Help needed - Brisket wrapping

[dlaslo]

My last three briskets, I did the Texas Crutch with a little beef tallow on the butcher paper and pulled them at 203F. The earliest turned out great and I did the same thing on the next two. Both of them were really bad. One was like pot roast and really tough. The next one was a little better but still way past a tender juicy brisket.

The three were the same except I used a Thermopro TempSpike on the two bad bakes. But my occasional manual checks with an instant read thermometer agreed closely with the TempSpike.

I'm trying again this weekend but I'm going to skip the tallow and do frequent probe tests after about 190F

I'm also going to switch from a pellet smoker to my Oklahoma Joe charcoal smoker and use both wired and wireless temperature probes.

Costco has a $2.99 /lb brisket event now and I got two packers in the mid $20's. I threw one in the freezer and I'm kicking myself...I wanted to try dry aging......maybe I'll swing by and grab another at the low price.

But I'm stumped as to why I had two bad briskets.

[captainlee]

It could just be the animal and not your method, you got a tuff one. I am also learning to really watch my cooks on the lower end of the doneness temp. It's easy here at altitude to overcook and dry out. Instead of just going for a set temp start probing for tenderness in the low 190s. I have noticed some major variations in cook times with the same sized meats of all types. Just did a rack of ribs that took almost an hour longer than normal. Temps were fine per my Fireboard monitoring, go figure. Making our drive down to Costco today, hope I get lucky too.

[STEbbq]

I would start probing them around 190. You want the probe to go into the brisket like a warm knife through butter. 203 is not the magical number for every brisket and, as you are noticing, many are done well before then.

[HawkerXP]

Start early and probe often. Probe tender is the target.

[Sid P]

When you say “probing”, are you taking the temp or testing for tenderness? Where are you probing?

The hardest part about smoking a brisket is that the point will be tender hours before the flat, so you have to forget about it and let it go while the flat tenderizes.

My last brisket was wonderful, and the point was 209° when the flat was finally tender. Trust me, it was hard to let it go that long. Aaron Franklin says in his book that you have to smoke it a lot longer than you would think, and that’s been true for me.




Other steps are also very important. Are you dry brining overnight, or at least several hours? Are you resting it a minimum of 2-3 hours?

Last, I’d stick with the pellet grill for now, since that’s what you’ve been using. You already know it can make a good brisket. The one above came off my Grilla Silverbac pellet grill.

Good luck!

[jfmorris]

I'm wondering WHERE you are putting the Temp spike too. I always put my leave in thermometer in the thickest part of the flat, avoiding the deckle (fat layer between point and flat), and let the point fend for itself, as it has enough fat content to handle the heat. And as I think you've already figured out, every piece of meat is different. One may be done at 195, another at 209. 203 is on the low side for the briskets I've done, and I would say 205+ was more typical for the flat to be tender.

At $2.99 a pound, if you got a brisket in the mid $20's, that sure sounds like it's a flat maybe? I've never seen a full packer under 10-12 pounds around here. And that is on the small side.

[Sid P]

I’m also a little confused on the size, but our Costco never has flats under $7/lb, so I assumed he’s cooking the smallest packers he can find.

[jfmorris]

Sid P maybe going after the smallest packers is the problem? Anything under 10 pounds is almost all flat I would assume, and has little fat/deckle to shield it from drying out over the extended cook.

[dlaslo]

When you say “probing”, are you taking the temp or testing for tenderness? Where are you probing?



Other steps are also very important. Are you dry brining overnight, or at least several hours? Are you resting it a minimum of 2-3 hours?

Last, I’d stick with the pellet grill for now, since that’s what you’ve been using. You already know it can make a good brisket. The one above came off my Grilla Silverbac pellet grill.

Good luck!

I probe for temperature and tenderness at higher temperatures in the past, but now I'm going to check the tenderness more often at lower temperatures (190 plus).

Yes...I dry brine overnight. But I don't rest it more than a half hour. It seems I'm overcooking it now.......

The two packers I got at Costco are really floppy pieces of meat .... and I had some stiff ones in the past. Fingers crossed.

[Sid P]

The experts say the rest is critical. Another good test is that the brisket is floppy like a fish or bowl of jello. If it’s not, you’re probably pulling too early.

[dlaslo]

I'm wondering WHERE you are putting the Temp spike too. I always put my leave in thermometer in the thickest part of the flat, avoiding the deckle (fat layer between point and flat), and let the point fend for itself, as it has enough fat content to handle the heat. And as I think you've already figured out, every piece of meat is different. One may be done at 195, another at 209. 203 is on the low side for the briskets I've done, and I would say 205+ was more typical for the flat to be tender.

At $2.99 a pound, if you got a brisket in the mid $20's, that sure sounds like it's a flat maybe? I've never seen a full packer under 10-12 pounds around here. And that is on the small side.

The flats are $7/lb and were actually more $$$ than the packers at $3/lb..I got smaller packers (8 pounds or so) - just two of us.

I always put a probe in the thickest part and close to the middle. And check all over with a portable probe every once in a while. I have a bunch of temperature probes and I'm going to put them in on both ends this weekend

All three of the briskets I talked about above were flats.

[jfmorris]

Ok, I am going to go out on a limb here, and suggest that you MAY have pulled them early, if that was the flat probing at 203. I feel I've needed to go higher a few times myself. But as I say, every brisket seems to be a little different. And they all benefit from a 1-2 hour or longer rest in cambro.

[barelfly]

In my experience, I’ve never cooked a brisket over 200*. And that may be due to my type of smoker that doesn’t get dry. Like others said, 190* and I start probing and pull when I get that right, which usually is around 193-195. Then I wrap in foil and towels and place in a small cooler to rest for a 2-3 hours at least.

Seeing you only rest at most 30 minutes, see if a longer rest helps. And, just track your method so you know what technique works (that’s the hard part if you change too many things at once).

hope these next cooks go well for you!

[STEbbq]

Agreed. I explicitly plan for a 2 hour rest at least for all brisket/pastrami cooks. It makes a difference.

[Santamarina]

Brisket is one of the few cuts I don’t cook to temp…I cook until it’s probe tender. What number seems to depend on the grade too. Prime beef tends to finish at a lower temp - usually under 200°.

Brisket is also one of the few cuts I don’t dry brine. I followed Aaron Franklin’s advice and just hit it with 50/50 coarse kosher salt and coarse ground black pepper and toss it straight on the pit.

I don’t wrap until the bark is set (well after the stall!) and I wrap in pink butcher paper. Finally the hold…I aim for a minimum of 4 hours, but more often I do more like 12…so I can actually sleep before people arrive to eat!

[dlaslo]

Brisket is one of the few cuts I don’t cook to temp…I cook until it’s probe tender. What number seems to depend on the grade too. Prime beef tends to finish at a lower temp - usually under 200°.

Brisket is also one of the few cuts I don’t dry brine. I followed Aaron Franklin’s advice and just hit it with 50/50 coarse kosher salt and coarse ground black pepper and toss it straight on the pit.

I don’t wrap until the bark is set (well after the stall!) and I wrap in pink butcher paper. Finally the hold…I aim for a minimum of 4 hours, but more often I do more like 12…so I can actually sleep before people arrive to eat!

So you start the day before?

[Santamarina]

If I’m serving lunch on Saturday I’ll start my cook Friday afternoon. Plenty of time to smoke, wrap, and get in the warming oven…and still get to bed before midnight.

I used to say nothing beats a good brisket for lunch, but one thing that definitely beats it…a full night of sleep so I can enjoy the food and company!

[realdocBBQ]

This is the one we did this weekend.