Originally posted by TA29
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Yes, the 225 was the grate temp. Although on a separate note, I've found that since I repositioned my plate setter such that the legs are at 1-5-9, and my pit probe is above 5, my pit and dome temps have been much more consistent.-
amr5152 the fire on the BGE tneds to travel to the back of the Egg, so if you reposition the plate setter after your 1st brisket cook the extra hot air blowing over the brisket could have been a factor in drying out the meat.
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I cook on a LBGE also, and the only dry brisket I got was when I went by temp only. Once the time reached ten hours I should have started checking for probe tender. I separate he point from the flat. The flat was pretty dry, but the point wasn't near as dry. I don't believe I cooked it over 13 hours. I think you hit probe tender long before you hit the 17 hour mark. Dome temp does vary from grill temp, but unless your dome thermometer wasn't calibrated correctly the variation should't have made much difference cooking at 225.Comment
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A 4 lb point should take maybe 8 hours max. It was probably done at 190* or so, and the reason it came out dry was all the water was cooked out of it. I split my points from my flats, the points are about 4-5 lbs, and they're done in about 8 hours. LBGE here as well.
Use a metal skewer or a Thermapen, when it "probes like butter" it's done. (I didn't know what that meant until I felt it. It is unmistakable. If you're thinking, "Is that what probes like butter feels like?" then it isn't. You'll know.)Comment
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All very helpful. Thanks!Comment
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I agree, you had the right idea but way to long, something was wrong. as others have stated 203 is an ok idea but every brisket is so different. I start checking about 195 and pull when probe tender. I have never cooked a brisket for 17hrs. 2 wks ago I did a 13lb packer and it was 13hrs on the dot at 240Comment
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amr5152 Thanks for posting your experience. I see a lot of others have made great comments, and I think we're converging on the truth. I've had the same experience as you, in fact, on a large BGE as well, 3 times I think. Rather dry... And my guests, like yours, were quite complimentary. But less critical than I am of myself!
Lately I can't use my BGE much because of at the condo where we live most of the time, but I do want to go back and conquer brisket. What I have been very successful with is a combo sous vide and smoke (weber gas grill with water pan). The best method so far: smoke first (5 hours or so), then sous vide (24 hours), then some more smoking/bark development to finish (2 hours or so). This, or close to it, has worked 4 times in a row for me.
I wanted to kick around a theory I've been formulating, to see what people think. I have incontrovertible evidence, from my sous vide experiments, that a brisket never needs to exceed about 155-165F in order to be awesome. This, however, requires a very long time. The bulk of the cooking is done at 155F for 24 hours. The initial smoking, and the finishing smoke, end at about 155F as well.
You can see the result here. This was an amazing piece of meat...
I think we can extract from this that brisket needs more time, the lower the temperature. Further, I'm thinking very few people actually are cooking at a temperature as low as 225F (some may think they are, but thermometer placement and/or accuracy may be an issue). I think you actually were, since you monitored at the grate (and seem to be careful and rigorous with your data). This means that in your case the meat was cooking internally at a lower-than-typical temperature (or, "lower and slower"). Not as low as sous vide, but lower than most do. Therefore your cook would have taken longer than typical, but ALSO would have required a lower final internal temperature to be done. So, as several have mentioned, I think you could have finished your smoke at a lower temperature, and probing for feel, rather than looking for a specific temperature, would have caused you to take the brisket off before 203, or maybe even 190.
I'm not disagreeing with the other posters here, to be clear; I think you've gotten a lot of great advice. I am trying to figure out what exactly is going on with brisket, and curious what others think. It's a very difficult thing to master, but a very worthy endeavor!Last edited by progenitive; June 28, 2017, 09:55 PM.Comment
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This feels wrong for me to be offering advice when that's what I joined in search of but here goes. I cook hot. I used to cook slow. Got tired of temp stall. I cook mainly flat ends. I wrap at 150 IT then take it to 200 IT. Cool as slow as possible but if time is a problem I will slice after 1 hour cooling. I am cooking pieces larger than 4 lbs and still like to see them at 150 IT in 3 or 4 hours then at 200 IT in another 3 or 4 hours. This is very quick, rough advice but I hope you get something from it.Comment
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amr5152 I guess I meant to suggest also that lower and slower is better, although you can do great at higher temperatures. I've had some really good brisket at my company's cafeteria and the chef claimed, at least, he smoked it for 24 hours. I'm guessing that was at a very low temperature. You may prefer higher temperature to get done quicker, but I think at higher temperature it becomes more critical when you pull it off. And possibly there are subtle differences in how the fat renders and collagen melts, which I'm theorizing are better when done slowly.
The fun thing about this art is that everyone finds their own best practice.
A recent post that includes pictures and procedures from my smoke-sous vide-smoke method:
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Here is another smoke, SV, torch method. It even gives credit to amazingribs.com.
I plan on trying all the methods in this thread but I'll pass on the torch finishes.
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I cook on an XL Green Egg and get great results doing the following:
Buy prime brisket if you can find it; HEB in the Austin area carries prime brisket
Look for the thickest flat that you can find
Trim and season with salt and pepper
Platesetter legs up with two disposable pans and grid on top of the pans
Fill with lump and your choice of wood; I use post oak
Pit temp probe clamped on the grid
Heat the egg to 275 degrees; 225 is too cool for the egg and might be why yours is drying out
I use the Stoker WiFi to keep pit temp and monitor meat temp but most other models are as good or better
Place the brisket fat side up and put the temp probe in the middle of where the point and flat meet
After about 21/2 hours open the egg and spritz with apple cider vinegar or use what you like
Watch the meat temp graph and you will see the stall start about 160 to 170 degrees
When the stall is ending, 180 to 185 degrees wrap with butcher paper and place it back in the egg with temp probe inserted
When the temp hits 203 degrees, 8 to 10 hours of cooking time, remove the brisket and place it in a cooler with towels below and on top of it
It can stay in the cooler for hours but leave it in there for at least three hours
When slicing, cut the burnt ends and anything else that needs to be trimmed and save this for the next pot of beans.
I know that everyone has their own brisket recipe but the one above will turn out great results using a BGE.
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17 hours is a long time. The longest I have taken is about 10 hours for a whole packer brisket. I have the temp dial on the smoker but I use a Fireboard temp in which I use a probe to take the cooking temps at the grill level. When I take my Brisket of it has that jiggle to it and has to be supported. I also take my finger and poke it in the brisket with my glove quickly on and if it slides in easily it time to take it off and wrap it and put it in the redneck cambro. There are some of the BBQ paces here in Texas that do a pretty good brisket in 4-5 hours.Last edited by gshayd; June 29, 2017, 06:26 PM.Comment
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How about trying injecting with some beef broth and Wherchershire (sp?). MH has a recipe for the injection liquid. One word of caution, do not put salt into the injection liquid if you dry brine the meat.Comment
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