2nd brisket.....frustrated

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VisaliaIPA

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Well this is the 2nd brisket I decided to do after I messed up the first one. Lessons learned from the first cook was my Traeger temps were way off what the actual temps were. Temps were off 35-30 degrees. Traeger reading 250 and actual 290.

This time I kept that in mind and set it at 225 and put it on at 0500 this morning. Went to coffee and came home and noticed my digital thermometer was reading 265-277.

I turnd themTraeger down to 180.....I wish it had a 200° setting but it doesn't. At 180 it's reading about 225-230 then it dips as the pellets burn down to about 215. Then dumps pellets and goes up to 235 then stabilizes at 225.

This is my first pellet smoker so is this somewhat normal. I know it gonna burn a little hot when it first dumps ballets but it seems like huge swings.

Now the internal temp,of the brisket is about 130-160 in various areas and seems like it's cooking too fast..........and that's after almost 5 hours.
 
How much does your brisket weigh? 160 after 5 hours isn't too shabby at all.
 
Nothing wrong with running 265-275 grate temp. Let the cooker live where it needs to.
 
That's not bad, it will take a while to get to 190. I found that some cook faster than others. I stopped worrying about time frame a long time ago. The only thing I concern myself with is the target temp and allowing enough time for the meat to rest.
 
Plus, your brisket will hit a stall, don't worry about small things like that. Get your IT where you want it, allow it to rest and enjoy yourself
 
Tommyboy48 said:
That's not bad, it will take a while to get to 190. I found that some cook faster than others. I stopped worrying about time frame a long time ago. The only thing I concern myself with is the target temp and allowing enough time for the meat to rest.
Click to expand...

NEVER COOK A BRISKEY TO TEMP!!

PROBE TENDER THICKEST PART OF THE FLAT!!

comon man, behave!!!


:redface:
 
Temps swings ain't gonna hurt unless it's 75*-100* swings. Electric Smokers - even oven in your kitchen- temps bounce up n down as Element kicks on and off. Stickburner temps drop then climb when you add a split. Put it back on the 220* setting. 12-15 lb Selects Packers have been averaging 6.5-7 hrs in my UDS at 300*(ish) and the last one was a 15 lb Choice that went 10 hrs at 300*(ish).
Once they hit 160*'s IT they can stall for hrs and only climb a degree or two.
 
I don't get what you mean by cooking too fast. Some briskets are going to get to the stall point quicker than others, especially with temp swings, but the stall is where it all slows down.

As far as temperature, just cook at whatever temp the Traeger likes to cook at. Forget the staying at a, "low and slow" temperature if it's going to create a bunch of headaches.

As far as various areas the only place I really 'temp' on a brisket is the thickest part of the flat. My briskets come out purty. The only real challenge in getting a brisket right is not overcooking it in my opinion. You can get crumbly meat pretty quickly if you're pushing for it to be perfect and overshoot.

The common issue is generally undercooking though, for whatever reason.
 
Ok...I will be patient. I know most wrap it about 165ish then let it go until it's probe tender or right around 200 or so.............
 
No two pieces of meats cook the same.

Trust me, I've been where you are at. I tried to cook it like the last one, or adjust for things the last one did. Sometimes you can do that, but meat will cook the way it wants to cook. I have cooked two briskets at the same time on side by side WSMs. One was finished four hours before the other. They both were within two pounds of each other.

As other said, let the Traeger cook at what it wants.
 
You gotta finger the meat man!
Seriously cook in a zone let her drift 25 degrees up or down, and cook till tender like warm butter. I use my thermeter to probe and don't even look at IT. I do wrap in butcher paper after 4 hours check for tenderness 1 hour later and if not there every 30 mins. Let it rest for an hour or two and carve up only what you'll eat. Check out bludawg cooked a brisket thread. I followed his guidance and have been happy with my briskest.
 
VisaliaIPA said:
Ok...I will be patient. I know most wrap it about 165ish then let it go until it's probe tender or right around 200 or so.............
Click to expand...


Yep, and just remember a golden temp rule. "Low and slow" is 200-235º. So basically there's a thirty five degree difference that's easily allowed in any instance during your cook, and it's perfectly acceptable.

Like Smitty said if you're shooting for 200º and you're hitting 275º+ then there's an issue somewhere, but getting issues over a 10-20º difference is nothing to worry about. It's not even a blip on my radar. I think a lot of beginners have an issue with their cooks flying through.

My first brisket on a stick burner I wanted to cook at 250º, ended up hitting about 300º, and I just ran with it. Cooked until it got to probe tender, and then called it a day. My neighbors, my mother in law, her boyfriend, and my whole family raaaaved about the thing. Stressing over temps does no one any good.
 
I'm no expert at anything but one thing I've learned is to not fight your cooker. It'll have a temp it wants to cruise at and once you find it life gets easier.

Every pit is different so in time you'll learn yours.

Don't get too frustrated!!!
 
I appreciate the advice and more importantly the encouragement. One of the reasons I love this forum.......
 
Hang in there, as others have said, the temp isn't really that important. The final product can turn out great if cooked anywhere from 225 on up to hot and fast.

I will tell you that if you ever need to lock in a temperature, there are some variables on the traegers, at least there are on mine. The right hand side usually runs about 30-50 degrees hotter than the left hand side. If you have multiple probes, it isn't a bad idea to place them on different parts of the grate to see your differences. Also, if I am doing an over night cook or for some other reason leaving a Traeger unattended, I almost always use the 180 setting. Using this, the actual temp stays between 215 and 230. I love my traegers for what they are, but the thermometer, and even more so the digital temp aren't the most accurate.
 
See how this one turns out and then on the third one try hot and fast.
 
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