Help!!! Overcooking Brisket!!!

I’m not an expert on brisket but what you described almost sounds undercooked.

If it were over cooked it would be falling apart like pot roast. What you described sounds like undercooked. Try going to 203° next time and check for tenderness then. Since I started going to 203° I’ve been rewarded with brisket that probes like butter and is tender and juicy every time.

When you wrap it after the cook let it rest a couple hours before slicing or else it will dry out shortly after slicing.

I always photograph the knife perpendicular to the grain before putting the salt and pepper on. Since I’ve started doing that all of my brisket have been cut properly. Other people will cut the first slice to square off the brisket before seasoning so they know what way to cut.

The point grain does run in a different direction. If you separate the point from the flat after cooking by cutting along the fat line, you can look at the bottom of the point to see the grain before slicing.

Arron Franklin has a YouTube video series on making and slicing brisket.

Chris

Try wrapping at butcher paper at around the start of the stall around 165-170. That should help a LOT. It will help preserve moisture and protect it from the heat. Dont run naked till you can do wrapped briskets. Wrapped is easier in my opinion.

Also any chance you're UNDER cooking it and you just think you're over cooking it? Almost sounds to me like you're UNDER cooking it.
1) Under cooking it will be dry and chewy. You will have to work your jaw to eat it like a Golden Corral steak.
2) Over cooked it will be dry and crumbly/brittle. It will fall apart in a bad way when you try to slice it. You wont really be able to get good slices.

Ignore the point 100%.

There is no "jiggle/wiggle test" that will tell you anything or be any help. All briskets have fat and will jiggle/wiggle. That does not mean its cooked.


Purchase Aaron Franklin's Masterclass and follow his advice. Its really good.

Also you have a reverse flow. Water pan does not go on firebox end, it goes on the opposite end.

I agree with Rockinar. Look up anything you can find on Arron Franklin. I have his book and used his YouTube series to get my brisket better. I haven’t taken his masterclass, but I bet it would be money well spent.

The other thing I just noticed was your pit temp. Arron recommends 250 in one source and 275 in another. I just use 250 but know that anywhere in that range will be good.

If you still have the tough brisket. Try simmering it in beef broth. My wife saved several of my early attempts(that were also undercooked) that way.

Flinger said:

When you say 203... where? all of it? once you get a reading at 203 when other parts are still lower?

Click to expand...

I always put the probe tip in the thickest part of the meat. Once it hits 203 I use the temp probe to probe the rest of the meat for tenderness before pulling it. The 203° was originally told to me by a BBQ shop that made excellent brisket. Last summer Big Moe Cason said the same exact number when I took his cooking class. Some here don’t agree with the number, but in my limited experience it has been working for me.

Here is a photo

Flinger said:

Thanks folks...

Maybe it is under cooked. Hum... but the Wiggle was there! - Having said that, the meat temp varied. In one spot, temp was around 202. But, most was in the 180s. And, I was trying to move the brisket around about every 30 minutes the last couple of hours to get a more even cook.


This is so frustrating...

Click to expand...

180's would be severely undercooked under any circumstance.

Flinger said:

And, I assume 203 means pretty much wherever I poke the meat with the Thermopen...

Click to expand...

203 means the thickest part of the flat, which is basically the center of the brisket.

Flinger said:

Sooo, I'm cooking one next weekend... here's my thinking:

Same approach with the following changes...

Put probe in thickest part of the flat. Cook at 250. Wrap at 165. At 203, check for tenderness by probing to assure "butter like" characteristic. If tender all over, place in ice chest for 2 hours. cut and serve at 140 or so.

Click to expand...

I don't think you need to wrap at 165, you could probably wrap when you are happy with the bark. I'd also say that if you go from the cooker to the ice chest then it will be way longer than two hours before you are at 140.

Flinger said:

Well - here's what i remember and what I mean... temperatures were all over the place. While a lot was in the 180's, one probe was around 202. So, i start to panic a little. What do I do? Keep cooking or take off because one section is in the 200's - and it has the wiggle. But, I went ahead and kept it on the last couple of times. The flat portion moved pretty fast from the 180's to around 195. With other parts in the low 200's and everything else showing in the 190's - I pulled it and wrapped thinking I didn't want to over cook it.

But, it seems I've been fooled and it was really undercooked.

Click to expand...

I always take the temp at the thickest part of whatever I’m cooking. If you probe in different place you are going to get different temps. The heat travels from the outside-in so there is a temperature gradient that is higher near the surface of the meat and coolest at the center of the meat. All you are interested in is the center of the meat. This is why the meat temperature at the center actually increases after you pull it from the cooker. Hot always goes to cold. When the meat temps starts to equalize after the cook the heat from the outer parts of the meat goes to cooler parts near the center of the meat.

Chris

Flinger said:

Sooo, I'm cooking one next weekend... here's my thinking:

Same approach with the following changes...

Put probe in thickest part of the flat. Cook at 250. Wrap at 165. At 203, check for tenderness by probing to assure "butter like" characteristic. If tender all over, place in ice chest for 2 hours. cut and serve at 140 or so.

Click to expand...

Sounds like a plan! I don’t wrap mine, but a lot of people do.

I also do fat side up in my smoker.

Stop going by temp. It'll be 195 or 215. Probe tender in the thickest part of the flat is the best way to test for doneness.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

I’ll take undercooked for a thousand Alex!

Rockinar said “Like a golden coral steak!” :laugh:

Flinger said:

Thanks folks...

Maybe it is under cooked. Hum... but the Wiggle was there! - Having said that, the meat temp varied. In one spot, temp was around 202. But, most was in the 180s. And, I was trying to move the brisket around about every 30 minutes the last couple of hours to get a more even cook.

I used to wrap at the stall at 165 with peach paper. Maybe I just need to go back to that.

The last couple of times, I pulled it off in the 190's with some areas in the low 200's, wrapped it, and put it in the cooler for a couple of hours.

Thanks for the water pan suggestion and I do have Franklin's book. But, the ending of these cooks are nuanced for me and i seem to be blowing it. Earlier this year - I did over cook it and it was crumbly. Maybe I need to find the center line....

This is so frustrating...

Click to expand...

Sounds like you have the solution. Stop opening the cooker so many times. It is just extending the cook times. And you also sound like you are freaking out a little at the end of the cook. Do not panic. Let the probe dictate when it is done. Do not let temp or time fool or tempt you into pulling it too soon. You will get there and once you get that probe feeling once it is like crack. You will be chasing that high for the rest of your life. It never gets old...

I agree with all of the above that said, "undercooked." Give it more time. Temp is ONLY a guide. Doneness is by feel.

As others have said you've undercooked the meat and that's why it's tough and chewy. Your stated plan for next week sounds pretty good, but I wouldn't worry about waiting until it comes all the way down to 140° before you start slicing it up. Putting the brisket in an ice chest is really only something you should do if you want to HOLD the meat, rather than rest it. Holding will keep it hot for several hours, while resting it slowly allows the meat to reduce from ~200° to a more edible temperature. If you're close to ready to eating when the brisket is nice and tender then let it REST, on the counter, loosely tented in foil for maybe 35-45 minutes.

The "probe test" is the most effective means at determining the doneness of a piece of meat. Temp is a good guide but as others have stated large cuts of meat can have huge spans of finishing temps....from 190-215°. People say butter but for people who are trying to figure out what that means I suggest using a jar of peanut butter rather than a stick of butter. Before you probe the meat stick the probe into some peanut butter and get a feel for that resistance...that's going to be just about right in terms of how the brisket should feel when you probe it. Mind you I'm talking about the flat, not the point. You can cook it a bit further and get closer to butter, but butter has no resistance and when you take a brisket that far you're going to end up with some crumbling...which is OK because it's still good.

Also, Lang's are Reverse Flow cookers, so your entire cooking chamber should be VERY close in temp...probably 5° left to right. So no need to get in there and rotate the meat...just leave it alone, leave the door closed, and run a clean fire.

Good luck with your next cook and post your results (with some pics), and this way if you're still having problems we can try and give you a bit more guidance.