Botched Brisket! Brine vs Dr Pepper Bath? Please help!

[austexrod]

Howdy folks,

Smoked a 10 lb Brisket today and it tasted fine but the texture was less than delicious!

Facts: Grilled with FPDS at 250F for 15hrs

           Unlit lump/lit hardwood charcoal/Mesquite chunks

           Mollases/salt/water brine 24hrs

           No salt Rub

           Fat Cap side up for 2 hrs

           Fat Cap side down 7 hrs

           Flip then mop 3 hrs

           wrap in foil for 3 hrs

           final internal temp was around 205F

           wrapped in towel placed in cooler 2 hours

Now here is a pic of my last Brisket several hours after smoke. I was very pleased with the my first brisket.

Facts: Same size, temp, charcoal box setup and time

           Dr Pepper marinade for 24 hours

           dry salt rub

           No turning

           Fat Cap side up

           mopping sauce used

           post internal temp was around 180F

           the last 4 hours I wrapped in clear plastic and foil

          

The molasses brine is primarily the X-factor. Any opinions would be greatly appreciated!

In addition the MoBrine worked very well for my pulled pork and pork spareribs.

 

[jirodriguez]

With brisket the best thing is a simple dry rub the night before. Salt, pepper, garlic powder, cayanne, onion powder, and paprika. Get it rubbed, wrapped, and into the fridge for a minimum of 8 hrs.

Cook it with your smoker running at 200°-220°, when the internal temp hits 160°-165° put it in a big foil pan with either a can of low sodium beef broth or a good beer (I like a nice hoppy beer). Cover it tightly with foil and let it get up to 190° on the internal temp...... then (and this is a trick I discovered) take it out of the pan and put it back on the racks. The internal temp will drop back to about 180-185, but just let it ride till you get up to somewhere between 195 and 205. Pull it, wrap it in heavy foil, and pop it into a towel lined cooler to rest for 1-2 hrs.

Also when you pull it out of the foil pan take all the liquids in the pan and put them in a plastic container and pop it into the freezer for 30 min. All the fat will set up on top, then toss the fat and re-heat the liquid gold to serve it drizzled over the brisket.

 

[forluvofsmoke]

Howdy folks,

Smoked a 10 lb Brisket today and it tasted fine but the texture was less than delicious!

Facts: Grilled with FPDS at 250F for 15hrs

           Unlit lump/lit hardwood charcoal/Mesquite chunks

           Mollases/salt/water brine 24hrs

           No salt Rub

           Fat Cap side up for 2 hrs

           Fat Cap side down 7 hrs

           Flip then mop 3 hrs

           wrap in foil for 3 hrs

           final internal temp was around 205F

           wrapped in towel placed in cooler 2 hours

Now here is a pic of my last Brisket several hours after smoke. I was very pleased with the my first brisket.

Facts: Same size, temp, charcoal box setup and time

           Dr Pepper marinade for 24 hours

           dry salt rub

           No turning

           Fat Cap side up

           mopping sauce used

           post internal temp was around 180F

           the last 4 hours I wrapped in clear plastic and foil

          

The molasses brine is primarily the X-factor. Any opinions would be greatly appreciated!

In addition the MoBrine worked very well for my pulled pork and pork spareribs.

The biggest factors I see here which had the most impact on the differences are:

Finished temps (205* is a high temp range for pulled meats, while 180* is a good baseline temp for sliced brisket);

Turning the meat over while smoking (it's generally a bad practivce to flip more than once, and I rarely if ever flip meats I'm cooking low & slow).

I don't see where anything else you changed would have had much of an effect on texture. Texture can be altered somewhat by brining or marinating ( I never brine beef, only pork and poultry), and brining can cause a slightly mushy texture, but I think temps were the main culprit to the first one, if you wanted a decent sliced brisket (that looked flakey/dry). Then, flipping the meat over can drive the meat juices crazy, in a matter of speaking. You can flip meat once when grilling, but a second or third time is asking for dried out meat, IMHO. I can't think of a reason for flipping while smoking, and to mop/baste a brisket is something I've neevr had an inkling to do. Simpler methods during the cooking of meats generally yield the best results.
 

Anyway, that's what I see in your prep and cooking methods. Try a simple dry rub, or just salt/pepper/garlic. Rest in open air at room temp for 20-30 minutes to allow rub to adhere and meat to temper, then, do a simple no-flip, no-mop, fat cap up smoke, 225* chamber temp...brisket benefits enormously from low & slow. Take the point to 200* or so for an easy pulled beef, and 180-185* in the flat for a nice slice brisket. Seperate when temps are reached in one or the other, foil/towel wrap and 3-4 hours resting after finished temps are reached. Simple, easy, some pulled and some sliced for your dining pleasures, without all the fuss. That's the perfect brisket for me. Of course, we do like our burnt ends from the point as well. Take the point to 160* then seperate and cube to 1-1/2" or a bit smaller, re-season/sauce and double-smoke until slightly crisp on the outside...about 2.5 hours @ 225*. Finish up the flat as usual.

Keep tryin'! Brisket is the king of smoked beef around my house!

Eric

 

[alblancher]

I don't brine beef. 12 hrs min on rub, mop or spritz when ever I open cook chamber and seperate point and flat when fat layer breaks down.

There are just as many ways to do it right as there are ways to do it wrong.

 

[SmokinAl]

Al hit the nail on the head. There are so many ways to smoke a brisket, you just have to keep trying until you find the best way for your taste & your smoker.

 

[raptor700]

All the above