1.5kg Beef Brisket

[clarkee]

So I got my Weber smokey mountain last week and love it.

I’ve done a pork shoulder and a couple racks of ribs over the last few days.

today I thought I’d give a brisket a go.
I’ve done a few briskets over the years on my 57cm kettle, so was prepared for the task, but it still didn’t go as planned.

the brisket was only 1.5kg, as I didn’t want to cook a big piece, so not sure if the small size was my first issue.
The WSM sat between 110-130°C, and the first part of the cook took about 4 hours to get to 70°C.
After it was wrapped and put back on, it only took just over an hour to hit 96°C, which seems pretty quick. I then let it rest in the cooler for nearly 3 hours before slicing it.
Although it tastes good, the texture was just like any piece of beef, so my question is about the over all size of it, can brisket be too small to cook properly and breakdown like a big 4-5kg piece or bigger?

 

[SmokyMose]

I had to get my calculator out for this :-)
It sounds like you did all the right things at the right temps. It looks nice with a good smoke ring. Are you saying it's too dry? It kind of looks like it. It might be too small (I've had issues with Chuck Roasts in that weight. One time would be perfect and the next dry). Was it frozen? You shouldn't have to cooler wrap a brisket for 3 hrs. Once it hits that target temp it's done....
Hopefully someone else will chime in.

 

[clarkee]

I had to get my calculator out for this :-)
It sounds like you did all the right things at the right temps. It looks nice with a good smoke ring. Are you saying it's too dry? It kind of looks like it. It might be too small (I've had issues with Chuck Roasts in that weight. One time would be perfect and the next dry). Was it frozen? You shouldn't have to cooler wrap a brisket for 3 hrs. Once it hits that target temp it's done....
Hopefully someone else will chime in.

Thanks for taking the time to reply.

I wrapped it following a method from one of the weber books, i thought it always needed time to rest for a few hours after a cook?

 

[SmokyMose]

Thanks for taking the time to reply.

I wrapped it following a method from one of the weber books, i thought it always needed time to rest for a few hours after a cook?

I'm sorry, I didn't mean to confuse. It won't hurt to let it rest, in fact BBQ restaurants cook overnight and keep warm til it's time to slice. I let mine cool for about a half hour so it slices without coming apart.
I think you just got an unlucky piece of meat, clarkee.

 

[clarkee]

Ill take that and blame the piece of meat! Definitely not my abilities

I kind of saved it today though. While looking a pork butt, i chopped some of the brisket, spritzed it with water, a generous helping of BBQ sauce wrapped in in foil and put it back on the WSM.

 

[SmokyMose]

Ill take that and blame the piece of meat! Definitely not my abilities

I kind of saved it today though. While looking a pork butt, i chopped some of the brisket, spritzed it with water, a generous helping of BBQ sauce wrapped in in foil and put it back on the WSM.

I've never pulled anything out of a smoker I couldn't eat :-)
Nice save!