Help! Brisket! What am I doing wrong?

[thegizzard]

Nevermind. I just read the EDICT.

LOL.

[landarc]

Bark forms from time, not the cooker you are using. If you use enough rub and let it ride until you start to get some of the darker color, then wrap and go into the oven, you will still have bark. If you do what Boshizzle does, and run a fork across the meat side and work the rub into the grain of the meat, you will get a better surface texture. Still, that looks like good meat. I wrap with butcher paper and get a fine bark.

This is a fairly simple brisket cook, wrapped in paper, and you can see the bark there...

[thegizzard]

Awesome smoke ring. Was that a packer?

[dano]

Injection? BP around 165 and start checking at 190. 203 is a sweet spot for me.
Better cuts will also help.

[G$]

gizzard, that second one looks nice. I want to also mention to make sure you cut exactly perpendicular to the gran through the whole flat.

[mawil1013]

Oh, that is a sight! ;)

Let me start out with, if it ain't a packer cut, it ain't gonna be the best thing going, at least without alot of work.

Also, the picture picture of what your shoot'n for appears to be the Point section of a packer cut.

If you can't find a packer, it looks like you'll need to brine first, my suggestion is to make a batch of Walter Jetton mop, and soak your flat for two days, three max. Don't cook directly over coals, cook indirectly. Also, the moment the internal temp. Of the brisket reaches 190 degrees F, take it off, wrap in foil, use a small igloo cooler, lay a fluffy towel in first, then well wrapped brisket, another fluffy towel on top to reduce air space, close up and take out up to 12 hours later. That will fix you up.

[landarc]

That shot is of a select packer, the front left slices are point, the back slices are flat. I was pretty pleased with the overall cook, I felt the flat could have run a little longer in the heat.

Thanks for the compliment. I have had a pretty good run of late. I really think looking at the meat you are buying is the best place to start. If you must buy a flat, really look for a fat cap, look for a size around 5 pounds minimum, and you want a flat with some thickness. Any flat less than 2" thick is going to be hard to cook up right. The more consistent the flat thickness is, edge to edge, the easier the cook will go. I will not buy flats less than Choice grade, unless there is marbling telling me otherwise.

One thing to remember about grading too, meat is not graded after cutting, the carcass is given a grade after it is hung. From there, all cuts carry that grading, regardless of which cut, or how much marbling there is. This means, you can find a great packer brisket off of a Select grade animal and vice versa.