Epic brisket failure-help

jetmech1990 · Jul 31, 2011

Hi all first post and I wish it was better news,
I tried brisket for the first time last night. After alot of research I went for it. I injected with apple juice, brown sugar, salt and a dash of worcester. Applied rub and let sit. I use a large green egg, and a creamic grill store rack, and a DigiQ DX. Placed the (8lb before trimming USDA choice from Costco) brisket on top rack 6", and drip pan under, and stone on lower level. Pecan chunks on and set DigiQ to 225 and went to bed a few hours later. At 12 hours I pulled it off.(too early? just had a bad feeling about it) Internal temp was 175, and it sat there for hours, I woke up and checked it through the night, also spritzed it with apple juice.

Now the bad part, it was so dry and tough, I just threw it away, wasn't even worth chopped BBQ. What happened? Why are my temps stagnating at 175? (going to check probe calibration today) I know there is a plateau and I saw it I think. Should it be room temp going on or refer temp. Please help, Thanks in advance

BBQ Grail · Jul 31, 2011

My guess based on the information provided is that you didn't cook it long enough. Although cooking by temp, especially on briskets, is not the best way it's certainly an adequate way to guess doneness. And 175 is way under cooked. You're going to need to get that brisket somewhere around 195 to 205 (normally, but again temp is not the way to measure doneness).

Others will chime in here...

MilitantSquatter · Jul 31, 2011

Agreed.

jetmech1990 · Jul 31, 2011

So during the cooking process it gets tough and dry to tender and juicy? So maybe this is where I am getting mind tricked, and I don't understand the piece of meat. I read from 6 hours to 20 hours on cooks. Hope I was just premature

R2Egg2Q · Jul 31, 2011

Pitmaster T put together this: http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=109807

Check out the Tutorials & Wisdom area towards the bottom. Bigabyte's Basic Brisket Tutorial is linked there and has guided many to cooking brisket.

I agree with BBQ Grail's assessment. I cooked 2 packer briskets last weekend and one hit the "like buttah" stage at 203 and the other at 206. I provided temps just to provide a ball park target but as Grail mentioned, you really shouldn't cook brisket to finish based solely on internal temp.

Ron_L · Jul 31, 2011

You didn't mention the Egg temperature so it's hard to tell if 12 hours was long enough or not, but I agree with the esteemed Mr. Grail. It doesn't sound like it broke through the plateau. here is a point where the big cuts like butts and briskets stall and the internal temp stops rising and can even drop a little. This is when the magic happens. The internal collagen and connective tissues are rendering and that can take a while.

gtr · Jul 31, 2011

^^^what they said. I think the #1 cause of tough brisket is undercooking. People have a hard time with it because it's counterintuitive to cook the hell out of something and expect it to be tender.

landarc · Jul 31, 2011

There is a thing called the stall. It is that point when the collagen is breaking down. It is also the point when the moisture in the meat is changing from being water and fat based to collagen based, which means that it does go from juicy to dry to moist, I think this is a differentiation that is not all that important to understand. But, you do need to relearn that temperature is a guidelines, in the end, feel really makes it easier to tell when a brisket is done. Poke it with a thermometer probe or skewer to feel if it goes in smoothly with little resistance.

BTW, you can always use an undercooked brisket for chile.

bigabyte · Jul 31, 2011

Didn't cook long enough. Tough and dry is a definite indication of being undercooked. I don't think I've ever seen a brisket done at 175 either.

jetmech1990 · Jul 31, 2011

egg temp was a solid 225-230 the whole cook only dropping to spritz with apple juice looks -like back to the store next weekend to try again, thanks for the input

BBQ Grail · Jul 31, 2011

jetmech1990 said:
egg temp was a solid 225-230 the whole cook only dropping to spritz with apple juice

The spritz is not necessary. If you injected and rubbed that's all the flavor necessary. Don't open the lid...

gtr · Jul 31, 2011

BBQ Grail said:
The spritz is not necessary. If you injected and rubbed that's all the flavor necessary. Don't open the lid...

^^^^tattoo the bolded part on yer forearm^^^^

Epic brisket failure-help

jetmech1990

Guest

BBQ Grail

somebody shut me the fark up.

MilitantSquatter

Moderator

jetmech1990

Guest

R2Egg2Q

is One Chatty Farker

Ron_L

Administrator

gtr

somebody shut me the fark up.

landarc

somebody shut me the fark up.

bigabyte

somebody shut me the fark up.

jetmech1990

Guest

BBQ Grail

somebody shut me the fark up.

gtr

somebody shut me the fark up.

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