Hi everyone. I had a brisket failure and I’m stumped as to why. Hoping someone can offer some advice and/or suggestions.
I’m a relative newbie when it comes to BBQ. I’ve been studying, primarily via this amazing AR website, for several years. For Christmas last year, I got a GMG Daniel Boon pellet grill, and I’ve been cooking up a storm with great success. Following Meatheads BBQ Beef Brisket Texas Style recipe to a T, I cooked my first brisket in April. It was a A+ success. I cooked my second a month later, and it was more like a B. It was good, but just not as moist. I noticed this second brisket shrank in size more than the first, which caused the foil-wrap crutch to become loose. I suspect this caused the moisture to escape too easily, so I made a note to myself to wrap the next brisket tighter and with an extra third layer of foil.
So this brings me to brisket #3, the failure "F" brisket. It was the same as the other two: full packer brisket of about the same size, USDA Prime, bought as Costco (for $2.99 a pound), let sit in my fridge for a week, same trimmng, same rub, same 24 hour pre-salt, same injection with the same broth, same grill, same weather, same pellets, same start time of 12:30am. All three briskets were identically prepared except for this third one, I noticed it was thinner after trimming. It seemed to have had more fat. I suspected it wouldn’t take as long to cook, however I was shocked when it hit 150 internal in only 3 hours. Not believing this, I double checked with multiple thermometers, and yes, it was 150. So, at 3:30am, I foil wrapped / crutched it – 3 layers of foil, very tightly and let it go, aiming for 203 internal. It hit 203 3 hours later, at 6:30am. Where brisket #1 was a 12 hour cook, and brisket #2 was 15 hours, this third brisket was a shockingly short 6 hours. Worse, dinner was still some 12 hours away. So, without any other option, I put it in the warming drawer at 150 for 12 hours. Note, I did the same for the first two briskets, but they were only in the drawer for 3 to 5 hours.
Upon unwrapping the 12 hour really fully rested brisket, it looked perfect and smelled delicious. The tight foil wrapping was apparently successful, in that it trapped what seemed like a gallon of liquid that poured out when I unwrapped it. However, upon slicing it, unless you ate it within a minute of being sliced, it dried out to cardboard right in front of your eyes. I’ve never seen a meat loose moisture that fast. I couldn’t slice it and get it on a serving plate fast enough. By the time it hit the dinner table, it was dry as a bone.
It was not great. Dry, tasteless… miserable. I stopped trying to convince myself it was edible via using BBQ sauce as distraction by day 2, and threw it out.
I’m at a loss as to what happened. I replicated the recipe and procedure exactly. The GMG maintains its temperature extremely accurately (and I verify it by 3rd party thermometers). Yes, every animal is different, and this cut did seem thinner than the rest, but enough to cut cook time by more than half? Has anyone else ever had a whole packer brisket be done in 6 hours? Was letting it sit in the warming drawer for 12 hours a big mistake? If so, what would be an alternative? Can you over-wrap or wrap too tightly at the crutch? Maybe don't crutch at all?
I’m at a loss as to why my brisket cooks have gone from A, to B, to F.
Any thoughts / advice?
Thank you!
Matt
I’m a relative newbie when it comes to BBQ. I’ve been studying, primarily via this amazing AR website, for several years. For Christmas last year, I got a GMG Daniel Boon pellet grill, and I’ve been cooking up a storm with great success. Following Meatheads BBQ Beef Brisket Texas Style recipe to a T, I cooked my first brisket in April. It was a A+ success. I cooked my second a month later, and it was more like a B. It was good, but just not as moist. I noticed this second brisket shrank in size more than the first, which caused the foil-wrap crutch to become loose. I suspect this caused the moisture to escape too easily, so I made a note to myself to wrap the next brisket tighter and with an extra third layer of foil.
So this brings me to brisket #3, the failure "F" brisket. It was the same as the other two: full packer brisket of about the same size, USDA Prime, bought as Costco (for $2.99 a pound), let sit in my fridge for a week, same trimmng, same rub, same 24 hour pre-salt, same injection with the same broth, same grill, same weather, same pellets, same start time of 12:30am. All three briskets were identically prepared except for this third one, I noticed it was thinner after trimming. It seemed to have had more fat. I suspected it wouldn’t take as long to cook, however I was shocked when it hit 150 internal in only 3 hours. Not believing this, I double checked with multiple thermometers, and yes, it was 150. So, at 3:30am, I foil wrapped / crutched it – 3 layers of foil, very tightly and let it go, aiming for 203 internal. It hit 203 3 hours later, at 6:30am. Where brisket #1 was a 12 hour cook, and brisket #2 was 15 hours, this third brisket was a shockingly short 6 hours. Worse, dinner was still some 12 hours away. So, without any other option, I put it in the warming drawer at 150 for 12 hours. Note, I did the same for the first two briskets, but they were only in the drawer for 3 to 5 hours.
Upon unwrapping the 12 hour really fully rested brisket, it looked perfect and smelled delicious. The tight foil wrapping was apparently successful, in that it trapped what seemed like a gallon of liquid that poured out when I unwrapped it. However, upon slicing it, unless you ate it within a minute of being sliced, it dried out to cardboard right in front of your eyes. I’ve never seen a meat loose moisture that fast. I couldn’t slice it and get it on a serving plate fast enough. By the time it hit the dinner table, it was dry as a bone.
It was not great. Dry, tasteless… miserable. I stopped trying to convince myself it was edible via using BBQ sauce as distraction by day 2, and threw it out.
I’m at a loss as to what happened. I replicated the recipe and procedure exactly. The GMG maintains its temperature extremely accurately (and I verify it by 3rd party thermometers). Yes, every animal is different, and this cut did seem thinner than the rest, but enough to cut cook time by more than half? Has anyone else ever had a whole packer brisket be done in 6 hours? Was letting it sit in the warming drawer for 12 hours a big mistake? If so, what would be an alternative? Can you over-wrap or wrap too tightly at the crutch? Maybe don't crutch at all?
I’m at a loss as to why my brisket cooks have gone from A, to B, to F.
Any thoughts / advice?
Thank you!
Matt
Comment