Failed on my first beef brisket

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meathead27

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Hello every, I tried smoking my first beef brisket today. It was a fail from the start. I bought my meat from food lion. It claimed it was ready to cook and looked pre-seasoned (it was not). So I did not do anything to it the night before.

I used salt, pepper, and a little garlic an hour prior to cooking. I kept the cooker at 225 degrees for 5 hours.

After 5 hours I wrapped it in foil and let it sit on the grill for another hour.

The meat was very chewy and took for ever to be able to swollow. The flavor was there but the tenderness and texture was not.

I am excepting all criticism and advice, like I said it is my first smoked brisket and will not take anything personal.
 
To soon - if it was chewy it needed more cooking.

As far as seasoning goes, the last two briskets I made had salt and pepper only and right before I started the fire.

I've also used Raichlen's coffee rub and like that a lot as well.

Edit: Last brisket I made was only 6 pounds and was finished in 6 hours at 300-330° without wrapping.
 
BBQ RULES FOR SUCCESS

YOU CAN NOT COOK GREAT BBQ ON A CONSISTENT BASIS BY COOKING TO AN INTERNAL TEMPERATURE OR BY TIME ( XXX MIN PER LB) YOU MUST COOK BY FEEL! For Brisket it must pass the poke test(probe like soft butter in the thickest part of the Flat) Ribs pass the Bend Test, Pork Butts when the bone wiggles loose. These are the only reliable methods to ensure that your cook will be a success. There is one exception to these rules and that is Poultry which must achieve and internal temp of 170 deg in the thickest part of the thigh and 165 in the breast.

BluDawgs Brisket

K.I S.S. some of the best brisket you will ever eat! Total cook time including the rest 8 hrs or less. I promise it will be as moist as mornin dew on the lilly, tender as a mothers love, pure beefy smoky goodness.

1 packer 12-15 lb
Trim off the hard fat on each side of the flat thin the fat cap to 1/4"

Mix your Rub
1 part kosher salt 4 parts Med grind Black peppa by volume( this is a true 50/50 BY weight)
apply a coat of rub you need to be able to see the meat through the rub clearly.

Pre heat the pit to 300 deg
place brisket on the pit Fat cap down and point to the firebox unless it is a RF cooker then point to away from FB

Maintain pit between 275-325 cook Brisket 4 hrs
remove from pit wrap in a single layer of Butcher paper Return to pit Fat cap up.
after 1 hr probe the thicket part of the Flat only, if it isn't *probe tender it will be within 1 hr.
once it is probe tender remove from the pit and allow it to rest on you counter for two hrs.
Don't ever slice more than you can eat big pieces retain moisture and won't dry up on you like slices will.

*PROBE TENDER>This is the feel that is mimicked by cutting room temperature butter with a hot knife, there should be no drag
 
meathead27 said:
Hello every, I tried smoking my first beef brisket today. It was a fail from the start. I bought my meat from food lion. It claimed it was ready to cook and looked pre-seasoned (it was not). So I did not do anything to it the night before.

I used salt, pepper, and a little garlic an hour prior to cooking. I kept the cooker at 225 degrees for 5 hours.

After 5 hours I wrapped it in foil and let it sit on the grill for another hour.

The meat was very chewy and took for ever to be able to swollow. The flavor was there but the tenderness and texture was not.

I am excepting all criticism and advice, like I said it is my first smoked brisket and will not take anything personal.
Click to expand...

Every single 'brisket' I've ever seen Food Lions are actually a 'piece' of pre-packaged brisket, 2-4lb range and fully trimmed of fat......in other words, not fit for BBQ'ing.

How big was said brisket? This may help a little.......Bottomline, don't buy pieces of brisket to smoke. A flat alone should average 6-9lbs, have a nice fat cap and be uniform. A packer should average 9-15lbs plus with a lot of fat, IMO the more fat the better. Anything <5lbs is a brisket cut and not a brisket, therefore, is not going to have the fat/size to cook poperly.

Just my .02.
 
Yup u needed MORE TEMP n MORE TIME..........:wink: Practice makes Perfect - go buy another one and Try again next weekend. :thumb:

What's your cooker?
 
I agree, not cooked long enough and possibly not rested long enough. Dd you let it rest at least an hour before slicing? If not, the juices didn't redistribute and most likely ended up on your cutting board. Cook it til probe tender, as explained above, foil, and rest. I rest mine by wrapping in foil, a couple of towels, and placing in a clean cooler, or empty oven.

Keep practicing.
 
Thank you everyone for all of the advice. The good news about this is that I always have sunday football next weekend to try again. Looks like Ill be keeping it on the grill even longer. And yes the food lion brisket was 3.5lbs. I will look into buying a big boy brisket next weekend and have some buddies over. Thanks all
 
Bludawg said:
K.I S.S. some of the best brisket you will ever eat! Total cook time including the rest 8 hrs or less. I promise it will be as moist as mornin dew on the lilly, tender as a mothers love, pure beefy smoky.
Click to expand...


This makes me want to cuddle up with the brisket!
 
meathead27 said:
Thank you everyone for all of the advice. The good news about this is that I always have sunday football next weekend to try again. Looks like Ill be keeping it on the grill even longer. And yes the food lion brisket was 3.5lbs. I will look into buying a big boy brisket next weekend and have some buddies over. Thanks all
Click to expand...
Sounds like a plan. :thumb:

Something else to consider is taking detailed notes on what you did and how the results came out. Finally, write down anything you want to do differently. Unless you have a photographic memory. I don't so I take copious notes and they help to get better results.
 
Bludawg said:
BBQ RULES FOR SUCCESS

YOU CAN NOT COOK GREAT BBQ ON A CONSISTENT BASIS BY COOKING TO AN INTERNAL TEMPERATURE OR BY TIME ( XXX MIN PER LB) YOU MUST COOK BY FEEL! For Brisket it must pass the poke test(probe like soft butter in the thickest part of the Flat) Ribs pass the Bend Test, Pork Butts when the bone wiggles loose. These are the only reliable methods to ensure that your cook will be a success. There is one exception to these rules and that is Poultry which must achieve and internal temp of 170 deg in the thickest part of the thigh and 165 in the breast.

BluDawgs Brisket

K.I S.S. some of the best brisket you will ever eat! Total cook time including the rest 8 hrs or less. I promise it will be as moist as mornin dew on the lilly, tender as a mothers love, pure beefy smoky goodness.

1 packer 12-15 lb
Trim off the hard fat on each side of the flat thin the fat cap to 1/4"

Mix your Rub
1 part kosher salt 4 parts Med grind Black peppa by volume( this is a true 50/50 BY weight)
apply a coat of rub you need to be able to see the meat through the rub clearly.

Pre heat the pit to 300 deg
place brisket on the pit Fat cap down and point to the firebox unless it is a RF cooker then point to away from FB

Maintain pit between 275-325 cook Brisket 4 hrs
remove from pit wrap in a single layer of Butcher paper Return to pit Fat cap up.
after 1 hr probe the thicket part of the Flat only, if it isn't *probe tender it will be within 1 hr.
once it is probe tender remove from the pit and allow it to rest on you counter for two hrs.
Don't ever slice more than you can eat big pieces retain moisture and won't dry up on you like slices will.

*PROBE TENDER>This is the feel that is mimicked by cutting room temperature butter with a hot knife, there should be no drag
Click to expand...

Which is it?
 
Both! Nowhere do I mention min per lb or an internal temp. IDC if it is a 9 lb or a 20 lb brisket it gets wrapped after 4 hrs at 300 deg grate temp. and it will finish cooking in 2 hrs or less, it never fails.
 
I always go 225-250 for grate temp. Does this have an impact. Sometimes mine come out dry even after hitting 190 internal. Should i be cooking slightly higher?
 
I prefer to cook hotter, but the real key is that you can't cook to a specific internal temperature. One brisket may be done at 190 but the next may need to go to 205 to be done. Probe the thickest part of the flat and when that part of the brisket is tender the brisket is done, regardless of internal temperature.
 
Redleg71 said:
I always go 225-250 for grate temp. Does this have an impact. Sometimes mine come out dry even after hitting 190 internal. Should i be cooking slightly higher?
Click to expand...

It doesn't matter the temperature that you cook at, you cook it until the thickest part of the flat probes tender. You pull it from the smoker and let it vent heat for 15mins, wrap and then let rest for minimum 1 hours (2-3 hours is best)

The reason to cook at higher temps is so you can cook it faster, no other reason. So if you are a super low and slow type of person there is nothing wrong with it.
 
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