Not totally happy with brisket

[Shawn]

This was my third brisket cook, but my first "real" brisket cook. My previous two were small briskets from butchering cows.
This third brisket was a 17 pound Costco prime grade brisket.
The evening before I started the cook I trimmed 6 pounds of fat off the brisket, leaving approximately 1/4" on the flat and maybe a bit more on the point as it's a little more difficult to judge the depth on the point. I rubbed it after trimming with SPGO.
24 hours later I put it on my Mak 2 at 225 degrees, fat side down. I pulled it 16 1/2 hours later, it was 205 degrees but more importantly it probed smoothly.
After I pulled it I wrapped it in foil, towels, and put it in the cooler for 5 hours.
After 5 hours I pulled it out and started slicing. At that time it was down to 150 degrees.
The flat was dry. The point was moist but had approximately 1/2"-3/4" of meat at the bottom that was solid/crusty. When I say solid it was solid as a rock, you could have used that portion of the point as the base of a house foundation.

I realize part of this could be the meat, not every piece will have the same marbeling, nor will they all cook the same. Could part of it be the outside temperature? It dropped to 15 degrees F that night, if the smoker is running more often to maintain temp, would that dry the meat out a little more than normal?


I am thinking next time I will wrap it around the 160 degree mark, and try to keep some moisture in that way. Any other thoughts??

 

[104timberwolf]

I'm not familiar with your smoker. I recently cooked my first brisket on my Assassin GF17. I also ran the smoker at 225 degrees but I wrapped in pink paper at around 160 degrees IT. It probed without resistance at around 198 degrees so I pulled it off, wrapped it in a towel and stuck it in a cooler for four hours. It was by far the best brisket I've cooked.

 

[Whumpa]

I’m thinking that if when you pulled it and immediately wrapped in foil and towels and put into your cooler it continued cooking.

 

[robertm]

It sure sounds like you did everything right.

I think if part of the brisket was solid/crusty that means it had to be way over cooked in that area right? Is it possible a portion of the meat was exposed to direct heat? That might explain the issue.

Regardless, sorry man that's a bummer. I'm cooking a very similar 17 lb costco prime this weekend.

 

[jzadski]

Pretty much a combo of what Robert and Charles said. I always wrap and when I do it's fat side up.

 

[frayedend]

I think your time was probably close to okay. I usually cook a 12 lb brisket for 12 hours. This is weight after trimming. But I cook at 275. I've not used a pellet smoker. But based on your description it sounds like you had direct heat at the bottom of the point. I don't see how a prime cooked the way you describe would have that problem if you didn't have way too much heat on the bottom of the point.

You said fat side down. Is that the side that was crunchy? If so I'd guess you had direct heat under it. If it was the top side while cooking then I think you have high heat at the top of your smoker and you need a probe in there to figure that out.

ETA: I just saw Robert's reply. He beat me to it. Buy yeah, too much heat.

 

[blackdogbbq21]

Not familiar with your smoker either but just a couple thoughts



Was the portion you describe as solid possibly in a high heat spot? Sounds to me like it charred or burned a bit in that area.



I agree with maybe it went in the cooler too soon. I let mine rest inside on the counter for an hour or so before i put them in a cooler.



If you didn't wrap, maybe give wrapping a try should help with moisture.

 

[PatAttack]

I'd let it vent for 15-20 minutes on the counter before putting in cooler.

Also, you may want to try wrapping at 160°-170° or 4-5 hours into the cook. You also could flip the brisket to keep that one side from getting charred.

Try foil and pink butcher paper. The wrap may be your saving grace in this case.

 

[Callahan-que]

You wrapped it in foil, towels and put it in a cooler for 5 hours. I'd say it kept on cooking.
Why was it wrapped and in a cooler for 5 hours?

 

[PatAttack]

You wrapped it in foil, towels and put it in a cooler for 5 hours. I'd say it kept on cooking.
Why was it wrapped and in a cooler for 5 hours?

He was probably "holding" it like a lot of us do.

 

[sudsandswine]

It sure sounds like you did everything right.

I think if part of the brisket was solid/crusty that means it had to be way over cooked in that area right? Is it possible a portion of the meat was exposed to direct heat? That might explain the issue.

Regardless, sorry man that's a bummer. I'm cooking a very similar 17 lb costco prime this weekend.

I've had that issue with my Mac as well when cooking over 250*, I believe that is due to the radiant heat emanating from the diffuser plate. The bottom gets hard to cut through like jerky and the smoke ring a dark shade of purple. I alleviate this by either cooking less than 250*, flipping the brisket every couple hours, or cooking on the upper rack. I know you said you were cooking at 225* but it sounds to me like a radiant heat issue.

 

[Pigeater]

Don't give up! If you got Brisket perfect on your 3rd try I would hate you.
I agree with others. Vent 10-15 minutes before re-wrapping for hold in cooler, and maybe do a biscuit test in your smoker to identify hot spots.

 

[Ron_L]

Where were you probing it?

Also, was the flat sliceable, but dry, or did it fall apart when sliced?

If the slices held together, it was under cooked. If they fell apart it was over cooked.

 

[Burnt at Both Endz]

If the bottom was crusty, you had to much direct heat. After it gets to the stall you may need to flip it every hour or so.

I've seen some pellets that doesn't put out high BTU's have to burn a bigger fire causing more direct heat. Pellets do make a difference in a cook.

 

[Shawn]

To answer some questions:

I probed in the thickest part of the flat.
The brisket was slicable but dry. As I got into the point I could mo longer slice that easily, the point fell apart similar to when I cook for pulled sandwiches.
Pellets were Lumberjack Competition Blend.

I did not let it rest long before wrapping and putting in the cooler. I would guess 5 minutes or less.

Ron, I am not sure what you are saying with the hold together vs fall apart. If the slices held together it was undercooked, if they fell apart it was undercooked. What is between held together and fell apart?

I will try it again in a week or two and try wrapping this time and see what that does for me. I will let it rest on the counter before wrapping it all up and sticking it in the cooler. I think I am really close to getting a really good brisket. I just ate some of the leftovers and it sure is edible, just needs a little tweaking to be up to my standards.

 

[frayedend]

Oh I also forgot that I was going to suggest no salting a day in advance. I find that putting salt and pepper on just before the cook is best for brisket. Perhaps you dried out the meat a bit by salting too early. I dry brine steaks but never brisket.

 

[Hoss]

Radiant heat burnt the bottom.If you gonna poop pellets,turn frequently.Just my advice.

 

[Ron_L]

Ron, I am not sure what you are saying with the hold together vs fall apart. If the slices held together it was undercooked, if they fell apart it was undercooked. What is between held together and fell apart?
.

Perfectly cooked :-D. Slices hold together, but pull apart easily, are moist and tender.

The key is if they held together and were dry, vs. moist and tender.

 

[uhmump95]

What happened to you is probably what happened to me. I tried to put the water pan below my grill and it pushed the heat directly under my brisket. Dried it out and it was crunchy on the bottom. What was worse was the brisket got absolutely no smoke. It ended up in the garbage.

Sent from my Pixel 4 XL using Tapatalk

 

[El Ropo]

My best guess is the folks talking about too much heat punishing the bottom of the point for whatever reason are probably right. My second thought is that cooking any large piece of meat for that many hours is bound to dry it out. I would suggest you try running at ~225F for several hours at beginning of the cook to lay on some smoke, then crank up the pooper to 300F to power through the rest of the cook. It'll cut your cooking time in half. Then when you think you are getting close to "done", you can back off the heat a bit, maybe to 250F so you don't overshoot "done". There is a phase tossed around here, "warming the meat to death". I think this may have been part of your issue. I understand poopers need low temp to lay smoke flavor on, but it doesn't mean the WHOLE cook needs to be that low.