Dry brisket again, what am I doing wrong?

[dgassaway]

Thanks guys for all the help, I'll do another soon and try watching my time and resting it longer.

IGOLF2 may have the best suggestion. Just make sure your guests are well lubricated. Enough lubrication and they'll eat anything.

Thanks,

[MOS95B]

I just gotta add, my 13 pounder this weekend only took 6 hours. Didn't have a thermometer anywhere near it, though.

I just used the tip I learned here. After about 4 hours, I started poking it with a skewer every hour or so. When it slid right in, it was done.

[warren]

you can inject it or brine it or use a mop sauce

[barbefunkoramaque]

I stopped reading here because this is a pretty good response.

First of all... I don't think you should post pictures of briskets on here with smoke rings that have been enhanced in Photo Shop. Seriously, you expect us to believe that was the real smoke ring... too perfect.

Now, I TOTALLY agree with the time aspect. If its taking ten hours to get the IT temp right we know two things... one, throw away your probe or cut off the electronic portion of it. There is a direct correlation between the failures in brisket posted on here and the level of detail there is in the IT temp data.

The Brisket was probably done much earlier.

I think FIRST you should get another one of those flats and go and do my ENTRY level Experiment...

http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/sh...et+night+train

It is NOT a smoker experiment.... But crucial to understanding the proper texture and moisture level attainable for Brisket and also what you should try and duplicate on your smoker.

Now the flat itself - yes you can make a great flat BBQ but its more expensive this way and you have so many things against you. fat content, age is indeterminable, left or right side is harder to tell, but you will need either FOIL or higher temps.

On a UDS is even harder... Not where I would start out at if I wanted to make some good brisket quickly.

Once again - nothing wrong with a flat but harder... i liken it (but not entirely) to trying to smoke a whole hog instead of chosing a pork butt instead. Buit if you're gonna do it - Like if your gonna go out and punch a hole in a hot stripper, its best to use some protection. For the stripper you'll need a condom and then you can go scribble all over her. For the flat you'll need a fat cap or foil or higher temps to protect or limit the amount of exposure.

Originally Posted by KC_Bobby

Rest it for a good hour. Did you inject prior to cooking or add in any liquid into the foil? Next time inject a bit of beef broth and add about a cup of it when you foil.

10+ hours also seems like a long time for just a flat, especially on a UDS. UDS users????

[barbefunkoramaque]

Originally Posted by warren

you can inject it or brine it or use a mop sauce

These are not a good ideas at your level.

The brine, forget it

The injection (treats the symptom not solve the problem - and for those that want to go off half cocked by me saying this) You are probably successful because you are using the injection after YOU HAVE MASTERED THE PROCESS

Inject a flat AFTER you have mastered the time and heat and rub and you will have something excellent.

Also, of course there are some who don't know about brisket because of their regional areas. In other words, your brisket may be the best in you have ever had but then that is subject to what you have had.

Mopping will add to the disaster of dried out meat. Unless you are doing open pit cue. Mopping will mean MORE time in the pit making up for the heat and moisture loss you created. We have discussed this at length here.

I hope I have not offended anyone that thinks they are using these processes correctly - the poster intended.

Sincerely,

P

[barbefunkoramaque]

Originally Posted by dgassaway

Thanks guys for all the help, I'll do another soon and try watching my time and resting it longer.

IGOLF2 may have the best suggestion. Just make sure your guests are well lubricated. Enough lubrication and they'll eat anything.

Thanks,

Lubrication is good for the stripper too.

[KC_Bobby]

Holy chit, something I said was BBQfunky tolerable!

[Bamabuzzard]

If you smoke your brisket at high enough temperature to ensure that the zone around the meat stays at 230 or so, the fat on top begins to crackle and pop and essentially mop that brisket with a FILM of grease that bastes it continuously. When fat is on the bottom, the fat film is still carried upward by natural heat movement, although less efficiently, but you get an added benefit that your flat typically cooks faster (thereby getting done closer to the point’s time) in this position with minimal drying. The closer you try to get to 212 the odds are at some point your brisket will STOP in the process for a moment until the temp gets above 212 again. Target House temp at 270, and smoker temp average of 240s give or take 10 degrees either way and you have NO problem... less drying too.

When you don’t open the pit for ANYTHING you ensure that ZONE keeps its integrity longer. Basically the environment your brisket is in is a moist, ever so slightly pressurized, greasy and lightly smoky and stabilized heated zone. The meat as well, its temperature serves to combat the zone as well. This is why UDS and Eggs put out some pretty good Q. Essentially your smoker is like a huge foil tent when you don’t peek and just let things be…. Not as aggressive as foil, but pretty good.

So basically this is the crux of doing a brisket "right"?

[barbefunkoramaque]

Yes - what wonderful prose. But therein is why packers are so much easier...

I was speaking of packers there.

Higher mass.... more room for different variables.

the Mop thing was intended for open pits where the temp of the top portion of meat was subjected to dry cool air all the time.

Outside of this

The benefit of a mop (if made strong) is the introduction of flavors and the reaction those flavors have on the meat... however the application of the mop, even while heated, will disturb the surrounding environment to a significant extent to reduce cooking time and subject the meat to even more drying (if smoking at low low temps)

In essence, you betta have the mother of all mops if you think your'e gonna improve things.

Adjust your rub and the mop is not needed even for the second factor (taste).

This is for brisket though, I am speaking for brisket.

[Bamabuzzard]

Originally Posted by barbefunkoramaque

Yes - what wonderful prose. But therein is why packers are so much easier...

I was speaking of packers there.

Higher mass.... more room for different variables.

the Mop thing was intended for open pits where the temp of the top portion of meat was subjected to dry cool air all the time.

Outside of this

The benefit of a mop (if made strong) is the introduction of flavors and the reaction those flavors have on the meat... however the application of the mop, even while heated, will disturb the surrounding environment to a significant extent to reduce cooking time and subject the meat to even more drying (if smoking at low low temps)

In essence, you betta have the mother of all mops if you think your'e gonna improve things.

Adjust your rub and the mop is not needed even for the second factor (taste).

This is for brisket though, I am speaking for brisket.

If my smoker isn't big enough to house an entire packer what is the correct way to cut one so I can put one piece on one rack and one on the other?

[barbefunkoramaque]

Originally Posted by Bamabuzzard

If my smoker isn't big enough to house an entire packer what is the correct way to cut one so I can put one piece on one rack and one on the other?

I think Thirdeye said it... trim the fat layers between the point and the flat to such an extent that there is fat left on both portions.

maybe a little more favoring the flat.

[Crüe-B-Cüe]

Originally Posted by barbefunkoramaque

Also, of course there are some who don't know about brisket because of their regional areas. In other words, your brisket may be the best in you have ever had but then that is subject to what you have had.

That was my problem when I first started. I had never had brisket until the first one I cooked. I had absolutely nothing to go by. I ran across a post about a seared brisket. You sear it over high heat then cook it in a foil pan and eventually cover it. It turned out tender and juicy, but I was missing the great bark and smokey flavor that I wanted. That's when I started trying to get that level of tenderness and moisture without the searing, the pans and the foil. Being in the area I'm in and havig to work mostly with flats, it's been a long road. But I can now turn out consistently good brisket. Or at least good to me since I have still not had any other brisket than my own. I was coming to Houston this weekend for the Mötley Crüe show, but had to change my plans. I was looking forward to trying to find some good brisket while there.

[Ron_L]

Originally Posted by dgassaway

Once removed from the foil my internal temp dropped to 170ish again so I left it on without the foil until I reached 194°

I am curious why you did this. It was already up to 194 and it probed easily, so why put it back in to cook more? That is probably what dried it out. As long as it is above 140 when you take it out of the foil, slice it and enjoy!

Injecting and some extra fat it the fat cap was trimmed of can't help, either.

[Bamabuzzard]

Now I'm just waiting on the rebuttal of the smoke rings being "photo shopped". Are they doctored? Will he admit it? Tune in for the latest...

[Saiko]

Originally Posted by Ron_L

I am curious why you did this. It was already up to 194 and it probed easily, so why put it back in to cook more? That is probably what dried it out. As long as it is above 140 when you take it out of the foil, slice it and enjoy!

Injecting and some extra fat it the fat cap was trimmed of can't help, either.

I think what the OP was talking about was the initial temp reading he got of 194 when it was foiled. Don't know what causes it, but you do get these elevated temp readings on briskets when they are foiled, that wander back down once you remove the foil. Don't know what causes this, I've always wondered. My guess is the layer of hot steam over the meat has a lot to do with it.

It sounded like it wasn't probe tender at this point, it wasn't till later that it was. Course I'm speaking for the OP, but reading back through his post I believe that is what happened.