Inconsistent brisket

[MattBilling]

Afternoon all,

I cannot get consistent results with this stuff! It's driving me mad. I am beginning to think that I'm not cooking it for long enough. We had an event on Saturday night and, it was tasty, but chewy. Looking at the meat, there was still white fat in it, which is what leads me to believe it wasn't done. The problem with this is that the probe said 95 (203f). It's in the thickest part of the meat too.

This one was a small piece and on for 12 hours, the temperature never went above 120c (248f), it did go down to 94c (201f) at one point, but this was a really low and slow cook.

Last month I did one and it was lovely, but the same temperature coming off, my logs don't really differ, similar temps, times etc..

I'm pulling my hair out because I love brisket, it's the finest meat on the BBQ, but I can't get it consistently right.

Any thoughts anyone before I go and talk like a crazy man about left and right handed cows?!

[Jerod Broussard]

Check the probe tenderness, the probe needs to go in very easy. I have had Choice at 205 that still were a little iffy. That means they went in a 170 degree oven immediately for about 4 hours.

Some you can tell only need an hour or two of a good warm rest.

I've messed up 2 Selects by not giving them a warm enough rest. They were both around 205.

Every one is different, that is why we have such an obvious grading system with beef. Lotta different bovine from around the country being shipped to stores.

The poultry and pork industries have growers raising the animals to be processed with specific genetics being fed specific rations.

[MattBilling]

Thanks for the quick reply Jerod Broussard

So the temperature of rest is important too? That's interesting, last month, the pork and brisket came off at the same time. Saturday the brisket was ready much earlier so it went into my coolbox (not one of the best) and by the time the pork came off, the brisket had dropped to 74c (165f) so I might start earlier and make sure it gets a decent warm rest next time.

The quality of the meat is something that concerns me, I'm in the UK, so USDA beef is hard to come by (well, it's not that hard, but it's expensive)

We don't have grading like that, what makes it select or prime beef?

I might order a USDA certified brisket and see how that goes.

[Jerod Broussard]

The rest on many a brisket really makes it or breaks it. I recently had a Choice I am trying to slice up AFTER resting and still had pieces of hard fat or cellulite, whatever it was.

I visibility look for the amount of fat in the flat. There is never a lot of it.

Some do the bend test. I just check out the fat in the flat.

Some will fool ya, but I never have a time frame attached to a brisket. It tells me when it is ready to come off whether it be probe tender or 205. Then I decide from there what to do about resting, i.e. how far am I traveling to serve, how many hours from serve, burnt ends?, sliced?, chopped?, all three?......

Each brisket is a journey, some turn left, some turn right, just worry about making them DINO-MITE!!!

[_John_]

What Jerod said. Echoing the rest part, the lower the quality the longer i've had to rest to get good results. I have even had ungraded turn out fairly well, but those all get 4 hours holding. If you wrap it tight in foil, then in a big towel, then in a cooler you should be good. Mine are typically 170 after 4 hours.

[Jerod Broussard]

Exactly about the lower quality longer rest......

[MattBilling]

Good stuff, thanks boys. I'll report back next time!

[Huskee]

MattBilling one more perhaps silly question- have you calibrated your thermometer probe recently? Perhaps it's reading 203 but it really isn't accurate.

[PaulstheRibList]

I was wondering the same. Your symptoms would all have the common denominator of a probe that is overstating your temp.

Probe Tender is key!

[MattBilling]

I calibrated about a month ago, boiling water, haven't done the freezer, but that shouldn't be a problem here. I will check again this evening though.

When you say 'probe tender' you mean the probe slides in and out easily?

Should the brisket be floppy as soon as it comes off the smoker? Or is it more likely that it will go floppy during the controlled rest?

Cheers

Matt

[HorseDoctor]

All good info here. Are you wrapping the brisket at any point? Temp is only one indicator of "done". Probe tender & "feel" are equally important. Personally, I've gained a lot in my brisket cooks by watching Aaron Franklin's BBQ with Franklin videos on You Tube (many, many times ). Have also read his book a few times. I've never done anything less than choice & prefer prime when Sam's has it. Last one cooked 14 hours @ 270F. Wrapped in butcher paper at 180F. It was 204F internal, probe tender and felt "loose" when picked up. It then rested for 3 more hours in a cooler (wrapped in butcher paper & towels). It was still "sliceable" but just barely. Unbelievable!

[MattBilling]

Thanks HorseDoctor Yeah we wrap in a double layer of foil, no liquid though.

I'm beginning to think from all these comments that maybe we're not going high enough.

So, just to confirm, probe tender means the probe slides in and out easily.

I've watched Aaron Franklin's vids, and I can't see I'm doing anything different!

One thing I've thought is that I generally put the probe in when the meat is on the smoker, because I've got holes drilled in the side of my UDS, maybe I should do it before so I can guarantee I'm in the right place.

[MattBilling]

Right! I've spent the past 24 hours reading and watching as much as I possibly can about brisket and have reached the conclusion that it's definitely not cooked enough. I don't have the time this weekend to try again, but I will try again next weekend.

I will also see if I can talk to my butcher about more marbling on the meat, it looks like Aberdeen Angus is the closest I'm going to get to USDA Prime, but I can hopefully get him to pick some decent stuff up from the market.

Thanks everyone..