Brisket shredded

[BriGreentea]

Last week I decided to do an overnight brisket cook which I've done a few times though get little sleep.

I decided to go with fat side down on my WSM which tried before and turned out great. That one was about an 8 hour cook...6 hours then wrapped in butcher paper for 2 hours more or less then rested for an hour.

This one I went 10 hours and wrapped for 2 hours. I've done a 12 hour cook a couple times and turned out perfect but those were fat side down.
After an hour and a half on my cutting board still wrapped in the paper temp dropped to about 170-180 and took it out, flipped it over and noticed the grain was starting to pull apart. The bark was extremely hard and I could not cut the flat across the grain and even my sharp straight blade couldn't cut it so it just sliced with the grain and still shredded.

Is it because the long time of the cook along with the heat coming up did this to my brisket? I know the last time I did a long cook for 10 plus hours fat side up I sprayed the bark to keep it soft before wrapping it in the paper but never did it again.

I guess I should not smoke another one fat side up? Give up on smoking it too long? Rest it for even longer?

[sudsandswine]

I see lots of mention of times here, but nothing really about temp...at what temp did you wrap it and at what temp did you pull it from the smoker?

It sounds like you overcooked it based on your description. While the probe test should be your ultimate guide, internal temp can be a good indicator of when you're approaching done-ness....definitely don't ever cook to a specific time/duration though. If they came out well before "cooking for 8 hours" you probably just got lucky.

[Czarbecue]

I’ve always done fat up on my WSM and had no problems. The heat is a very good question to ask.

[jermoQ]

The shredding part is cooking too long. If the bark was as hard as you said, then your heat may have been hitting too directly and burned the bark. I had that happen with my UDS, when I didnt flip the brisket and had my temp around 290 or so. Bark was crisp.

[LYU370]

Sounds overcooked. What temp was it when you pulled it?

[IamMadMan]

I would agree with the others, if your brisket is shredding, you have probably over-cooked it.


Keep in mind that no two briskets are alike. Even if you find two identical briskets, they will cook differently due to the difference in animals. Then if you try to compare previous cooks with this one, you have differences in outside temperature and humidity which can slightly alter your cook times.



As BluDawg says "You can not cook your brisket to a specific temperature and or a given period of time and call it done!!!!"

Every piece of meat is different, so cooking by temperature or by time alone should not be your method of determining when the meat is done.


Probing a brisket for being done isn't difficult if you don't overthink the process.

There is no special or magic probe to use, just pick one type of probe and stick with it. I use a bamboo skewer to test for being done.

It really isn't a matter of a specific type of probe to use for testing, but more of a matter of experience with a successful cook, that one understands what they are looking for in terms of feel. Once you get one right you'll know.

To put it into words, some say "it's like a hot knife into butter". I tend to disagree, simply because there is a slight bit of resistance when you probe. As another Brethren put it; "I would say it's more similar to the feel of probing a ripe alvacado after the skin is pierced".



Just a slight resistance as it smoothly pushes into the brisket.

Probe the point to practice for that probe tender feeling. When you get close to that with the thickest part of the flat it's ready.

https://youtu.be/t9UILZf0obk