A guy at the Memphis in May contest told me his brisket secret

I was at the Memphis in May event last year, just watching the teams work. One older pitmaster saw me staring at his smoker and waved me over. He said he always puts a small pan of apple juice on the grate next to his brisket for the first 8 hours. He told me, 'It's not about spritzing, it's about the air in the cooker.' His brisket was the juiciest I've ever tasted. Has anyone else tried a similar trick with a moisture pan?

3 comments

3 Comments

tessa_lewis2mo ago

Ever notice how the best tricks are about fixing the air around something, not just the thing itself? Like @chen.olivia's point about pan placement, it shows the environment matters as much as the main event. That pitmaster understood creating the right atmosphere is what makes the difference.

tessa_kim325d ago

Agree with this. Getting the air right around what you're cooking is half the work, nobody talks about that enough. The environment really does set everything up to go well or fall apart.

chen.olivia2mo ago

Did he mention if the pan goes on the same side as the heat source? That could really change the steam effect.