Feel like I’m in a slump with brisket....

[rovster]

So yesterday I cooked the SRF gold brisket and I’m a little disappointed in the results. Don’t get me wrong it was good eats for sure, but I was expecting better. I feel like the last few briskets I’ve done have turned out similar. I feel like I might be overthinking things and a little paranoid about overcooking. I’m super paranoid about torching steak but after pondering about it I think I’m letting that affect my brisket results.

When I first started brisket I struggled with bark but I feel like doneness was good. Flats had great bend and pull and reasonably moist. Now I feel like I’m doing a fantastic job on bark but flats are not as tender as I would like and don’t pull like I’d like.

The bark on yesterday’s brisket was phenomenal! The flat was good but not as tender as I wanted. It pulled but with some effort.

I feel like I’m pulling early for rear of “torching” it if you follow my steak analogy. When I think about it I’m wondering if I’m better off going slightly over than under? I know over will yield a crumbly flat or am I off base here. Yesterday the flat was probing tender in most spots but in the middle had some resistance. Temps on the flat were between 203 and 210 in different areas of flat.

What say you guys? Let it roll next time and err on the side of over doneness? The one good thing here is my bark game is on point now lol!

Oh and I’m wrapping with BP now my first few I wrapped with foil.

Thanks!


Oh and pics....
https://i.imgur.com/dDsANCGh.jpg

Bark was stupid good...
https://i.imgur.com/XpmMZkMh.jpg

[rovster]

Oh in case someone asks I cooked at around 230 to set bark and bumped to 275 once wrapped until finished. Rested 2-3 hrs...

[ssv3]

You said it. Overthinking and undercooking a tad bit is all I see. Everything else is on point.

I also undercooked my first SRF Gold a tad bit and it's how you exactly described it. I corrected it after that. It's just like any other brisket. It's done when it's done.

http://i.imgur.com/QokMN9Dh.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/QSqXDb7h.jpg

[Monkey Uncle]

I'm probably in the minority here, but if I had to pick slightly over vs. slightly under, I'd go with slightly under. As someone who has overcooked his share of briskets in the pursuit of probe tenderness, I can say for certain that I don't care for the dry, crumbly texture of a brisket that's been taken a little too far. I'd rather it still have a little bit of chew and be moist. Of course the holy grail is perfect doneness.

[BlueHaze]

That bark looks excellent. What temp did you wrap ? If the probe penetrates the meat easy The temp for me is around 205-210. You are in that zone.

[rovster]

I wrapped around 165. It stalled out around 145 which is weird and took forever for it to get to 165. I let it run because I had time and I was going for a well developed bark. The probe penetrated some of the flat pretty easy but some parts still had what I’d call slight resistance. The point was butter and I almost feel like the point was slightly over because it was difficult to slice without it falling apart. I set my probe to 202 to start checking and when I checked the fist time some parts were 202 but found some areas 195 so I repositioned probe and let it run. When I checked the second time I still felt a little resistance so let it go a little longer. When I checked the third time there was ever so slight resistance (aka not buttah) but felt close. That’s when my paranoia set in and I knew I would be resting for a couple hours so I called it. In retrospect I could have let it go another 30-45 min but se la vie!

To be clear some parts of flat were 208-212 the lowest temp I registered on my thermapen when I pulled was 203 but it was in 1 spot.

[Burnt at Both Endz]

Yeah, brisket cooking is a journey!

Remember my first wagyu. Cooked it and a creekstone prime for a contest, like you, my wagyu was undercooked and the prime was spot on. turned the prime in for a third place call. My best advice to give for wagyu briskets is when you think they are done, give them another 20-30 minutes. They do have a different probe feel, in my humble opinion.

[Burnt at Both Endz]

I'm probably in the minority here, but if I had to pick slightly over vs. slightly under, I'd go with slightly under. As someone who has overcooked his share of briskets in the pursuit of probe tenderness, I can say for certain that I don't care for the dry, crumbly texture of a brisket that's been taken a little too far. I'd rather it still have a little bit of chew and be moist. Of course the holy grail is perfect doneness.

Dry and crumbly is more than a "little" overcooked!

[rovster]

I’ve only overdone a brisket once but wasn’t super overdone. Flat would separate if you jiggled it and have never done that since. It was not super dry and was still good. I feel like I need to take one that far again so I can recalibrate my brain!

[jzadski]

Yeah, brisket cooking is a journey!

Remember my first wagyu. Cooked it and a creekstone prime for a contest, like you, my wagyu was undercooked and the prime was spot on. turned the prime in for a third place call. My best advice to give for wagyu briskets is when you think they are done, give them another 20-30 minutes. They do have a different probe feel, in my humble opinion.

Not that I ever cooked a wagyu (yet) but, it stands to reason it would require more cook time due to the extra fat needing to render. Once I finally do get a wagyu I hope I remember this thread

[Monkey Uncle]

I wrapped around 165. It stalled out around 145 which is weird and took forever for it to get to 165. I let it run because I had time and I was going for a well developed bark. The probe penetrated some of the flat pretty easy but some parts still had what I’d call slight resistance. The point was butter and I almost feel like the point was slightly over because it was difficult to slice without it falling apart. I set my probe to 202 to start checking and when I checked the fist time some parts were 202 but found some areas 195 so I repositioned probe and let it run. When I checked the second time I still felt a little resistance so let it go a little longer. When I checked the third time there was ever so slight resistance (aka not buttah) but felt close. That’s when my paranoia set in and I knew I would be resting for a couple hours so I called it. In retrospect I could have let it go another 30-45 min but se la vie!

To be clear some parts of flat were 208-212 the lowest temp I registered on my thermapen when I pulled was 203 but it was in 1 spot.

This is why I stopped trying to cook to probe tenderness. I could never get the feel of it, and I ended up overcooking briskets because I thought they weren't probe tender yet. I just gave up and started cooking to 200-205 IT and calling it good (low and slow, unwrapped). I know that won't fly in a competition, but it makes some pretty darn good backyard brisket.

[rovster]

This is why I stopped trying to cook to probe tenderness. I could never get the feel of it, and I ended up overcooking briskets because I thought they weren't probe tender yet. I just gave up and started cooking to 200-205 IT and calling it good (low and slow, unwrapped). I know that won't fly in a competition, but it makes some pretty darn good backyard brisket.

I hope my post does t come off as a complaint, like I said it was definitely hood eats. That said I’m a bit of a perfectionist and I’ve set my mind to reaching brisket nirvana! I’ve got a result in my head I’ve yet to create so I’ll keep trying until I get there. I learn a little from each cook and I feel the last 3-4 briskets I’ve done I’ve been working hard on bark development and this one was by far the best to date! The coarse salt and super coarse pepper along with the prolonged unwrapped time have the bark a distinct texture that I’ve been looking for. Now I gotta go to work on doneness. I’ll probably pick up another packer (not Wagyu) to cook in the next week or 2. I’m a man on a mission! I’ll settle for good but won’t stop until I’ve reached fantastic!

[rovster]

Couple more pics...
https://i.imgur.com/7YpynWfh.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/a1Kef7n.jpg

[BlueHaze]

That brisket looks delicious. Beautiful bark.

[Whumpa]

Maybe you are being to hard on yourself and setting an unrealistic goal. From your pictures that brisket looks very good. What did the people you shared it with think of it? I can only wish that mine looked that good.

[rovster]

Maybe you are being to hard on yourself and setting an unrealistic goal. From your pictures that brisket looks very good. What did the people you shared it with think of it? I can only wish that mine looked that good.

Thanks. Yes I’m hard on myself but that’s how we improve. Everyone said it was great but not sure if that’s them just being polite and appreciative. Venting here helps too! Honestly it was very good just the flat was “tighter” than I would have wanted. I assume “tight” is underdone so next brisket I’m going to ignore temp and not pull it until it’s all butter or obviously torched:-P