What's new
THE BBQ BRETHREN FORUMS

Welcome to The BBQ Brethren Community. Register a free account today to become a member and see all our content. Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!

Trying to conquer my nemesis (brisket)...temp or feel??

A

Atlasman

Full Fledged Farker
Joined
Jun 12, 2012
Location
Ny
So I'll just be blunt.........my brisket is low grade dog food.

I've tried hot and fast like Myron......turned into a charcoal briquette.

I've tried painfully low and slow for as much as 16 hours......dry and tough.

I have injected....marinated....mopped and misted...foil and no.


ALWAYS DRY and tough.........lay a slice across your finger and it hardly bends at all.

Getting very frustrated.

I have cooked by temp and feel pulling anywhere from 190 to 205 and rested up to 4 hours...........don't know why I am missing so badly.

I have a decent flavor profile that scored well but I got killed on tenderness.


Lil' Help???

I have an XL big green egg and a 22" WSM both controlled by gurus for spot on temps.


Are you guys pulling by feel or temp??

I haven't cooked the best cuts of meat to date ( best I could find) but I ordered 3 big pack from snake river which will be here Wednesday.

Could it be as simple as meat quality??


Are you guys cooking wagyu to different temps then say "prime"??


Sorry for the ramble and please know I have searched and researched this topic extensively........not just looking for secrets, I am nearing the end of my BBQ rope with this cut.


Thanks
 
Don't dare cook up a Wagyu until you have a regular brisket down. Yes, the quality will get you a better end product but I would guess this isn't the problem. I suspect you haven't been only cooking up select packers.
Are you cooking packers or just flats? I get a better end product with packers.
What temp are you starting to check for resistance? I usually will start at 190 and then every 20 minutes until the flat probes with no resistance.
Maybe some pics of your slices can let us know a bit more about the texture.
I also assume you are cutting across the grain.
 
GrillsGoneWild said:
Don't dare cook up a Wagyu until you have a regular brisket down.
Click to expand...

I would have to agree. Wagyu is too expensive to experiment on. It's a different monster than a "regular" brisket.

If you think the quality of meat is a factor, try to find the best packer you can. Restaurant Depot carries Angus briskets that I have had plenty of success with. If you don't have one nearby, try to find a butcher that's local.
 
Bourbon Barrel BBQ said:
Tell us your normal time and temp process and when you wrap.
Click to expand...

I try to foil by look rather then temp. Once the bark sets up after maybe 6-8 hours is a good ballpark. From there I have pulled at temp and feel with equally lousy results.

Temp when I foil is probably 160-170 in flat near point.
 
GrillsGoneWild said:
Don't dare cook up a Wagyu until you have a regular brisket down. Yes, the quality will get you a better end product but I would guess this isn't the problem. I suspect you haven't been only cooking up select packers.
Are you cooking packers or just flats? I get a better end product with packers.
What temp are you starting to check for resistance? I usually will start at 190 and then every 20 minutes until the flat probes with no resistance.
Maybe some pics of your slices can let us know a bit more about the texture.
I also assume you are cutting across the grain.
Click to expand...

I am cooking packers in the 15-17lb avg size range. I am cutting against the grain.
 
I have to say you are probably not pulling at the right time. The feel is missing for you. You cannot go by temperature. You have to go by feel, whether with a probe, or with a learned ability to feel when the meat has given up the toughness.

The Nightrain brisket exercise is a good way to feel what is right.
 
KC_Bobby said:
To expand on the above
Inject/Rub?
Pit temp?
Wrap temp?
What do you put in your wrap?
Click to expand...


I have injected with everything from beef broth to melted butter to butchers

Rub is smoking guns hot, Plowboys bold, trim tab pig powder, 3 eyes or some other commercial rub I feel like trying.

Pit temp has been as low as 225 and up to 350 for Myron's run.

Wrap usually gets mop or mist liquid I used that day.
 
I run flats only at 275 and have had great results. I've been doing it by feel though, so can't tell you what temps I'm hitting. I just foil it when it looks right and probe until I feel it's tender. I've overshot a couple of times and had pulled brisket, but never been dried out.
 
We wrap once we get the bark looking the way we want. We pull them off the cooker once our Thermapen slides in the way we want. We never go by the temp reading, just the feel.

Also, fat striation throughout the choice (or better) flat is a must for us. If we can find one packer out of 20 that we think is good enough...it's a minor miracle.

Brisket is the toughest to dial in, IMO.

Best of luck.
 
I'm still learning how to do a good brisket and have ruined many a good packer.

Here is what I have learned so far....

- when trimming the fat leave around a 1/4" on the fat cap and trim off most of the hard fat - trimming off too much of the fat will take away from the moisture

- when using an injection leave it sit for at least a few hours - I turn it over so the injection liquid can run through the meat

- if you pull the brisket off too soon it will be tough - you need to be patient - one of the phrases I read so often when I was starting was variations of "It will be ready when it is ready" - my reaction was WTF does that mean - I now understand this to SO be the case with brisket

- internal temperature is only a guide - the true test is how easily your probe slides into the meat - this is where I am still learning - I plan to give Pitmaster T's Night Train test a go

- keep it simple to start with - too many variables will just fark you up if things go wrong and you are trying to figure it out

Good luck and don't give up!!

Brian
 
Put the expensive stuff down. Wrapping makes it easier, but you really do not need any thing to make good brisket.

Set your pit to 250-275, wrap that dude TIGHT when it looks good or when it probes over 160 and pull it off when it hits 210.

You have to see what you are looking for before you can hit it perfectly. Fark all of this "feel stuff" until you cook one tender enough to see what it should feel like.
 
The the first time I cooked a briskie, I killed it. Not in a good way. It was dry as the sand in the desert. My first competition was 2 weeks after this. I scored a 6th place. I hadn't cooked another brisket in between this time. You know how I learned? YOUTUBE! I can't tell you how much I learned from Youtube. I am not good enough yet to be able to tell what the temp is by feel. I use an internal probe. I have wrapped at 155. I have wrapped at 165. I normally focus the wrapping around what the "stall" starts. I find that if I do that, I don't have much stall to worry about. I do cook on a UDS using a diffuser to deflect heat. Pit temps are around 250*-275*. And I normally cook choice meat from RD. Hope this helps. Good Luck and check Youtube.
 
Following this closely. Im going to get it right. did a packer this weekend 17lbs 14hrs at 250 unfoiled and it was my first exercise band brisket. I thought it probed well? and it almost wiggled. I really reached a point of almost no progress and me thinks i should have foiled there and blasted it to finish

I figure I could spend money on a class or videos or just buy a chitload of packers and get my arse to work.
 
Sounds to me like your overthinking a great piece of meat. Smoke until it hits 160, wrap until it hits 190+, then open foil for 2 reasons, to reset bark and to allow you to probe the flat portion for tenderness. When a toothpick or probe slides in easily, rest it for a couple of hours, slice and enjoy. Ya'll come on down to Texas, we'll teach you how to cook a good brisket...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

B
First brisket on my Brazos offset was not a success.
2
Replies
23
Views
2K
Bald-Headed John
B
S
K.I.S.S Brisket
Replies
5
Views
573
Big George's BBQ
Big George's BBQ
snadamo
Well, I pharked up a brisket
2
Replies
24
Views
3K
ssv3
ssv3
Headgear
New Stick Burner Help
Replies
16
Views
859
cayenne
cayenne
cayenne
First Brisket on the new BlueSmoke Smoker offset stick burner...
2
Replies
30
Views
2K
Hinds15
H
Back
Top