Brisket Failure - Please Help

[barrett.wendt]

I attempted my 1st packer Brisket on my Big Green Egg and it was not as good as I had hoped.

I have a lot of experience with my egg for Pork, Pizza, Bread, Steak etc but never tried a brisket until now. I wouldn't say it was a miserable failure but it's going to hard to convince the wife (who already doesn't like Brisket) to try again with an expensive piece of meat.

Here is the setup;

Brisket trimmed to ~ 1/4 inch fat layer and dry rub applied night before the smoke. For rub we used a very basic application of sea salt, pepper, garlic powder and pepper including injecting some of the mix with water. The rub wasn't caked on but we did apply a healthy amount due to the size of the Brisket which was ~18lbs before trim.

BGE at 250 and Brisket at near room temperature before putting it on the smoker. Put it fat cap down against the grill and pretty much left it along with ~16 hours.

I know they say internal temp does not tell you when the meat is done but I was watching it anyway. At just over 190 degrees the temp probe was sliding in and out of the point and the flat like butter so I figured it was done. The Brisket had shrunk nicely and had what appeared to be a nice bark on it.

However when cutting into it there was still a bunch of fat, the meat didn't really cut as much as fall apart and the flat was more burned an tough than what I would have expected since the probe was sliding like butter.

Also the bottom layer that was against the grill had to be cut completely off as it was hard, like it had been burned or something.

I had the BGE setup in smoke mode and had a drip pan under the Brisket for the smoke.

So any suggestions on what might have been wrong?

Temp to high maybe? Should I have put fat side up not down?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[stan5677]

Did you wrap at all and was the diffuser in place?

 

[gtsum]

Sounds like your temp was a bit high? Too much radiant heat on the bottom...odd with a drip pan there though? If it crumbled when slicing, it was overcooked likely. I don’t normally wrap mine, but maybe consider wrapping it after a few hours next time and see if it helps?


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[Glass hole]

Always probe the flat too. The point has a ton of fat so it will be tender early.

 

[LYU370]

Did you have the heat deflector installed? Forget what it's called on the BGE. Crumbly, sounds like it was overcooked.

 

[Frank Mahovlich]

My thoughts- Your set-up sounds fine to me. I monitor internal temp when cooking too, but with brisket I use it merely as a guideline to let me know I’m approaching done. Finish temps can vary from cook-to-cook, especially with an 18lb beast. I know when I hit 190 I’m getting close, but for me, when the thickest part of the flat probes like butter, that’s the surest sign I have found that the brisky is done. I have found 202 to pretty much be the sweet spot for my style of cooking and a brisky in the 13-16 pound range on a WSM. But again, I use temp as a guide, and probing the thickest part of the flat like butter for the real deal source of truth. 205 and even 208 have worked for me on past cooks. Let your probe be your guide.

Brisket is the most challenging meat I’ve tried smoking, as the window for perfect doneness can be quite narrow. Pulled too soon or too late can both lead to dryness. Also, brisket needs to be sliced across the grain for maximum tenderness.

My best guess would be that this brisket was a bit under-cooked, based on pulling at 190. But I've never cooked with an egg before, so there is that.

Convince momma to stick with ya on brisket, Barrett. Maybe both she & the meat would be a bit more forgiving with a 12-15 lb packer if you can find one, as it would be a less costly 'learning experience.'

Regards,
FM

 

[CentralOhioBBQ]

99% sure you under-cooked it.

We’re the slices tight and not pull apart easily? (I’m assuming you sliced against the grain)

Or, did they fall apart and not hold up?

I have a feeling you were probing the point (which finishes in the 210 range and probes like butter early), or were probing into the fat layer that separates the flat/point. I’ve never had a flat finish ideally pulling the thickest part of the flat under 203, and prefer 208ish. Sticking a probe into the thickest part of the flat at the beginning of the cook and monitoring the temp might help you as you get comfortable with it..

 

[CentralOhioBBQ]

Also, you can fix your problem of a large dry piece of meat if you have a sous vide. Bag it and put it in the bath at 185 for a few hours. It’ll be perfect.

 

[Blowin' Smoke]

Just curious, but did you let the meat rest at all, or just pull it off and start slicing?


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[el luchador]

brisket flat is a toughie. and imo it has to be braised.

16 hours in smoke at 250 would make any brisket flat dry, imo

 

[Rockinar]

Briskets take practice and all smokers use different techniques. Practice and try different techniques each time and see what works for you and your kamado. I dont know anyone who made a good brisket on the first try. My friend turned his into an asteroid. It was like a lava rock and not anywhere close to edible. I know I ruined a few of them before I was satisfied. Each time you will learn something and the next one will be better.

If you want to get good at brisket, you're going to most likely ruin a few.

18 pounds is huge for a kamado. Try a smaller one.

Try cooking longer

Try cooking shorter

Try different temps

Try different wrapping techniques (foil vs paper)

Try injecting

Try not injecting

Try letting it rest longer

Try better grade brisket.

Try letting it sit out at room temp and come down in temp before you let it rest.

Make sure you are slicing AGAINST the grain on the flat. If you slice with it, it will crumble.


When I had my Kamado Joe I had to fight the radiant heat from the deflector on long cooks by putting a foil water pan on top of it.

 

[sudsandswine]

Cooking at 250* and falling apart after probing like butter at 190* and taking 16 hours to get there is suspicious to me. My guess is your probe thermometer was not reading correctly and/or you were cooking higher than 250*. I've never had a brisket fall apart at 190*.

 

[Burnt at Both Endz]

I'd start by doing an ice bath test on the probe.

 

[barrett.wendt]

I love this site... thank you all for the replies. It seems the consensus is temp too high and likely underdone which is sort of what I expected.

To respond to some of the questions, I did have my smoke setter in place, with a drip pan on top and filled with water/beer combination and I did not wrap it. I typically don't wrap any of my smoked meats, preferring to let them finish on the smoker without using the Texas crutch.

I have a temp control on my BGE which does read slightly higher than my BGE dome thermometer. I need to get this adjusted of course but I have tested my dome thermometer in boiling water and always trust it over my temp control sensor.

I did rest it for most of the day to answer those who asked that question. I took it off about 10AM and didn't slice until 5pm. I kept it warm in a cooler by wrapping it in some old towels and did not re-heat it before cutting. I did slice against the grain I think... there was still enough fat left that it sort of made it hard to slice, like it was falling apart when I tried to cut it.

I will have to re-check my temp probes this weekend in boiling water to make sure I am not running higher temps than expected. From the burned bottom of the Brisket I did expect I was too hot.

Well... I will just have to show up one weekend with another packer and try again permission granted or not

Fortunately my Pork ribs and shoulders and grilled Salmon make up for the occasional under performer.

Thanks again for all the replies.... this site is awesome!

 

[Burnt at Both Endz]

Nothing wrong with running it hot, just flip it every so often if your gonna go naked!

 

[Demosthenes9]

You said that the meat fell apart, that means it was over cooked. If it was undercooked, it would have been tough to pull a slice apart. It probed at 190, or so.... I'd wager that the tip of your probe was going into pockets of fat which have. Agale reading. Completely ignore the point next time. Fine the thickest part of JUST the flat and probe there both for temp and tenderness. That will avoid hitting fat.

On a full packer, you are going to have fat in the seam between the point and the flat, unless you aggressively trim to begin with.

Lastly, 16 hours at 250 sounds like way too long a cook time.

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[barrett.wendt]

Good point (no pun intended) LOL

I wasn't expecting no fat, the fat provides lots of flavor just not as much as I found. I expected more of it to melt out I guess.

I would agree with you that falling apart would be overcooking not under so maybe it was just where I was probing. I will have to adjust next time and just probe the fastest part of flat not the point.

I didn't aggressively trim the fat either, I thought I could probably take off a bit more but didn't want to risk it and get into the meat and not leave enough

 

[The Wookiee]

Will still make good leftovers... add liquid of choice and braise it on reanimate it; add to whatever. Even when a brisket goes sideways the leftovers are most always salvageable.

As mentioned above - temp probe only guides probing for tenderness (including flat/ I usually check a few places)... I also get a hand or two under the middle of the brisket to see if ends flop down on both sides = the tight meat has given up. And of course let it rest!

 

[LYU370]

Next time you buy a brisket. Grind the flat for burgers and cook the point. Brisket burgers are fabulous, as are burnt ends. :wink:

 

[barrett.wendt]

That is an excellent idea Andy!!!!