Dry Brisket

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boiler93

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Cooked my second brisket today and was satisfied with the way it probed, and the smoke ring but just wasn't as juicy after resting as I would like. Kids enjoyed it but i'm looking for more. Maybe that's why I enjoy the blood running out of my red meat so much! Suggestions please.


 
I'm in the same boat as you. I think a lot may have to do with the cut of meat. The choice packer I smoked overnight was better than my previous attempts. Did you inject at all? I skipped that step, but I think I'll revisit it next time. Just a straight up injection of beef broth. Also did you wrap or no?
 
No injection. Wrap for 1.5 hrs in some pecan syrup when the IT hit 178 then uncovered for the last hour or so. Might have to try an injection next time.
 
The rest was about 45 minutes wrapped in foil and placed in microwave while finishing up some ABT's. Did not temp at slicing. Could it be over cooked?
 
Pecan syrup? OOoohhhh..... I must look into this magical substance!

All kidding aside, (and correct me fellow brethren if I'm wrong) I think that there is a certain amount of "dryness" to even the best smoked brisket due to the very nature of the long cook time. It's a tall order I think to expect something that's been on a pit for over 12 hours to have a substantial amount of moisture. I think the tenderness is the most key.... I dunno. I'm kinda thinking out loud here.
 
yea the pecan syrup was a spur of the moment thing saw it in the fridge and it just called my name. Its definitely going on my next butt.
 
That brisket looks under cooked to me under cooking is the main reason for it being dry, injecting will not make a brisket moist, everything brisket needs to be moist is already in it you just need to bring it out. It needs to be cooked until the collagen melts from between the meat fibers. 178 deg internal is not even close this melting does not start until the IT reaches 185 and will continue through 200-210.
This is a slice from a Select grade packer Flat see the gaps in the fibers the collagen is melted making it moist& juicy
 
It has the look of undercooked to me as well. If you wrapped at 178F and went another hour, it was probably not cooked long enough. It does look like you were close too. Injecting with beef broth might help, obviously, injecting with a phosphate injection will help. But, it isn't necessary. A lot of it has to do with getting it to the right temperature.
 
+1 for the undercooked poll. We ritually take our brisket to 205-210 and if it probes like Hott butta I take it off, rest it foiled in a cooler till it cools to a IT of 140 which is the optimal slicing temp. Temp will only get you so far, cooking by feel will get you perfect every time. We cook our brisket in 6 hrs. As long as my vault is 300-350 I'm all good
 
Of course, the finished temperature range varies by how hot you are running your cooker. If you are running in the 225F to 250F range the finished temperature may be as low as 190F, sometimes even lower. Hotter you go, the higher the finished temperature ends up being. None of this matters if you cook by feel, but, I understand that some folks need that IT to feel comfortable.
 
I agree with the undercooked. What I aslo try to do after cooking/rest, is after slicing, keep the brisket together (or connected). This helps keep moisture and juices locked in and slows the briskets natural tendacy to dry out. Its kinda like an avacado (after slicing) and keeping the center bulb ball together with the avacado to avoid browning.
 
Ok, It may have been under cooked, but it probed tender when I took it off the grill but i don't mind cooking it longer. I did NOT use the IT to check for doneness. When it hit 178 I foiled and if you read above it cooked for another 1.5 hrs foiled and then the last hour unfoiled so that was an additional 2.5 hrs before letting it rest for 45 minutes. The cook temperature was between 240-265. Thanks for all the help, I just don't need any more help about IT's but maybe with PROBING.
As far as the pecan syrup, I just wanted to offset some of the heat and mess around with a new flavor profile. As I also stated the kids loved it, I'm just looking for something juicer so I will work on my probing skills.
 
when i perfected my feel cooking about 6 months ago, all i used was looks and a shiskabob stick. i repeated the process till i could do it with my eyes closed and used time and temp as kind of a basis. it really helps you in the long run to practice this method, because once you got it, you always got it, just like riding a bike
 
Astrobeerman said:
I agree with the undercooked. What I aslo try to do after cooking/rest, is after slicing, keep the brisket together (or connected). This helps keep moisture and juices locked in and slows the briskets natural tendacy to dry out. Its kinda like an avacado (after slicing) and keeping the center bulb ball together with the avacado to avoid browning.
Click to expand...
This is also another valid point that I really believe in, "never slice more than you need" I shake my head every time I see a pic of a brisket all sliced up.
 
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