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strugs
05-28-2011, 10:53 PM
Fellow bretheren,
First shot at a brisket today. Started up my wsm 22" and threw a 10 lbs whole packer on at 02:40 this morning. Cooked at 230 to 260 (according to the lid therm as well as a maverick smoker probe on the grate). I also threw on a butt on the bottom rack (no sense wasting fuel, right). After doing lots of research on briskets on this and other sites, i expected it to be done around 2 pm, and i planned to foil it in a cooler and hold it over for dinner. Well, i started checking for doneness using a probe at around noon (maverick meat probe reading 183) but the meat was still gave a lot of resistance at the three locations i tried. Checked it again every hour, on the hour until now ( its almost 8 pm here on the wet coast) but aside from a few small locations near the thickest part where the flat overlaps the point, the meat is nowhere near the "like butter" resistance. The flat especially seems to be getting tougher as time goes on. I know i know, it is done when it is done, but when do i draw the line? I just foiled it and put it in the oven at 300 because i dont want to waste any more charcoal. Luckily the butt was cooked perfectly by 6 pm so dinner wasn't a total wash out.... Thanks in advance.

Meat Burner
05-28-2011, 10:59 PM
strugs, so you have has a small 10 lb packer on for 18 hours?

strugs
05-28-2011, 11:27 PM
strugs, so you have has a small 10 lb packer on for 18 hours?

yep.

strugs
05-28-2011, 11:29 PM
Update - it has now been in foil in the oven for over an hour, so I just checked it with a probe, and lo and behold - the probe gives little to no resistance in about 2/3 of the slab). So - did I just get a real stubborn one?

Meat Burner
05-28-2011, 11:42 PM
Hey strugs, sometimes it just doesn't make sense. I cooked a 5 lb flat for 15 hours. Sounds like you knew to check for tenderness. Good job bro.

Jburt
05-28-2011, 11:49 PM
Hey strugs, sometimes it just doesn't make sense. I cooked a 5 lb flat for 15 hours. Sounds like you knew to check for tenderness. Good job bro.

Well done, reminds me of my first cook after joining the Brethren and the crew got me through while I freaked out on the stall.

Trust the knowledge here, it's incredible.

strugs
05-28-2011, 11:57 PM
Well, I let it go another 30 minutes in the foil in the oven, and there was not much change in the tender vs not quite tender areas. Should I wait for the entire slab to be like butter or is 2/3 good enuf? Many thanks for the help.

landarc
05-29-2011, 12:03 AM
I would eat it. If you wrap it in foil and let it rest for 30 mins, it will be fine enough. Stubborn meat.

strugs
05-29-2011, 12:13 AM
I would eat it. If you wrap it in foil and let it rest for 30 mins, it will be fine enough. Stubborn meat.

Sounds like a good plan. Too bad I pigged out on the pulled pork a couple of hours ago - if I eat again tonight (slab is resting in foil inside my cooler as we speak), I am gonna have meat sweat induced dreams.....mmmmmm...meat sweats!

Another question for all of you - my slab was actually over trimmed by the butcher. I told him I was smoking it and I wanted the packer, but he basically removed almost all of the fat cap. I didn't specifically ask him to leave the cap on, as he always preps my butts for me and leaves a good layer of fat. Would this have caused my looooong cook? I would think that it would logically have the opposite effect, but what do I know?

landarc
05-29-2011, 12:22 AM
I would say no, I can't see any reason that no fat cap would lengthen the cook.