beef brisket

  • 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.

soberfran

Newbie
Original poster
Nov 30, 2015
7
10
Bought a Masterbilt 30 inch electric smoker.  It cooked my babyback ribs great.  I tried a 4 lb beef brisket yeterday.  Smoked it for over 6 hours at 215.  It came out terrible....tough as hell.  I could not get the internal meat temperature over 170 smoking it at this 215 temperature.  Any suggestions out there??????
 
Higher pit temp, as mentioned above. I smoke my briskets with the pit temp set anywhere from 265°-325°. You need to probe for tenderness. I do this with a wooden skewer. It should slide in like going into wamr butter. I start probing around 185°. I have had briskets be ready anywhere from 185°-208°. Hope this helps. Also as mentioned a good remote therm to monitor pit temps can help. The MES is known to not be accurate and have temp swings.
 
In addition to the higher temps mentioned above, you might need to look at the cut of brisket itself. A 4lb brisket means it is a trimmed piece (most likely from the flat) and probably doesn't have much fat. A piece like that is more suited to braising and is much harder to smoke than a whole brisket. 
 
No where near high enough IT! I take mine to 205 before I even look at them. I think your pit temp was hot enough, you just hit a second stall and under cooked it. Remember, brisket is done when it's ready to be done, not a second before then!
 
I'd bet that the 170 was the first stall.  Also, what thermometer are you using for checking the IT?  Are you sure it's accurate?

I also agree, especially for that small of a brisket, a higher cook temp is needed.  All other info looks good.
 
okay I used the internal meat probe thermometer.  I also have another store bought one.  They both read 170 degrees give or take a degree or two.  I think the cut of meat was tough to start with but I could not get the temperature higher than 170 after an hour extra smoking.  Not at all happy with this Masterbilt unit.  I follow all the directions from their advice sites and nothing seems to smoke as they predict.  I did do a batch of babyback ribs which came out excellent.  This so far is the only type of meat I am not screwing up!!!!.. Really frustrated...wish I could see someone use this smoker while I watched what they did.  Anyway, I appreciate your response and thanks.
 
 
okay I used the internal meat probe thermometer.  I also have another store bought one.  They both read 170 degrees give or take a degree or two.  I think the cut of meat was tough to start with but I could not get the temperature higher than 170 after an hour extra smoking.  Not at all happy with this Masterbilt unit.  I follow all the directions from their advice sites and nothing seems to smoke as they predict.  I did do a batch of babyback ribs which came out excellent.  This so far is the only type of meat I am not screwing up!!!!.. Really frustrated...wish I could see someone use this smoker while I watched what they did.  Anyway, I appreciate your response and thanks.
Rome wasn't built in a day, hang in there.

Brisket is a VERY tough cut of meat, and when you take away the fat, it just gets harder to cook...  The MES units are good smokers, they do take some tweaking, but you'll get there.

I'd suggest some test smokes with some chicken.  It's not too expensive and you can see how well the unit performs as you try ONE different thing at a time.

I'd also suggest checking the thermometers in boiling water and in ice...  Both are known constant temperatures for checking calibration of a thermometer.

You have a LOT of MES users here, I'll bet they will have you smoking along soon.

When you get a chance, edit your profile so folks will know where you're at.  Sometimes location plays a part in this madness we call a hobby.
 
 
okay I used the internal meat probe thermometer.  I also have another store bought one.  They both read 170 degrees give or take a degree or two.  I think the cut of meat was tough to start with but I could not get the temperature higher than 170 after an hour extra smoking.  Not at all happy with this Masterbilt unit.  I follow all the directions from their advice sites and nothing seems to smoke as they predict.  I did do a batch of babyback ribs which came out excellent.  This so far is the only type of meat I am not screwing up!!!!.. Really frustrated...wish I could see someone use this smoker while I watched what they did.  Anyway, I appreciate your response and thanks.
At the low smoker temp it would be hard to get the brisket up to the desired temp. At 170 none of the collagen has broken down. When the collagen breaks down the brisket gets juicy and tender. If you decide to try again, I would smoke it at 250 and wrap in foil after the stall. Then smoke it until the probe thermometer goes in like a hot knife in butter. 
 
 
okay I used the internal meat probe thermometer.  I also have another store bought one.  They both read 170 degrees give or take a degree or two.  I think the cut of meat was tough to start with but I could not get the temperature higher than 170 after an hour extra smoking.  Not at all happy with this Masterbilt unit.  I follow all the directions from their advice sites and nothing seems to smoke as they predict.  I did do a batch of babyback ribs which came out excellent.  This so far is the only type of meat I am not screwing up!!!!.. Really frustrated...wish I could see someone use this smoker while I watched what they did.  Anyway, I appreciate your response and thanks.
For a fail safe use a toothpick to see how tender the meat is.Boil test your other thermo. do not be a shame to finish in the oven after 6 hrs smoke.Good luck

Richie
 
I,ll certainly check all of those things and thank you for the info Frank in Plantation Florida
 
I have never heard of or experienced a second stall. Does that happen to you often? 
I still go slow and low, 210-225 as best I can hold it. I get two stalls, 140-150, then again at 170-180. Last brisket, 15lbs, took me an hour on the first then two and a half on the second! Drove me crazy after being up all night!
I'm supposed to do another in January, should be fun in KS! I'll try and graph it on the igrill if I can figure it out, and post the results.
Soberfan, relax, this is for fun! Brisket is one of the hardest things to cook! You just can't rush it, I've tried, it's done when it wants to be done!
 
SmokingMeatForums.com is reader supported and as an Amazon Associate, we may earn commissions from qualifying purchases.

Latest posts

Clicky