So, I picked up a cheapy thermometer at Lowes today as my remote thermometer went south. I am ordering a couple more of those, but wanted to do a brisket and thought this would work...thought being the key word.
Brisket is gorgeous 15 lb. packer. I marinated it, rubbed it up real nice. Put him in the smoker at 225. I am three hours in and the thermometer reads ...167....what?
I do know that the plateau will eat up hours of time. Bue that seems like a pretty fast climb to 167 degrees. The probe is in the middle of the flat, theroudh the side...correcto?
My thoughts are this...
1. I put it on at 6:00PM. I will let it rock and roll into the 700 AM hour and take a peek. Nothing is going to hose this brisket up...its way too purty.
Is a three hour climt to 167 degrees out of the norm?
Thanks

Steve,

Doubt that cheapy is right. I'd pull it out, and put it into a cup of boiling water...see what it reads. Should be close to 212.

There's no way a 15lb. packer went to 167 in three hours. No way.

lol.

Later,
C'Nooga

If I take it out...its going straight to the trash can. I did reinsert in a different part of the flat and it is at 150....a bit more realistic.

Well, five hours in and the probe on this thermometer is shot. ^*&%$!!!
So, I guess I will be finishing this brisket by feel.
I have more troubles with these probes. It seems that every thermometer I have bought has a life expectancy of five hours to five weeks...max.
any thoughts on the best way to finish this baby wihout a probe?
I guess I will sleep on it and check it throughout the monring.
dammit.

The probe might have been in a fat pocket or the fat pocket rendered and ended up as a small hollow spot. I take it you tested it as per above?

NO...I went to the website and it said that if the thermometer had a reading like the one I am getting(LF I belive) that the probe was bad and needed to be replaced.

OIC. Maybe you should box up all your old no good probes and send them to an address on that website!

Are we a couple of nightowls or what?

This is another fine reason to have a decent instaread.

I forget what smoker you use,and you didn't mention if the packer was select,or choice.

Select may well take longer to poke tender.

Not knowing how much trimming you did,but at around 225º,our trimmed ,choice packers,that size,take about 65-70 mins/lb. to poke tender.

They also set in a hot box,at least 3 hrs,which continues to cook them.

Hope this helps a little.

thanks guys--This is a 15 lb select. I trimmed most of the fat off, leaving about one quarter of an inch. We are at the 13 hour mark. I just bumped it back up to 225 after waking. It will be fine, I just have yet to find a probe that lasts very long. My biggest concern is poking holes in the flat every couple of hours...

That flat isn't a balloon.

You won't hurt it.

Amazon often sells Taylor's on special for about $10.

If you buy $25 worth,the shipping is free.

Many of us buy them from Target,for about $15.

You will see these around many comp cook sites.

We are pretty rough on them.

They also have sealed probe wires,since moisture is the reason most probes fail.

Taylor Therm

thanks Tom-- We are at the 14.5 hour mark. I went out and checked on him. Probes slides pretty easy, I have had easier..but this is close..hhhmmm. Let me pull him out and get a look, maybe even a sample. After eating countless strips off of the flat, I stop cussing the thermometer. I separate the flat and place him in foil with some apple juice. Back in he goes for about ah hour. The point sits on a different rack, all by his self for two hours. At that point(no pun intended), we chop him up and sauce him. Back in the pan for another hour or so...
When I trimmed the fat off, I placed numerous pieces on top of the brisket and inside where I separated the two pieces partially. NOw I tossd some of the fat pieces into the foil with the apple juice and the flat.
I think this will be okay...I am going to buy about three thermometers...

Well the flat is in the cooler. I had ben cooking the point, but I need to split. so, I chopped it up, put it into two foil pans with a bunch of sauce. Ideally, I would have left in whole and burnt it some then chopped it. It still had a bit of the tissue stuff (that drives me nuts) going on when I cut it...but not much.
Will this have any potential of being burnt ends even though I chopped a bit early?

Eat it,it'll be good.

Adjust next time.

Steve

Like Tom sez, go to Target and get a Taylor. They have, by far, been the most reliable thermometer for me. Amazon also has the Taylor with the wireless remote paging unit, its a model #1474.