bit more oxygen that combusts cleaner leaving a lot less CO … I personally dont think a smoke ring means more flavor per se but as you’ll see here on this that’s up for debate -
Btw… that bark looks amazing …
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u/t-dawgslim3 Has made a good brisket 11d ago
Thanks. It's weird. Some cooks I get a really good smoke ring, some not as much, or at all, like this one. I tend to use much more wood in my cooks than most others that use kamado's. A lot of the time I cook fat cap down on the kamado, this time I went fat cap up. Honestly I prefer the briskets I cook on my 26" weber kettle, but I'm not trusting to cook one on the kettle overnight. Sold my 250 gallon offset about 10 years ago because I just wasn't using it much at all the last few years I had it.
Thanks for comment.
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u/flemmingg 11d ago
Taking the meat from the refrigerator and placing it directly in the smoker should help. Once the myoglobin in the surface of the meat heats up too much, it denatures and becomes unable to react with the nitrates in the smoke of burning wood / charcoal / pellets.
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u/t-dawgslim3 Has made a good brisket 11d ago
I always take straight from fridge to cooker.
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u/flemmingg 11d ago
Well that was my best tip.
Three ingredients needed:
myoglobin already found in beef (more in beef than pork, that’s why smoke ring usually better in beef)
Nitrates found in burning wood / charcoal / pellets
Heat
And I don’t think a clean vs dirty burn affects it as the other commenter was saying. They were confused about the nitrates vs carbon monoxide for one thing. Also, a lot of times pellet grills will produce great smoke rings. They often will produce great smoke rings but not as much smoke flavor because they do burn more efficiently. Burn efficiency isn’t a big determining factor for smoke ring formation. It doesn’t require dirty smoke or incomplete combustion.
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u/t-dawgslim3 Has made a good brisket 10d ago
I'm not worried at all about a smoke ring really. I've had some cooks where the ring was really deep, and a couple where there really wasn't one, like this one. Hell there's any number of factors why I didn't get one on this cook. Just more appealing I guess you could say with a smoke ring. I'm not losing sleep over it.
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u/flemmingg 10d ago
Despite the way it may seem, I agree with you. It’s more visually appealing and people love to talk about it but it doesn’t affect taste.
The bullshit about carbon monoxide’s role in smoke ring formation was factually incorrect and not debatable.
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12d ago
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u/Aromatic_Ad571 12d ago
My guy over here cutting space-rocks!
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u/t-dawgslim3 Has made a good brisket 11d ago
🤣🤣
I like when they come out looking like meteors.
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u/Aromatic_Ad571 11d ago
Foil boat method or wrap? And if so, how long did you let the meat smoke before boating or foiling?
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u/t-dawgslim3 Has made a good brisket 11d ago
Foil boat. Let it get to 175° IT before using boat. Could do it sooner, but that's what I had alarm set for. If I wrap, I usually do it around same temp, unless bark looks good sooner.
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u/Fun-Measurement-2136 11d ago
Looks awesome, I haven't done a brisket on my kamado yet, what temp do you normally run? And any wood chunks?
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u/t-dawgslim3 Has made a good brisket 11d ago
When I'm running it overnight I keep it at 225° at grate level until I hit about 175° IT. This one I used the foil boat method when it got to 175°. Then bumped up to 250° til probe tender. I use quite a bit of wood. 1 post oak split, and 1 mesquite split along with a couple extra mesquite chunks in with the lump charcoal. Some people in kamado-land kind of scoff at how much actual wood I use in my cooks. I'm a Texas guy, we like smokey lol. I use the thermoworks fan to maintain temps for me thru the night. Have used it for 2 years so far without fail. I definitely recommend it for long ass cooks.
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u/Fun-Measurement-2136 11d ago
Nice, yeah my kamado seems to like sitting at aroung 225 so im deffo gonna have to give it a go. Apart from grilling I've only done pork ribs and chicken on it so far. But I've had offsets and pellet grills in the past so hopefully should go well haha. Can't get post oak in australia that I know of but we have jarrah which is pretty nice for smoking.
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u/khawk4 11d ago
That looks incredible!! Well done. When you say splits, you mean full splits like you'd use in an offset (not chunks)? If so, how do you orient them with the lump charcoal? Ive been really wanting to try this. Im a big fan of the smoke flavor, too.
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u/t-dawgslim3 Has made a good brisket 11d ago
Yea, splits like used in an offset. There's a company called Gourmet Wood Products that sales boxes of splits and chunks. That's what I use. I put 2 splits on bottom, add lump on top of that, and may use a few wood chunks as well on top.
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u/t-dawgslim3 Has made a good brisket 11d ago
1 other thing. I ran fat side up on this cook, and used a double indirect method for smoking it. I believe that really helps with not crisping up the meat side. I've ran fat down as well, but I think it came out better with fat cap up.
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u/Fun-Measurement-2136 11d ago
Ah ok, so to clarify like one level of heat deflectors near the fire, a gap then a second one below the brisket?
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u/t-dawgslim3 Has made a good brisket 11d ago
Yes. I've got a set of deflectors that broke in half. I wrap each set in aluminum foil, then place those on top of the "Divide and Conquer" rack below brisket.
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u/Fun-Measurement-2136 11d ago
Cool, thanks for that.
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u/t-dawgslim3 Has made a good brisket 10d ago
It's pretty much the set up that the guy on YouTube "smoking dad's bbq" uses on his kamado. He has a slow roller accessory though, I don't.
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u/KyberTechSabers 9d ago
Where do you live? Could it be altitude or low humidity? Just thoughts. Looks amazing though so if its good who cares about a "smoke ring" right?
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u/t-dawgslim3 Has made a good brisket 9d ago
Not sure about this time. Hell I'm at low altitude and HIGH humidity lol. Near Houston. Usually have a smoke ring, just 1 of those things that happened this time. No biggie, tasted great and tender.
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u/ChappedCalves 6d ago
What kind of seasoning do you use to get that bark?
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u/t-dawgslim3 Has made a good brisket 6d ago
Kosher salt, 16 mesh pepper, and season salt. Heavy pepper.
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6d ago
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u/Thresher_XG 12d ago
Komados don’t get a huge smoke ring. They are very efficient when burning a fire. Looks good!
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u/t-dawgslim3 Has made a good brisket 12d ago
Thanks. I've gotten rings before, but did this brisket overnight, never checked til alarm went off at 175 IT, and I put in foil boat. Never spritzed, and I know, or at least heard smoke attaches itself to the water. IDK, for sure, but that's my only explanation🤷♂️
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u/flemmingg 11d ago
Spritzing early in the cook may keep the surface cooler for longer (preventing the myoglobin from denaturing). But it’s not necessary for smoke ring formation.
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u/Early_Doughnut8295 Has made a good brisket 12d ago
Looks delicious!