First Brisket - What did I do wrong?

  • Some of the links on this forum allow SMF, at no cost to you, to earn a small commission when you click through and make a purchase. Let me know if you have any questions about this.
SMF is reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.

robitaillere2

Fire Starter
Original poster
Apr 19, 2014
31
10
Norfolk, VA
Smokef my first brisket today and while i was happy with the flavor it was really dry and even though i was making good smoke the ring was terrible too. I started with a nice flat 6# brisket, marinaded it over night, rubbed and onto the smoker it went. After just over an hour it was over 130. I took some advice from Bear and dropped the temps by a bit. At 170 i pulled it, foiled it with 2 cups of Au Jus and at 193 i threw it in a cooler for 2 hours. Help.... what went wrong here? To thin of a brisket? [/I
 
The problem is that you haven't cooked hundreds of them!  Seriously, I think good brisket takes tons of practice and could be the biggest challenge of smoking - I know I can't cook one well, consistently.

Briskets take a lot of practice.  There are threads here that will answer almost any issue.
 
Have you checked to see if your thermo is correct ? I never cook one under 10lbs and usually smoke it at 250*..I like a lot of fat on mine and trim it after the smoke..To get a good smoke ring you will have to get a stick burner..If you want to slice it then take it off at 185 and if you want to pull it wait till it reaches 205 then wrap it and into the cooler..and it deffently has to go through a stall..good luck on your next one...
 
Go back to square one.  Use the search tool to learn all you can about other folks' experience with brisket.

As stated be really careful about your temps.

Briskets are tricky.  I really doubt that many of us hit them perfectly on our first try!

Keep at it and you will get there!

Good luck and good smoking.
 
SmokingMeatForums.com is reader supported and as an Amazon Associate, we may earn commissions from qualifying purchases.

Latest posts

Hot Threads

Clicky