First Time Brisket

Cook it until it's probe tender, not 'till it reaches a certain temp.
There's no law that says you have to cook at 225F.

jwald said:

Hi
New guy here
Smoked my first Brisket last weekend. Had a little trouble keeping temp down. I had a remote thermometer and I wrapped it after temp got to 165. That took almost 4 hours. But the temp got to 195 about 3 hours later.
The Brisket was 6.5 pounds. It came out pretty good. Had a good smoke ring. Wasnt tuff but not real tender either. Did it not cook long enough, too fast or what. I have a home made offset smoker. Any suggestions on keeping temp at 225. most of the time it was 260 or higher. I started out with too chimneys of charcoal and put oak logs on top of the charcoal.
any suggestions welcome. I did some ribs the week before. They were ok but not fantastic. :wacko:

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Yeah, internal temps are good tools to use for estimating when to probe for tenderness and doneness but at the end of the day the meat is done when it's done! As for your pit temp control, what kind of fuel are you using? Offsets are designed for stick burning and if you're using charcoal it's probably igniting too quickly and creating too much heat. Start with a chimney of charcoal and a couple of small splits to create a small, hot fire but after it's started there is no more charcoal going into the fire. Let the charcoal and the splits ash over to create a bed of coals and feed it a split every 45 min or so to maintain it. This is the best way to control temps in an offset. Keep the exhaust damper open and the intake should be about 1/3 to 1/2 open. If you're having to choke way down on the intake, your fire is too big and choking down on the intake will also lead to smoldering wood and creosote on the meat which is bitterness. So start small and add fuel if you need to, it's a lot easier to do that than to take fuel back out once it's already ignited. Every cooker is different, especially when they're homemade so you may have to play with it but you'll find the winning combination with a few more cooks!:thumb:

This thread is useless without pictures! (Particularly of your home made smoker.)

If it wants to run at 260°, that's not a bad temperature at which to cook!

Welcome to the BBQ-Brethren.

I cook at 300+ you can't go by meat temp.
BBQ RULES FOR SUCCESS

YOU CAN NOT COOK GREAT BBQ ON A CONSISTENT BASIS BY COOKING TO AN INTERNAL TEMPERATURE OR BY TIME ( XXX MIN PER LB) YOU MUST COOK BY FEEL! For Brisket it must pass the poke test(probe like soft butter in the thickest part of the Flat) Ribs pass the Bend Test, Pork Butts when the bone wiggles loose. These are the only reliable methods to ensure that your cook will be a success. There is one exception to these rules and that is Poultry which must achieve and internal temp of 170 deg in the thickest part of the thigh and 165 in the breast.