Crossed the 50-hour mark on a single brisket smoke and the texture was unreal.

I got stubborn with a 16-pounder from a local ranch, holding it at 195 degrees in my offset for over two days to push through the stall without wrapping, and the bark was like peppered leather but the inside just melted.

2 comments

2 Comments

evanpalmer1mo ago

Respect the dedication but that sounds brutal for the meat. Holding at 195 for that long is basically braising in smoke, which explains the texture. You must have burned through a small forest of wood. I get not wanting to wrap, but at some point you're just fighting physics for no real gain. The bark does sound incredible though, I'll give you that.

max8081mo agoMost Upvoted

Ever read about how some of the old school pitmasters in Texas never wrap at all? They just manage the fire really low and slow the whole time. That long hold at 195 is definitely pushing it, but I heard it can work if you're super careful about the heat being steady. It's a ton of work for sure, and yeah, you use a lot of wood. Maybe the texture is just a trade-off for getting that kind of bark.