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trouble shooting brisket attemt -

FM Former Member
Well, my first attempt at brisket was an utter failure... After several successful Pork butts, I went for the brisket. Here in Texas, Brisket is synonymous with BBQ, unless the term BBQ is being used very liberally to mean cooking anything outside (i.e. burgers and dogs); thus I have to learn to cook brisket, or I'll have to hide my model 50 in shame... Further, brisket is the choice of my picky eating kids when it comes to meat...

Here is what I did:

- Read 101s, brisket forum, even started a thread (I had read new user forum prior to cooking my butts), not to mention a couple of recipe books I have.
- The brisket was about a 16lb packer from local grocery store (HEB) it was very large, and very hard to handle and fit in the CS.
- I used a rub from a book I have
- Started about midnight, oven temp set at 225.
- By 7:00AM internal temp was reading 165 (seemed too quick to be true).
- Opened oven, removed brisket, wrapped in foil, applied apple juice (with a few other things from recipe book (hybrid of what I read on this forum, and my book). I had a mess with this in that even the wide foil was barely big enough to wrap up sides on all parts, and I probably had too much apple juice concoction, ended up making a mess on my patio (both while putting it back in oven at this stage, and while removing it from oven at end of cook).
- At about 1:00 PM my wife called me at work and said it was at 195 I asked her to turn CS down to 140
- I got home about 3:00 PM, opened door, decided to probe temp a bit to be sure, and found it to be 165F, never could get a 195 again....
- Closed door and turned temp up to 225
- Let it cook, temp stayed in 160s the rest of the afternoon and evening.
- At 3:00AM it was at 194.
- I pulled it out, and it nearly broke in half, it was super tender. I wrapped it in towels and stuffed it in ice chest until I got up at 7:00 AM (it was an ice day, work and school canceled)
- At 7:00AM-ish it was just very dry, and the outside bark was very burned. The rub I used had a lot of brown sugar in it, I may have applied it too heavy (I'm prone to overdue any type of seasoning on anything).
- The flavor was ok, it was just so dry, yet so tender.
- My wife tried it, and said well, it's ok... my son said it doesn't look like the brisket we buy from Rudy's (local bbq joint).
- In the end, nobody ate it but me, and I would much rather have gone to Rudy's also. I ended up throwing most of it away...

- Side note: during the 160s, I would bring my thermometer in and let it warm up, and it seemed when I would take it back outside it would read in the 170-180s, then as it set out there in the cold ambient (25F or so), the temp would go back down to the 160s... The problem with the obvious conclusion to the way I'm presenting this info is that I had two thermometers that both seemed to do it, but the amount of variance seemed to be inconsistent between the two thermometers.

OK, I think if I could try again and cook when it's not so cold, be more careful about temp probe location (I was inserting into the lean part to the best I could tell, but I've never cut one of these up, other than the photos on smokins 101, I really don't know much about this hunk of meat.

Thanks for any comments!

Best Regards,
Barry
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FM Former Member
Barry, I've been lucky cooking my briskets, they've always come out good. I cook mine to 195 if I want to pull the meat for sandwiches or 170-180 for slicing. I usually allow about 1 1/2 hours per pound for brisket to reach about 185 degrees. A brisket will reach about 165 degrees sometimes pretty quickly then sit there for many hours (plateau effect) while the collagen breaks down before the temp. goes up. I found that once your target temp. is met, there is no need to reach that temp again to finish your cook. I will let mine hold at 140 untill I slice it or pull it or wrap in foil if finished too early.I like to tenderize my brisket with a multiple point meat tenderizer (or fork stab for a while)apply a brisket rub and place in the smoker fat side up to cook. You just have to watch the flat portion of the brisket to make sure it doesn't dry out too much. You could even remove that half before the point portion if you wanted to. Good luck!
FM Former Member
I am by no means an expert but a few things that are discussed on here: Perhaps you could try leaving the brisket unwrapped through the plateau range. It takes several hours most of the times.When the oven temp was dropped to 140 and meat temp was 165,it probably slowed the tenderizing plateau part of the cook. At the size brisket you mention I think it will take longer to get to the 190's-200's degrees.
It may be the location of the thermostat but other things also have an effect.

I haven't had any dry briskets leaving them unwrapped,fatside up, an upper shelf for the entire cook.

I wait until I am ready to remove brisket at desired temp.Then I lay it on a big turkey platter that has overlapped sheets of HD foil on it.It sits for 20-30 minutes then I reseason and add any liquid I want,then close it up if holding it.
FM Former Member
Barry
I also have had very good luck with everything I've cooked, including Brisket. I try to use the KISS method, seems that things complicate themselves without help from me. With brisket, I start with a slather job of plain mustard, apply a coating of rub of my choice ( usually just Kosher salt and cracked pepper, and maybe some cayanne pepper. I fold or whateber I have to do do to get it into my cs 008, insert the temp probe into the flat part of the brisket. I also like lots of smoke, so I load the box and shut the door. i set the temp to 225 to 250 and set the temp and time for the cook and just leave it alone to do it's work. I like to start a cook early evening and it'll be done for dinner next day.
Some day I'll get a chance to try some championship cooking so I can compare, but I sure like my stuff now, and I suppose that's what matters. Don't give up and hide that smoker, just keep trying, Bob
W williesqMember
Barry, I put my rub on the brisket put it in fat side up. Place the probe in the thick part of the brisket and smoke at 225*. I don't open the door until it hits 195*.

I think when your wife said it was at 195*, you could have had her take it out and wrap it in foil and hold in a cooler. I place news paper in the bottom and cover the meat with a towel.

I'm afraid you cooked it to long if it was already at 195* and you dropped your temp. to 140* and then tryed to cook it again to bring the temp. back up to 195*

I hope this helps. There are alot of good cooks on this forum and maybe some else will chime in here. Smiler
R ribdogMember
A few thoughts:

One, don't use brown sugar. Use turbinado sugar as it has a higher burn point to it.

Second, try beef broth when you wrap the brisket instead of apple juice.

Third, if there is room, put the brisket in a foil pan after you have wrapped it so as to avoid the mess.

Fourth, when your wife called that it had hit 195, I would have just had her stick the brisket in a cooler with towel or blanket over it.

Fourth, understand that cooking a brisket to 195 does not mean it is tender. You will find that it helps to take a thermometer and poke the brisket with it to see how much resistance you get. Eventually, you will gain a sense of when it goes through fairly easily that it is done.

Hope this helps some.
FM Former Member
I have been smoking brisket in my Smokin-Tex for quite some time. It is a no-brainer, I have never, repeat, never had a bad brisket.

I always set my smoker to 225 and use a fairly heavy rub. I have found the plateau temp to be around 140-160ish. Also never take your brisket beyond 185 or it will be too tender and ruined in my opinion.

Normally at 165, I will wrap in foil. It is what I do, you do not have to. I know that lot's of folks here call it a crutch, but I can tell you that many folks on the competition circuit are foiling so there must be a method to the madness. Also don't knock it if you haven't tried it. Anyway, that is the secret to great brisket.

Don't be reinventing the wheel. Just set it and forget it. I open the smoker only once during the cook and that is to wrap in foil. I will either return the brisket to the smoker or place it in the oven after that to finish the cook. One reason I use the oven is to get the ribs going in the smoker...I am limited to room available so I do what I can.

I recently got a new Stumps smoker and I am still dicovering the learning curve. That said the Cookshack Clone (Smokin-Tex) is the best investment I have ever made. The reason for the Stumps is to enter competitions.
T thousandoakieMember
Certainly more of you Texans should pipe up and tell him that sugar has no place on a brisket. Salt, pepper, cayenne...'maybe' even thyme, but not sugar. And no apple juice...yuchhy. Pork and apple juice; good...beef and apple juice; bad.

There's a long-time, famous Prime Rib house just up the coast a bit, and THEY make a sweet au jus for the PR....puueey! But there's some that do it, that's for sure!

I think if you get that sweet out of there, cook it ONLY once, let the seasoned fat be the flavor for the meat, wrap it in foil before you wrap it in a towel (you're not looking to leach away the juices, right? You're looking to contain them) and you'll do fine.

Also, sounds like 'maybe' your thermometer probe wasn't firmly imbedded in the meat either...maybe you hit a fat pocket?

Just my 2 1/2 cents...it got a little long, sorry.

Mike
FM Former Member
BDM, the first issue I see is measuring the internal temp. If you ever feel you're getting a false reading, try moving the probe. I try to place the probe in briskets in the thickest part of the flat. But since the flat is so thin it's easy to get false readings.

Remember, internal temp is just a guide to when the brisket is done. You're not cooking to an internal temp--you're cooking to tender. The temp is a great indicator, but as you found out can be misleading. So to validate it, test to see if the flat is tender. Stick the metal probe through the flat from top to bottom. It should go in with very little resistance.

Next, it's not uncommon to foil at 165. But leave the foil on until it reaches it's desired temp. Then without unwrapping, place in a cooler to rest (or leave in the CS with the heat turned off). Only unwrap it when you're ready to slice. Believe it or not, the bark will set up again after removing it from the foil and letting it rest for a minute. But right now, worry less about bark and more about getting it cooked to tenderness.

It takes a few briskets, but you'll be cranking out great briskets in no time. As for your dry brisket, it would be fabulous in beans or in a brisket-barley soup.
T tomMember
Well,some pretty good thoughts above.

Like my teammate ,Ribdog,mentions-simple is good.

I'll move this post from the other thread up here.

Darcy's indirect Cooked Brisket.

Now,I'm no brisket expert-but we have seen large packers come tender from 185º to 205º.

The "poke" test lets you know when it gives up.

Also,holding 4 hrs or so,may tender it up a mite.

Now as to those Tejas folks never using any sugar,I don't know as I'd believe everything I hear. Wink

Just a couple of thoughts.
FM Former Member
BDDM - You will find there is more then one way to skin a cat (especially with a brisket). By far the hardest piece of meat to cook consistently good. I cook packers and rub them down with mustard, then a heavy coating of rub. I cook mime fat side up (some do fat side down). I cook around 230 degrees. Depending on what you want to do with the brisket will determine where you put your temp probe at. I put my probe in the flat part, as this will get done sooner then the point. Most briskets will plateau around 160 degrees or so. Once it breaks through the plateau and starts to rise, you can do one of two things...1) Wrap in HD foil, add some juice if you like, and crank the temp up to 300 degrees. Cook like this until the temp in the flat is around 190 and start checking for tenderness at that point. Some briskets will be done at 190, others at 200...they are all different. 2) Leave the brisket as is and continue cooking as noted above. I have good luck with both methods, but most of the time I just leave them be and do not foil. The flat is generally used to slice the meat...I like to separate the point and reseason the point with more rub, and throw the point back on the smoker until it hits about 205 internal temp (burnt ends).

Option number 1 above is how Mike Crutchfield does a lot of his briskets and he is pretty successful to say the least...

Tony - I cook on a stumps as well..you will love it!
FM Former Member
Gotcha, TO. Can I call ya TO? Thanks. I was out near San Fran for a few days once and some guy says, "whew, how bout this heat". I said, "I didn't notice it was hot". He pointed to a bank clock or similar that read 121*F. I almost fell over. I was just a kid. Later on in life I figured out the relative humidity on that day was probably close to 10%. Weird! it get over 100*F here in July with humidity in the 85% range. That's hot!!! Eeker

Yea, well maybe some Texans might not put sugar in their rub, but I don't have to eat their brisket either. "Brown sugar, howcome you taste so good".

Sorry.

Cool

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