Zunah
MemberGot rid of the matchlight.
Hi guys would really appreciate some advice from some brisket pros after trying my first big packer brisket and not too pleased with the results... I’ll give as many details as possible so hopefully someone can point out some suggestions (thanks).
Bought a full packer brisket from Costco, about 17 lbs before trimming fat.
Watched several videos over past few weeks on trimming, smoking etc.
Have a new Louisiana Grills LG900 pellet grill. Have done some cooks with great results but have never smoked a brisket before.
Trimmed some fat similar to videos, left about 1/4 inch.
Started cooking at 10pm last night. Applied a rub. Wanted to smoke at around 225, used a dual thermoprobe to ensure temp was accurate. One for smoker and one for brisket - I don’t trust my LG900 digital readout because when I set it to 225 my probe shows temp is around 250-280 so I have found when I set it to around 200 the actual temp fluctuated between 220-245, usually in the 225-235 range so that’s where I had it.
Put the brisket fat side up. Cooked from 10pm to about 530am at which point the brisket hit approx 168 - I had the probe in the thickest section of the point. Around this time I wrapped the brisket in peach butcher paper and returned to grill. Seemed to stall right around here - took a little over an hour to get past 170 but then climbed fairly quickly. Maybe a couple hours to get from 170-190.
Grill Temp was usually between 220-240 during this time.
Once it got to around 195 I was starting to get a little worried because guests weren’t coming until 6 and it was around 9am with brisket at 195 degrees - plan was to cook until 203 then rest until dinner.
After it hit 195 it climbed very slowly, probably took 3 hours to get to 200, and another 3 hours to go from 200-203. Temp was maybe a little lower, probably 220-225 on average with occasional drops to 215 and occasional short spikes to 250.
I pulled it at 4:15 when the probe finally showed it was 203. Rested in cooler, paper was soaked and I thought it would be juicy (I thought wrong). While it rested it went down from 203 at 4:15 to about 180 at 6:00.
When I started slicing it was really crumbly and dry, moreso on the flat but even the point wasn’t great... Thick part of point was juicier but still not what I’d hoped and texture was also more like pulled pork - just flaked apart when slicing.
Not sure what I did wrong here. Overcooked? Cooked too low and too long? Thought I followed the different videos but definitely not the same results. A few weeks ago I did a small 3-4 lb trimmed flat brisket (no fat) - thought it was at 225 but didn’t know at the time how off my pellet grill was so it was probably cooking at 300-325. Finished very quickly, texture was more like steak and would have failed pull test but was juicier than this one I just did tonight.
Should I have cooked it higher and not as long? Maybe 250-275 instead of trying to keep it low around 225 (especially at the end when it was climbing so slow?)
Should I have had the probe in the flat instead of the point and taken it off when the flat hit 203 (don’t really know what temp that was at because probe was in thick point).
When I wrapped it mid way through at 168-9 it looked so good it almost looked like it was ready! Probe actually slid back in real easy - not quite like butter but pretty close. But having read what I read I wanted to keep it going until it got to 203.
Any help is appreciated since you guys have lots of experience with these cooks. Thanks!
Bought a full packer brisket from Costco, about 17 lbs before trimming fat.
Watched several videos over past few weeks on trimming, smoking etc.
Have a new Louisiana Grills LG900 pellet grill. Have done some cooks with great results but have never smoked a brisket before.
Trimmed some fat similar to videos, left about 1/4 inch.
Started cooking at 10pm last night. Applied a rub. Wanted to smoke at around 225, used a dual thermoprobe to ensure temp was accurate. One for smoker and one for brisket - I don’t trust my LG900 digital readout because when I set it to 225 my probe shows temp is around 250-280 so I have found when I set it to around 200 the actual temp fluctuated between 220-245, usually in the 225-235 range so that’s where I had it.
Put the brisket fat side up. Cooked from 10pm to about 530am at which point the brisket hit approx 168 - I had the probe in the thickest section of the point. Around this time I wrapped the brisket in peach butcher paper and returned to grill. Seemed to stall right around here - took a little over an hour to get past 170 but then climbed fairly quickly. Maybe a couple hours to get from 170-190.
Grill Temp was usually between 220-240 during this time.
Once it got to around 195 I was starting to get a little worried because guests weren’t coming until 6 and it was around 9am with brisket at 195 degrees - plan was to cook until 203 then rest until dinner.
After it hit 195 it climbed very slowly, probably took 3 hours to get to 200, and another 3 hours to go from 200-203. Temp was maybe a little lower, probably 220-225 on average with occasional drops to 215 and occasional short spikes to 250.
I pulled it at 4:15 when the probe finally showed it was 203. Rested in cooler, paper was soaked and I thought it would be juicy (I thought wrong). While it rested it went down from 203 at 4:15 to about 180 at 6:00.
When I started slicing it was really crumbly and dry, moreso on the flat but even the point wasn’t great... Thick part of point was juicier but still not what I’d hoped and texture was also more like pulled pork - just flaked apart when slicing.
Not sure what I did wrong here. Overcooked? Cooked too low and too long? Thought I followed the different videos but definitely not the same results. A few weeks ago I did a small 3-4 lb trimmed flat brisket (no fat) - thought it was at 225 but didn’t know at the time how off my pellet grill was so it was probably cooking at 300-325. Finished very quickly, texture was more like steak and would have failed pull test but was juicier than this one I just did tonight.
Should I have cooked it higher and not as long? Maybe 250-275 instead of trying to keep it low around 225 (especially at the end when it was climbing so slow?)
Should I have had the probe in the flat instead of the point and taken it off when the flat hit 203 (don’t really know what temp that was at because probe was in thick point).
When I wrapped it mid way through at 168-9 it looked so good it almost looked like it was ready! Probe actually slid back in real easy - not quite like butter but pretty close. But having read what I read I wanted to keep it going until it got to 203.
Any help is appreciated since you guys have lots of experience with these cooks. Thanks!
