Brisket help

[Gbell1577]

Morning everyone,

cooked a brisket yesterday and I was a little disappointed with the results, I was hoping to get a better idea as to why it came out so dry. I know all briskets are different and could have been the meat, but here's what I did-

I tried out the Butchers Prime injection, I did that about 6 hours before hand. Cleaned off the juices and rubed it down pretty good.

Got the smoker up to about 275 and threw her on. Here is one of my theory's as to why this one came out dry- I would get my pit to about 280 so that way I could sleep and let it drop down to 230, get up and repeat every 3 hours or so (using a homemade offset). I wonder if the fluctuations could have anything to do with it?

Had a probe in it and wrapped at 160.

Pulled off at 205 and rested it in a cooler for 4 hours. Maybe 205 is too much if I'm going to rest? I may try 190 this weekend.

Any input would be greatly appreciated, thank you all for your help!

[Danjohnston949]

Gbell1577, I won't profess to be an expert but from your description a couple of things come to mind. You didn't mention a water pan? Low Humidity can dry your meat! I also wonder if the YoYo Temps might be giving you a problem? Like I said I am not an expert but I will bet those who are will be along directly to give you better help!
💐 Happy Easter 🐣. Eat Well and Prosper! From Fargo ND, Dan

[Gbell1577]

Yes sir, I have a water pan that is connected to my grate closest to the firebox

[Jerod Broussard]

My best two best briskets were cooked in a pit that fluctuated from 185 to about 330. I was cooking with wood on a cheap offset.

I wouldn't go above 205 internal, but I definitely wouldn't pull off at 190 if it isn't probe tender.

Are you cooking a full packer??

Those two briskets I mentioned above were wrapped at 194 internal and pulled at 203.

[Gbell1577]

Do you think putting the brisket back
On the smoker after its 4 hour wrap caused it to dry? The temp was around 220 degrees and I kept it there for 39 minutes

[Jerod Broussard]

Was it wrapped??

[Gbell1577]

Not wrapped

[Gbell1577]

I think I'm becoming overly concerned with temps.

[PaulstheRibList]

Gbell1577 it sounds to me like more practice is what you need to figure your brisket rhythm on your pit. I'm with Jerod Broussard in that I don't wrap that early - I prefer the darker bark, and wrapping at 160 is too early for me.

The temp variation happens a lot, and I'm also with Jerod that I would not worry about 230-280 swings.

I have used Butcher's Prime at least a dozen times, including side-by-side tests with non-injected briskets, and it appears to us that it does help maintain more moisture in the flat. Not the biggest difference in the universe, but it does help.

My suggestion is to cook another one soon. Practice Practice Practice

Oh, did you rely on your Maverick-type probe to tell you the temp, or did you probe in several places with a Thermapen type probe? The placement of you leave-in-the-cooker probe can give you some false readings, so make sure you use that as a tool and confirm doneness with the Thermapen, both for feel (primary) and temp.

[Gbell1577]

I used both a maverick and thermapen. At what temp do you like to wrap? I didn't want to wait much longer after the stall because I didn't want to dry it out. From
What I can tell, the culprit was Letting
The flat get to 205. I'm doing another brisket this weekend and I'll be pulling around 190-195

[HorseDoctor]

I've never injected a brisket so don't know what that might add to the mix. 205 seems a little high but that by itself shouldn't necessarily make it dry. I've found that my flats often get that high before the point gets to 203 and I wouldn't call them dry even though they are certainly drier than the point. I'm trying to learn to judge "doneness" by what they feel like along with temp. As Jerod said "briskets are done when they are done". So true!

What was the grade of your packer? Higher grades will have more intramuscular fat that will render and help the melted collagen keep it moist & juicy (replacing water lost during the cook). You might try not wrapping as early, as collagen melting is at least as dependant on the time above 170-180 as final temp. Maybe you powered through the stall too fast???

[Gbell1577]

when you guys wrap, do you use foil or use a pan? Do you add some kind of juice in it? Also, I did put my brisket back on the smoker after it was finished resting so that way I could dry out the outside for a better bark, I wonder if this could hav caused it to dry?

[HorseDoctor]

FWIW: I don't wrap until I have good bark, then wrapping (in paper) doesn't really hurt the bark.

[Huskee]

I too go past the stall before wrapping, like in the area of 180 or so. Very tight wrap, no liquid. I want to treat the inside of the meat, not the surface. The bark will soften some, but no liquid means no braising, other than what liquid pools in it naturally, and therefore less bark softening. The good thing about bark is if it's there it wont go away.

[PaulstheRibList]

when you guys wrap, do you use foil or use a pan? Do you add some kind of juice in it? Also, I did put my brisket back on the smoker after it was finished resting so that way I could dry out the outside for a better bark, I wonder if this could hav caused it to dry?

I use Butcher Paper, and do not add any liquid. The only exception is I'm running out of time, then I'll wrap in foil and put brazing liquid in there per Meathead's instructions. (This normally only happens if we are cooking multiple briskets and there is one much larger than the rest - I'll hurry it along if we don't/can't wait.)

I've done the "put it back on the pit to firm up the bark" thing, and can't remember any big difference. But we didn't put it on for that long. How long did you put it back on?

[Butterman]

As others have said I'm not an expert, but 2 things stick out to me.

First I would not go back on the smoker after resting. For me, my bark is my bark. I don't expect to get any better once I wrap.

Second what grade was the meat? If it was select that could also be part of it, especially with putting it back on the smoker after resting.

I wrap directly, not in a pan. Not opposed to a pan wrap, just haven't tried it yet.

[Loudside30]

My best two best briskets were cooked in a pit that fluctuated from 185 to about 330. I was cooking with wood on a cheap offset.

I wouldn't go above 205 internal, but I definitely wouldn't pull off at 190 if it isn't probe tender.

Are you cooking a full packer??

Those two briskets I mentioned above were wrapped at 194 internal and pulled at 203.

I agree I have done briskets and butts in bad settings / cheap cookers and had temps shooting everywhere and as long as it took some hours and internal was monitored to a 200 range I pulled and rested them and they were always great. They are fatty connective meats i think they can handle more than we think

[Jerod Broussard]

It can hurt time management, however the meat isn't aware of things outside the pit. hehe