Spent 3 hours trying to get my brisket bark right before I figured out the culprit

I kept getting this sad, soft bark that peeled right off every time I smoked a brisket. Took me way too long - like 6 months of trial and error - to realize I was wrapping it too early in butcher paper. I was pulling it at 160 degrees internal, but my pit runs hot on one side. Finally left it unwrapped until 185 and let that thing sweat it out, and the bark turned into actual leather. Now I just set a timer for 8 hours and don't even peek until then. Anyone else fight with bark timing for way longer than they want to admit?

2 comments

2 Comments

michaelchen1mo ago

...and here I thought I was the only one that had a psycho smoker that runs hot on one side. My offset has this spot right by the firebox that's basically the surface of the sun. Ive ruined so many briskets before I just started rotating the meat every couple hours like a rotisserie chicken. Its a whole extra thing to remember but beats having one side look like burnt shoe leather and the other side all pale and sad. Actually had to tape a little sticky note to my temp probe just to remind myself to spin it.

rowanellis1mo ago

Is a slightly uneven brisket really worth all that effort and sticky note drama though?