How to Get a Good Smoke Ring for a Brisket

Carefully add charcoal bricks around the drip pan.

Mastering the art of the smoke ring is difficult to accomplish. Rings demand keeping brisket isolated in smoke to help char the outside of the meat and boost its smoky taste. While all varieties of brisket recipes demand different temperatures and cooking times --- perhaps as long as 24 hours --- there are a few essential tips to make your smoke ring work. Proper preparation is required prior to placing the brisket over an open flame. Use a charcoal-fired smoker, as suggested by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, to effectively capture that smoke ring essence and flavor. Does this Spark an idea?

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Charcoal grill
Tin drip pan
Cement blocks
Hickory, apple, or maple wood chips

Instructions

- 1
  
  Place your grill in a position where it is downwind. Situating it behind a house or shed is ideal for keeping the wind from wreaking havoc and dissipating isolated smoke.
- 2
  
  Fill a tin drip pan with water and place it at center under the grill rack. The drip pan is used for collecting juice from the meat and keeping moisture in area while smoking is in progress. The pan also prohibits juice from splashing onto charcoal bricks and causing extraneous flames.
- 3
  
  Build a U-shaped smoke enclosure around your grill for extra wind protection. Stack 8-inch-by-8-inch-by-16-inch cement bricks --- five high --- in U-shape fashion. Wheel the grill in between these three walls before cooking. A smoke enclosure is essential if your grill does not have a lid.
- 4
  
  Follow the directions of your recipe to cook the brisket. Add water-soaked wood chips --- hickory, apple or maple --- as you pile on fresh charcoal. Use one-half cup of wood chips or flakes for every 15 bricks of fresh charcoal. Adding wood chips boosts smoke ring flavor.