Full Packer question

[Joedvasquez]

Hey folks. First, to follow up on a past issue I had about temperature spikes, I put on the gasket seal that Noah sent me and it worked like a charm. My PBC is now running very consistently from 270-300.

Yesterday I did my first full packer brisket not just on my PBC, but ever. It was a 13 lb choice packer. I dry brined for approx 30 hours and used BBBR. I put it on at 5 am for a 1-1:30 lunch. About 4 hours in, I double wrapped in foil at an internal temp of 162 with about 1/4 cup of beef broth and placed it on the grate, fat side down. Once the temperature hit 203, I checked other spots on the flat and point and some spots were as low as 195. So I let it go about 30 minutes longer, the point was at about 207 and the coolest spot on the flat was 201. I wrapped in a big towel and placed in a cooler for 2 hours.

When I pulled it out, I was amazed at how good it smelled and how hot it still was. I poured the juice out into a bowl and sliced it right away. The meat was so crazy tender, flavor was awesome, but it seemed a bit dry. It was completely falling apart and had a pot roast type of texture. I poured the juice over the cut meat which helped with the issue. Everyone loved it so I guess that's a positive. However, me being a complete perfectionist, I was happy, but not satisfied.

I'm going to do 2 next week for my nephew's bday And I want to try to correct my mistakes. Any direction would help. I mean I'm assuming it was overdone based on the texture. Where should I place my probe? When in the cooler it was halfway up in juice, was 2 hours in the juice what made it over cook? Do you have to let it cool a bit once taking out of the cooler? Where could I have gone wrong?

[Powersmoke_80]

Start checking at 190° and pull when probe slides in without resistance as temp is just a guideline. The additional time you added likely over did it causing it to fall apart and be dry. Even if you had a spot that was 195° it would have carried over during the rest. When you are running hot n fast like 270-300 it is going to have more momentum when you wrap and cambro so if it is almost over done when you pulled it would help to let it cool a little to stop the carry over before putting in the cooler. As far as letting it cool after taking it out , that is not necessary.

[JeffJ]

To me, the only thing I can think of is you brought the temperature up a bit too high. 195 is perfectly fine for brisket. If you have parts of the beef at 201 and other parts at 195, or so, you should be exactly where you want to be. Also, consider hooking the meat in a way where the point is hanging in the hotter area of the cooker. I did a 17 pound prime a week ago in my 14.5 WSM and had to separate the point from the flat in order to make it fit. The flat definitely cooked faster and came out sooner than the point.

[IvyH]

I never add broth or inject for that matter. I cook on the grate, fat down for 3-4 hours, flip n cook another 4 hours. I then wrap tight in foil, oven or PBC (doesn't really matter), and pull at 203, rest for at least an hour, and that's all she wrote.

[Joedvasquez]

Thanks for the help, folks. Saturday was my nephew's party and my brother and I did it up pretty well. We had an offset smoker, a Traeger and my PBC going along with the gas grill and a frier. My bro is nuts when it comes to a party and had 50 lbs of wings, 12 racks of baby backs, 3 full packer briskets, Not to mention a bunch of other stuff. I had my chance of personal redemption with the full packer in the barrel.

I hung it until the IT was 162. I decided to not use the crutch this time and see what happened. So I put it on the grate at this point fat side up. It eventually fought through the stall and seemed to stall again at about 190-192. I wrapped then and checked every 1/2 hour or so from there to make sure I didn't over cook it this time. I eventually took it off at about 201 and some spots were around 194 or so so decided to take it off. I did not use broth or anything this time in my wrap. After a rest, my bro started carving and handed me a piece and man was it awesome! It was moist, had a nice smoke ring and was tender as holy hell. I don't have any photos because I was in the process of hanging 4 racks in the barrel while he was cutting the brisket.

This site has already made me way better than I was before. I can always count on some good pointers from the members here. Thank you again.

[PaulstheRibList]

Yes!!!

You mentioned the temp, but what was the feel when you were probing? As our pit brothers said already, if there is tension, then it's got a little more cooking to do. Probe tender is a better indicator than temp only.

[Joedvasquez]

Yes! I forgot to mention that too! I WAS quite mindful of how the probe went in. As Powersmoke_80 mentioned using the temp as a guideline.

[fzxdoc]

I hung it until the IT was 162. I decided to not use the crutch this time and see what happened. So I put it on the grate at this point fat side up. It eventually fought through the stall and seemed to stall again at about 190-192. I wrapped then and checked every 1/2 hour or so from there to make sure I didn't over cook it this time. I eventually took it off at about 201 and some spots were around 194 or so so decided to take it off. I did not use broth or anything this time in my wrap. After a rest, my bro started carving and handed me a piece and man was it awesome! It was moist, had a nice smoke ring and was tender as holy hell.

This sounds like the perfect PBC cook, Joedvasquez . Congrats on nailing it!

Kathryn

[jbeck1986]

Joedvasquez how long did this cook take you?

[Joedvasquez]

It took me about 6 hours to my desired internal temperature. The following weekend I did another one and unhooked at 160, placed directly on the grate, bypassed the beef broth inside and wrapped at like 180. Took a little longer but not much and it turned out nearly perfect.

[jbeck1986]

So what's your preferred method? Going passed the stall to make some killer bark then wrap at 175-180?

[Joedvasquez]

I'm no pro. Some of the folks on here have cooked way more than me on the PBC. I'm still trying to figure it out. So far, I like the way it turned out tge 2nd one I talked about. Bark was awesome. My brother made one on his offset and he liked the way mine turned out better. Same wood, same rub just different cooking methods.