Hello,
I'm still very new, having received my RT-590 early March this year. So far I have been pretty active on it, smoking several briskets, a pastrami, pork butts, and beef jerky. I'm proud to say that I have been very happy so far with the outcome of all of the meats I've smoked so far. I love cooking and experimenting so for me this is just a really fun, new way to go about it. I've spent the last month watching videos, and reading about the different techniques out there. I'm also a chef so I understand the science behind the cooking which I think helps.
Last week I cooked a couple of pork butts. For one, I followed Aaron Franklin's recipe and the other I used a mustard slather and a rub. Both cooked at 275 since that is what Franklin recommends. At 275, there is little if any smoke. I freaked out a bit at first thinking there was something wrong with the smoker. What I found out is that there is just little if any smoke (to the eyes) at that temp. The Franklin butt was fantastic, moist, great bark, and the fat rendered beautifully. And it did have a smoke flavor. The other butt with the slather, was not as good in my opinion. And the bark was not as nice as the Franklin butt and minimal smoke flavor.
I'm making a brisket this morning and was going to set the temp to 275 again as I am following Franklin's recipe (salt & pepper only and a temp of 275) since I was so happy with the pork butt. But I got to thinking that it might be too high for a pellet grill in combination with an extremely tough and lean piece of meat. Also, seeing smoke is kind of comforting. So I lowered it to 240 which is my usual temp for brisket and the smoke is flowing nicely.
Sorry for the long build up to my question. Do meats get adequate smoke at higher temps even though I don't see any smoke? And is 275 too high to cook a brisket until it reaches about 160 when I will wrap it and let it go to about 206? I am thinking that a wood smoker would smoke at any temp so maybe following the suggested 275 would not have been the way to go.
Thank you in advance for any help with this and I am so happy to have found a forum of people of all skills out there to help people new like me.
Beth
I'm still very new, having received my RT-590 early March this year. So far I have been pretty active on it, smoking several briskets, a pastrami, pork butts, and beef jerky. I'm proud to say that I have been very happy so far with the outcome of all of the meats I've smoked so far. I love cooking and experimenting so for me this is just a really fun, new way to go about it. I've spent the last month watching videos, and reading about the different techniques out there. I'm also a chef so I understand the science behind the cooking which I think helps.
Last week I cooked a couple of pork butts. For one, I followed Aaron Franklin's recipe and the other I used a mustard slather and a rub. Both cooked at 275 since that is what Franklin recommends. At 275, there is little if any smoke. I freaked out a bit at first thinking there was something wrong with the smoker. What I found out is that there is just little if any smoke (to the eyes) at that temp. The Franklin butt was fantastic, moist, great bark, and the fat rendered beautifully. And it did have a smoke flavor. The other butt with the slather, was not as good in my opinion. And the bark was not as nice as the Franklin butt and minimal smoke flavor.
I'm making a brisket this morning and was going to set the temp to 275 again as I am following Franklin's recipe (salt & pepper only and a temp of 275) since I was so happy with the pork butt. But I got to thinking that it might be too high for a pellet grill in combination with an extremely tough and lean piece of meat. Also, seeing smoke is kind of comforting. So I lowered it to 240 which is my usual temp for brisket and the smoke is flowing nicely.
Sorry for the long build up to my question. Do meats get adequate smoke at higher temps even though I don't see any smoke? And is 275 too high to cook a brisket until it reaches about 160 when I will wrap it and let it go to about 206? I am thinking that a wood smoker would smoke at any temp so maybe following the suggested 275 would not have been the way to go.
Thank you in advance for any help with this and I am so happy to have found a forum of people of all skills out there to help people new like me.
Beth