I did a brisket for New Years, starting with a Prime-grade 16 lb packer from Costco. I followed Meathead's technique, as with the dozens of briskets I have done in the past, but the texture on this was dry and firm...not right. I have done lots of great briskets in the past and I am trying to troubleshoot what to change next time to avoid the same result.
Some details from my smoke, and feel free to ask questions if I left something out
- 16lb Prime packer. Trimmed the fat. Kept the Point and Flat connected
- Modified Big Bad Beef Rub that I evolved over the years and works well for me
- Injected beef broth when I put it on the smoker. Maybe 16 oz from a beer glass
- Put meat on at 12:30am and set Yoder pellet smoker (I like to sleep at night) to temp. Temp from Thermoworks K-type logger (1 min intervals) next to the meat showed the temp at the brisket peaked at 250 then settled in to a very consistent 235 for the night
- Brisket internal temp ramped up as usual and began to stall around 160 at 6am, when I got up in the morning. I wrapped it in butcher paper (24-inch pink paper, ran one piece end-to end lengthwise to catch ends and wrapped another radius to hold it together). The temp probe never came out so it was in the same position throughout for a consistent measurement.
- Temp ran fairly linear again until it flattened in the high 180s/low 190s mid morning then stalled again as it approached 200. It took two hours to get from 193 to 200, which got me worried about it drying out. I never made it to 203, my preferred take-out temp. It felt soft to my Thermopen probe but maybe not "buttery"...I was poking through the paper. That was 11:45am
- I finally pulled it off the smoker at noon and rested the meat, after 12 hours on the smoker. Lots of "au jus" moisture/fat leaked out of the paper when I transferred it from the smoker to a tray to rest (still in the butcher paper). I have the temp logger curves on another computer...I can attach them to a later post if it helps but I will put the relevant temps below
- Rested the meat until mid afternoon, keeping the meat warm and in the butcher paper until I cut it
I cut the meat in the middle, toward the point end, but it was dry and firm...maybe a little tough. The texture was not moist or "fall apart" tender. The texture was kind of like an over-cooked roast or turkey breast
In the past I have crutched it with foil and with paper. I have not taken one all the way through "naked" because I always end up worried about the meat drying out. This time I used paper, which I prefer because the bark is not as soft afterward as with a foil crutch.
I am trying to figure out why the dry brisket?
I scratch my head...as I understand it, the stall is from moisture evaporating from the meat so my intuition told me the second stall near 200 was the meat drying out. I didn't want shoe leather so I bailed out and pulled the meat off the smoker. After my wife's experiment, i am thinking maybe it didn't spend enough time north of 170 to render the fat.
Looking at the logger file
- 160 at 6:10 am and the slope flattened into the stall. I then wrapped it in butcher paper
- 170 at 7:30am
- 177 at 8am
- 187 at 9am
- 193 at 10am
- 198 at 11am
- 199 at 11:45
- I took it off when it hit 200 at noon
What do you guys think?
Thanks for the help
Some details from my smoke, and feel free to ask questions if I left something out
- 16lb Prime packer. Trimmed the fat. Kept the Point and Flat connected
- Modified Big Bad Beef Rub that I evolved over the years and works well for me
- Injected beef broth when I put it on the smoker. Maybe 16 oz from a beer glass
- Put meat on at 12:30am and set Yoder pellet smoker (I like to sleep at night) to temp. Temp from Thermoworks K-type logger (1 min intervals) next to the meat showed the temp at the brisket peaked at 250 then settled in to a very consistent 235 for the night
- Brisket internal temp ramped up as usual and began to stall around 160 at 6am, when I got up in the morning. I wrapped it in butcher paper (24-inch pink paper, ran one piece end-to end lengthwise to catch ends and wrapped another radius to hold it together). The temp probe never came out so it was in the same position throughout for a consistent measurement.
- Temp ran fairly linear again until it flattened in the high 180s/low 190s mid morning then stalled again as it approached 200. It took two hours to get from 193 to 200, which got me worried about it drying out. I never made it to 203, my preferred take-out temp. It felt soft to my Thermopen probe but maybe not "buttery"...I was poking through the paper. That was 11:45am
- I finally pulled it off the smoker at noon and rested the meat, after 12 hours on the smoker. Lots of "au jus" moisture/fat leaked out of the paper when I transferred it from the smoker to a tray to rest (still in the butcher paper). I have the temp logger curves on another computer...I can attach them to a later post if it helps but I will put the relevant temps below
- Rested the meat until mid afternoon, keeping the meat warm and in the butcher paper until I cut it
I cut the meat in the middle, toward the point end, but it was dry and firm...maybe a little tough. The texture was not moist or "fall apart" tender. The texture was kind of like an over-cooked roast or turkey breast
In the past I have crutched it with foil and with paper. I have not taken one all the way through "naked" because I always end up worried about the meat drying out. This time I used paper, which I prefer because the bark is not as soft afterward as with a foil crutch.
I am trying to figure out why the dry brisket?
Did I take it out too soon? I always worry at the end about drying out an expensive piece of meat...I love my brisket moist and tender, just holding together as it is supposed to.
My wife tried an experiment the next day with some slices in a little beef broth in a covered casserole pan in the oven for a couple hours. The meat was tender and moist and still flavorful, making me believe maybe I pulled it too early.I scratch my head...as I understand it, the stall is from moisture evaporating from the meat so my intuition told me the second stall near 200 was the meat drying out. I didn't want shoe leather so I bailed out and pulled the meat off the smoker. After my wife's experiment, i am thinking maybe it didn't spend enough time north of 170 to render the fat.
Looking at the logger file
- 160 at 6:10 am and the slope flattened into the stall. I then wrapped it in butcher paper
- 170 at 7:30am
- 177 at 8am
- 187 at 9am
- 193 at 10am
- 198 at 11am
- 199 at 11:45
- I took it off when it hit 200 at noon
What do you guys think?
Thanks for the help
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