Brisket Failure - Please Help

[Norm]

Depending on the brisket I cut about 1/3 of the flat to grind for burger. That leaves a bit more uniform thickness of what's left.

Sometimes I wrap with paper but it's not really butcher paper which can sometimes have a coating on one side. Mine is similar to the paper bags you get in some grocery stores. When I do wrap with it the paper is soaked but no liquid is inside.

It is not braised in the typical sense of the method. You hold a bit more moisture and heat so it cooks a bit faster. If solid bark is your thing then do it nekid and flip a couple of times.

No idea of what went wrong the 1st try but keep at it and you'll get the hang of it. Good luck!

 

[el luchador]

I make braised briskets and smoked briskets. You don’t need to braise it and you don’t even need to wrap it. Just because you don’t know how to smoke one doesn’t mean others can’t learn.

lol.

Aaron Franklin also doesn't know how to smoke since he wraps his briskets.

Teach us Shifu

LMAO.

 

[smoke ninja]

Depending on the brisket I cut about 1/3 of the flat to grind for burger. That leaves a bit more uniform thickness of what's left.

Sometimes I wrap with paper but it's not really butcher paper which can sometimes have a coating on one side. Mine is similar to the paper bags you get in some grocery stores. When I do wrap with it the paper is soaked but no liquid is inside.

It is not braised in the typical sense of the method. You hold a bit more moisture and heat so it cooks a bit faster. If solid bark is your thing then do it nekid and flip a couple of times.

No idea of what went wrong the 1st try but keep at it and you'll get the hang of it. Good luck!

Good advice. If its not gonna cook up into good brisket then don't cook it.

Flat makes decent jerky too.

 

[Burnt at Both Endz]

I make braised briskets and smoked briskets. You don’t need to braise it and you don’t even need to wrap it. Just because you don’t know how to smoke one doesn’t mean others can’t learn.

I too was taught that you need to learn how to smoke brisket, before you start making pot roast, or you'll never understand what brisket is all about.

 

[Burnt at Both Endz]

lol.

Aaron Franklin also doesn't know how to smoke since he wraps his briskets.

Teach us Shifu

LMAO.

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?...03FEDF59A62C9E4F5A5D03FEDF59A62C&&FORM=VRDGAR

 

[CentralOhioBBQ]

I make braised briskets and smoked briskets. You don’t need to braise it and you don’t even need to wrap it. Just because you don’t know how to smoke one doesn’t mean others can’t learn.

Lol.

Can def smoke a naked brisket all the way home to a perfect finish. Also, when someone wraps midway or near the end of the cook, they still smoked the brisket. This is universally agreed upon.

 

[aks801]

Personally I think the OP should go back to square one. MINIMIZE the variables. Get a baseline. Like, no injecting, no wrapping. Do a good trim. Put the brisket in while it is still cold (like, take it out of the fridge to trim while the smoker is coming up to temp). Rub it THEN (not the night before). Decide on whatever rub you want to start with, whether it is SPOG, just S&P, store-bought, whatever. Take good notes. But mainly keep it simple.

See how it turns out. Think about what you might like to change, be it the rub or anything else, but the next cook only change ONE thing. And keep on going from there, taking copious notes each time. You'll find what works for YOU and your "customers".

Enjoy the ride, hombre.

 

[m-fine]

Lol.

Can def smoke a naked brisket all the way home to a perfect finish. Also, when someone wraps midway or near the end of the cook, they still smoked the brisket. This is universally agreed upon.

Yeah, but people who don’t know how to braise or smoke might think that wrapping in paper is braising. You could make an argument that it is semi-steaming, maybe.

 

[chingador]

To say you must braise brisket is extremely misleading. The majority of the cooking world equates braising with cooking in liquid in a pot. Granted, wrapping in foil will achieve the same result. Wrapping in paper is kind of the best of both worlds.

Pepper stout beef? Now that is some braising.

And I agree with everybody who said the brisket was overcooked. Could have had temps too high. I have cooked many of brisket on my Primo. It is a small world inside a cooker regardless. The meat is very close to the fire. If your thermo isn't dialed in you could be cooking much hotter than you may think.

 

[CentralOhioBBQ]

Yeah, but people who don’t know how to braise or smoke might think that wrapping in paper is braising. You could make an argument that it is semi-steaming, maybe.

Roflmao. :eusa_clap

 

[BigKing]

Agree with it being overcooked and the possibility of a faulty temp probe.


I don't have BGE experience, but I've been doing briskets regularly now for the last little bit here. I think I fall under the "aggressive" camp when it comes to trimming to the point I'm now trimming the fat cap off of pork butts as well. I almost always wrap so maybe that helps me get away with it, but I would suggest trimming more of the fat if you aren't going to eat it.



You now know how much of it renders so you have a better baseline for how much to trim on your next one. My first brisket was dry but I think it was under cooked as I was a slave to temp and not probe tenderness. I will not be surprised when you let us know that you nailed your next brisket cook.

 

[Bob C Cue]

As much as I hate to post anything that supports EL :grin:, I just happened to see this on Amazingribs.com so it must be true:

"The Texas Crutch is a technique for speeding the cooking and moisturizing the meat. The concept is that you smoke for a few hours, and when the meat hits about 150°F, wrap it tightly in heavy-duty foil or untreated butcher paper (never plastic wrap) and let it braise and steam in its own juices in the crutch in the cooker. Some folks wrap at 150°F, others when the stall kicks in, others when the color looks right to them."

 

[Bob C Cue]

I too was taught that you need to learn how to smoke brisket, before you start making pot roast, or you'll never understand what brisket is all about.

Mrs.Scmidt 4th grade science class. Am I right?

 

[The Wookiee]

Personally I think the OP should go back to square one. MINIMIZE the variables. Get a baseline. Like, no injecting, no wrapping. Do a good trim. Put the brisket in while it is still cold (like, take it out of the fridge to trim while the smoker is coming up to temp). Rub it THEN (not the night before). Decide on whatever rub you want to start with, whether it is SPOG, just S&P, store-bought, whatever. Take good notes. But mainly keep it simple.

See how it turns out. Think about what you might like to change, be it the rub or anything else, but the next cook only change ONE thing. And keep on going from there, taking copious notes each time. You'll find what works for YOU and your "customers".

Enjoy the ride, hombre.

Agree. Start basic; micro-tinker from there...

 

[smoke ninja]

I too was taught that you need to learn how to smoke brisket, before you start making pot roast, or you'll never understand what brisket is all about.

I learned the other way around

http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=57815&highlight=night+train+brisket

I cooked a pot roast to learn the feel

 

[LYU370]

What is this wrapping, braising thing that you talk about. Only thing I've ever "wrapped" was PSB & beef cheeks for Barbacoa.

 

[el luchador]

As much as I hate to post anything that supports EL :grin:, I just happened to see this on Amazingribs.com so it must be true:

"The Texas Crutch is a technique for speeding the cooking and moisturizing the meat. The concept is that you smoke for a few hours, and when the meat hits about 150°F, wrap it tightly in heavy-duty foil or untreated butcher paper (never plastic wrap) and let it braise and steam in its own juices in the crutch in the cooker. Some folks wrap at 150°F, others when the stall kicks in, others when the color looks right to them."

:thumb:

do you own a big expensive stick burner? or a hunsaker? :wink:

 

[Demosthenes9]

Some of the responses in this thread are absolutely hilarious and amazing. Apologies to Meathead, but wrapping in either butcher paper or foil is not the same as braising. In a braise, you add liquid so that it is about half the height of the meat and there's plenty of air above the meat in the sealed pot. The liquid is a more efficient conductor of heat as is the steam that gets trapped in the pot and has room to circulate.


When you wrap a brisket, you don't pour in a couple of cups of broth. You simply take the brisket out of the smoker, lay it on the foil or paper, wrap tightly and put it back on the smoker. Yes, there will be some steam and liquid, but it's not the same thing. You're basically creating a maximum humidity environment that slows/prevents evaporative cooling.



Second, you don't have to wrap a brisket. People have been smoking them successfully for years without doing so.



Third, brisket flat specifically doesn't require a braise to be cooked successfully. Put the thing in an indirect heat zone and just cook it until it's done. It will be fine. The moisture will come from the breakdown of the collagen/connective tissue.

 

[Bob C Cue]

Thus continues the "Great Braising Controversy of 2018."

 

[el luchador]

Third, brisket flat specifically doesn't require a braise to be cooked successfully. Put the thing in an indirect heat zone and just cook it until it's done. It will be fine. The moisture will come from the breakdown of the collagen/connective tissue.

brisket can be cooked successfully without braising. thus a braise is not a requirement.

braising greatly improves the chances of success for beginners and seasoned pros alike.