Watched a buddy's brisket go from shoe leather to competition winner in 18 months...

My friend Mike from down in Memphis was making shoe leather for years. I mean tough, dry, gray brisket. He'd wrap it in foil and crank the heat. Then he went to a class at Rendezvous and another at Central BBQ. Changed his whole method. Started using a water pan, watching his fire closer, wrapping in butcher paper instead. Last weekend he took second place at a local cookoff. What was the one thing that finally clicked for your brisket?

3 comments

3 Comments

ray3561mo ago

Picked up a few things from Aaron Franklin's videos early on and that helped a ton but the real game changer for me was going to a local guy who cooks on an offset smoker behind a gas station. Total dive spot but his brisket is insane. I asked him what his secret was and he just laughed and said stop opening the door. He was right. I was peeking at my meat every 30 minutes like a nervous parent. Lost all my heat and steam every time. Now I leave it alone for the first six hours no matter what. That alone took my brisket from dry to juicy.

hannah4001mo ago

Oh man, that hits. I had the exact same thing happen but with a dude who smokes ribs out of a converted school bus in a parking lot. @ray356 that "stop opening the door" advice is honestly the most important thing nobody tells you. I swear I used to open my smoker like 15 times in the first hour just to stare at things. My buddy finally said you're basically letting all the smoke out and the meat has to start over every time. Now I treat my smoker like it's made of glass for the first eight hours. The brisket comes out way more tender and actually tastes like smoke instead of just being dry and sad. It's hard to fight that urge but once you break the habit you'll never go back.

rowan9691mo ago

That "stop opening the door" thing got me too. I used to peek every 20 minutes like it was a crime scene. Finally taped a sign to my smoker that said "No peeking you idiot" with a frowny face. My brisket went from sad rubber to actually decent after I locked the lid for the first four hours. Husband thought I was having a breakdown but the meat won him over.