Smoked my worst brisket ever over the weekend

[JoeSousa]

I know this space is usually reserved for our triumphs and greatest accomplishments but I just feel like I need to share an utter failure with you all. I wish I had some pics but I didn't think to take any while I was cooking. I did video it and might release that video when the shame of this horrible brisket wears off.

It all started out at Costco when I was perusing the briskets as I always do. I happened to spot a quite small brisket that was about 10 pounds and a really nice shape. The flat was somewhat on the thicker side and all in all I saw nothing wrong with it. So my mind started thinking... since it is so small do I think I could get it done in 6 hours??? My normal 15 pound briskets usually take around 12-13 hours at ~250-275 so what if I bump the temp to ~325???

Challenge accepted!

I prepped and seasoned the brisket like I always do and threw it on the SNS Kettle at around 11 AM for dinner that evening. The kettle temp held fairly steady around 325 and the temp of the brisket was moving at a good pace. I wrapped it in paper when it hit 175 or so like I do with most of my briskets and after 5 hours the probe was reading 207. Since I was cooking this one fairly quickly I wanted to take the temp a bit higher than the normal 200-203. But honestly the temp went a few degrees beyond where I wanted while I made a run to the grocery store.

The probe was going through the meat like butter and everything felt nice and soft so I pulled it off the smoker and let it rest wrapped on the counter for a couple hours.

When it was time to eat and I unwrapped the brisket I noticed a couple things. First, there was a ton of watery liquid in the paper. Not delicious, rendered fat, but a much watery liquid. That was odd. Never had that happen before. And then I noticed my beautiful bark was totally gone. The color was still there but it was soft and a bit mushy compared to every other brisket I have done.

Well, maybe it still tastes OK so I start slicing. The brisket was definitely still juicy and not dry but the texture and flavor were both horrible. Based on the feel of the brisket I was expecting the slices to pull apart nicely but they didn't. Really had to tug on them to get them to pull apart. And the flavor was pretty horrible as well. I ate a couple bites and then threw the rest of it away. There were a couple bites on the edges and ends that were edible but everything else was complete garbage.

I know I have seen a number of people here (at least I think it was here???) say they cook their briskets at 325 or even higher so I don't think that in and of itself was the problem. Here are a couple of my theories...

1. Just a bad piece of meat - I know this happens from time to time. Everything looked right and felt right but maybe it was just a piece of meat that wanted to be a big fat jerk to me.

2. Maybe I should have held off on the wrap? - Since I was cooking at a higher temp and things were cooking quicker maybe I should have held off on the wrap and given some of the water more time to evaporate. The fat in the brisket was rendered nicely but maybe having too much water in the final product watered down the flavor and contributed to the bad texture.

Anyway, I am glad I have my worst cook out of the way. But honestly since this one was so bad I am a bit gun shy about cooking another brisket. Have I lost my mojo? Will the rest of my briskets be this bad? Was I just lucky on the 25 previous briskets??? Guess I need to pull out the one I have in the freezer and that one ready to cook and see.

[SheilaAnn]

You have not lost your mojo! I’m paraphrasing here…. Fall down 3 times, get up 4! You got this!

[mrteddyprincess]

My offset smoker cooks in the sweet spot between 275 F and 325 F, and it's even gone as high as 350 F in parts of a brisket cook. I do not have any answers for you, but I think you're right. I don't think it was the increase in temp.

But the prescription for a bad brisket cook is another brisket cook ASAP! :-) Good luck and I will be one of many watching the video when you've recovered enough to post it!

Brian

[hoovarmin]

Get right back up on that horse and ride again

[ecowper]

Joe, I remember vividly cooking my first brisket and how excited I was to do it. I was a few years into BBQ and had been turning out good pork butts, ribs, bacon, etc. I figured I had this dialed. But I did put some ribs and chicken on just in case. I bought the brisket from the butcher shop to be sure I had a good one. I read all the online stuff 3 times over!

And it was horrible. Dry, tough, way overdone, and not even particularly flavorful. Everybody pretended it was good, but all the chicken, ribs, sides got eaten and almost none of the brisket. Thankfully, I learned from it, got back on the horse, and rode again.

And I know you are gonna do the same! Turn it into a great learning experience. Also, thanks for sharing. We learn as much from this as we do from all the grand success.

[rickgregory]

That's bad meat. There's no way anything you did would cause it to taste that bad. Pot roasty etc maybe, but not inedibly bad or 'horrible;. That's on the meat.

[SheilaAnn]

rickgregory and gravy fixes bad pot roast!

[ecowper]

SheilaAnn I always figured the point of pot roast was the gravy?

[WayneT]

+1 on the bad meat theory. If your organoleptic alarms went off, there was something not right about it. I’d tell Costco and would be shocked if they didn’t refund your money or give you another of equal value.

[Jim White]

Thanks for sharing. I have no insight on what may have gone wrong other than just writing it off under "stuff" happens.

[Jfrosty27]

Yeah it happens. In fact my very first brisket cook was so bad I took three or four bites and tossed the whole thing in the trash. Everything that could have been wrong was wrong. When asked how many times I have done brisket I don’t even count that one.

You’re a veteran with many successful cooks under your belt. Forget it and move on to your next one.

[LA Pork Butt]

I am going with a bad piece of meat. I usually cook choice and the meat varies. Oddly enough I think my best brisket was a turbo brisket. I injected, cooked it at 250 for an hour, then at 300 the rest of the way to an internal temp of 203. I moped about every 90 minutes during the cook and tightly wrapped it in foil when finished and held in a faux cambro for two hours. Good luck on the next one. I cook on a BGE and separate the flat from the point for cooking.

[Oak Smoke]

The liquid has me stumped. I smoke brisket at 300 and don’t wrap now. Even when I did wrap I never encountered any problems like that. I don’t know that are any lessons to be learned here. Bad meat? Try it again.

[RonB]

I'm just guessing here, but maybe the wrap trapped too much moisture. Every hunk o' protein is gonna loose moisture. Could the higher cooking temp gotten it to the right IT before enough moisture had a chance to escape? If so, wrapping could have trapped too much moisture and degraded the flavor??

I'd try another high temp cook without wrapping.

[JoeSousa]

That is pretty much the theory I am going on. My initial thought was since I was cooking a bit hot and fast I would need to do whatever I could to keep moisture in. I guess that wasn't the case.

[rickgregory]

I guess when I hear 'horrible' as a flavor description, I think if off flavors, possible spoilage, etc. Not 'dry' or whatever. Is that what you meant?

[JoeSousa]

No, it wasn't spoiled or sour or anything like that. Didn't have a pot roasty flavor either which I am not a fan of with brisket but could understand. This really had very little flavor at all. Even the heavy black pepper on the crust didn't have much of a bite. Guessing all the liquid steamed out some of the flavor???

[rickgregory]

Oh, hmm. I wouldnt toss that. I'd chop it, stir it into chili. But 🤷‍♂️

[JoeSousa]

Very tempted to turn it into chili but it wasn't even good enough for that. I was probably just grumpy but I thought it would ruin a good pot of chili too.

[WayneT]

All the liquid makes me wonder if this particular brisket got injected or brined before being cryovacced. That would be odd.

[JoeSousa]

It was just a normal Costco prime brisket. I have cooked dozens of them before and never had any issues like this.

[jfmorris]

If I was cooking brisket that hot, I gotta wonder if you should skip the wrap entirely. All that liquid in the wrap is weird - especially if it was watery. I've held brisket done at 225 to 275 for 5-6 hours in foil, and never lost bark or flavor, the way you are describing.

[JoeSousa]

Yeah, if I try this again I will probably go without wrapping and see if it is any better.

[Draznnl]

Your next one may well be your best brisket ever. I tend to think it had to do with wrapping at the high temp. But, not surprisingly, I have no evidence to back up that hunch. Go back to cooking briskets the way you know and see how they turn out.