Pellet Grill Brisket Help

[Rlawton79]

So I bought a Camp Chelf DLX pellet smoker shortly after Christmas. I have about a dozen cooks on it and turned out the best chicken I have ever done. I have also turned out some pretty darn good ribs. My problem is brisket. I have done 2 briskets and was not happy with either. I have done briskets in the past in my sticker burner as well as my propane cabinet smoker, with some great results. So i have a pretty good idea on how to cook them, but this pellet smoker is making me feel like a brisket newbie all over again.

What am i doing wrong? They keep turning out dry and i dont feel like the fat renders down very well. I keep my temps between 225-275. I pull when probe tender, which on my other cookers is between 200-205 usually. On my pellet smoker i pulled around the same temps. I dont inject or brine briskets, just use a simple pepper and garlic rub and sometimes spritz with equal parts of water and worcestshire sauce. I always cook fat side up. I dont wrap my briskets, but i do faux cambro for 2-4 hours. With that method they have turned out juicy on my other smokers and ive gotten a nice bark.

For my pellet smoker, do i need to wrap briskets? Would fat side down work better? Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.

[SMOG MAN]

I use a RecTec pellet grill, have cooked quite a few new briskets, I always use the best grade brisket I can get, foil wrap after the bark is set, Cook to probe tender and the better the brisket the lower the finished temperature that usually is, in the faux Cambro as long as I can and with that they are always great.

[SMOG MAN]

I try to stay a close to 225 to 250 grate temperature as I can

[Huskee]

Are you getting the exact same meat? Same store, same grade, etc? It could be coincidence that you got a worse piece of meat those times. I like to go fat cap facing the direction of heat- so on my stickburner (and a pellet grill too) I'd go fat down, as a buffer. Try dry brining 1-2 days in advance, don't trim too much fat cap (leave a minimum of 1/4" or slightly more). Also try wrapping at 170-180, after the stall, tightly double layer of foil or paper. These are just a few of many techniques and options to consider. The single biggest though is use the exact same meat so you know if changing your technique is necessary or not.

[SMOG MAN]

As Huskee says, I also trim the fat cap to no more than 1/4", fat cap down and dry brine for 2 days.

[Skip]

I have cooked several on pellet cooker with success. Trim fat as you like but I would leave 1/4" or so. Dry Brine the night before with 1/2 tsp per pound. When you are going to cook set pellet grill to 225. Pepper lightly. Cook fat side down until 170-180. Then I always double foil and add 1-2 cups broth--fat side up. At 190-200 or probe tender--put the wrapped meat in a foil roasting pan and wrap in towels and put in cooler for 2-4 hours. Meat must stay above 145 to be safe. After the cooler hold period the brisket can stay wrapped and be held in a 170 degree oven for another 2-3 hours if necessary until slicing and serving. I understand that many don't care to wrap in foil but that is what works for me. Good luck.

[BulletStopper]

I've cooked two briskets on my Cap Chef DLX. First was superb, second was a "bit" dry but stil good. I injected mroe on the first.

Both times I set it to 225 grill temp and foiled at 170.

I do have a Smoke Daddy PID controller upgrade.

[Willy]

I hope your name doesn't reflect any real life situations! :«)

[CandySueQ]

On a pellet cooker, I cook everything at 240. Here lately I've been cooking at higher temps, even up to 300. 2 hours fat side down toward heat flow. Flip over to fat side up, wrap at 165 in warm beef stock (unsalted). Take it up to 200+ until no resistance for probe going in or coming out. Most of the time that's around 205, but I have had it go up to 210. Since I'm working to present brisket at a definite time, it will go in the cambro (or warm cooler) to rest at this point. I always separate the flat from the point before cooking. Point it likely going to still be on the cooker. I radically remove fat except for 1/4" at the bottom of the flat.