10lb Brisket done in 4 hours?

[snakehead]

I bought a 10lb brisket with Deckle removed from HEB. Started my smoker, cooked it around 225 (sometimes it raised to around 300) and 4 hours in, I decide to check the temp. It's reading 205?? Can't be right, so I tried 3 other thermometers, each reads around 200. I check the meat with my figure, and the flat feels dry while the point feels, pardon the pun, on point. How is it possible it cooked so quickly?? I'm really concerned it's going to be tough. I placed it in an aluminum pan with some beef broth and covered it with foil, then towels to hopefully steam it a bit and get moisture back into the meat. Only thing I did differently this time was I tried a bourbon injection to see how that might turn out. Anybody ever had anything like that happen? I've got a big party tomorrow so hoping it'll come out okay...

 

[tag0401]

10lb in 4 hours...if your therms are true, which I would think of the 3 one would be right. I would say you were at 300 more of the cook than you realized. I had a 13 pounder cook at around 8 hours once thats the fastest I have had one cook

 

[Chasdev]

I cook all briskets (large and small) hot and fast now, I just can't cope with 12 to 16 hour cooks anymore.
All of mine are fully done at no more than 6 hours and the last one I let run for 6 was overcooked.
I use 350 for 3 hours and 325 for 2 /2.5 hours.

 

[snakehead]

I'm really concerned it's going to be tough. I placed the pan in a 170 degree oven this morning to hopefully inject more moisture back into the meat as well as tenderize it some more. Thoughts?

 

[hawtsauc3]

I'm really concerned it's going to be tough. I placed the pan in a 170 degree oven this morning to hopefully inject more moisture back into the meat as well as tenderize it some more. Thoughts?

I'm sure you're fine. Hot and fast is becoming a pretty popular method with briskets.

 

[snakehead]

I'm sure you're fine. Hot and fast is becoming a pretty popular method with briskets.

So you don't think I need to keep it warm in the oven for a few hours at 170?

 

[hawtsauc3]

So you don't think I need to keep it warm in the oven for a few hours at 170?

I wouldn't do a few hours. I think maybe an hour or two wrapped should be enough to make sure if there are juices that would leak out that they can re-absorb. If you're super concerned you could add a small amount of liquid in when wrapping. I mean at this point it basically is either okay as a hot and fast method or it's not. If you're super concerned just look up brisket hot and fast and see how close to it you were and see if there's any extra steps you need to take.

 

[snakehead]

I wouldn't do a few hours. I think maybe an hour or two wrapped should be enough to make sure if there are juices that would leak out that they can re-absorb. If you're super concerned you could add a small amount of liquid in when wrapping. I mean at this point it basically is either okay as a hot and fast method or it's not. If you're super concerned just look up brisket hot and fast and see how close to it you were and see if there's any extra steps you need to take.

Thank you sir!

 

[Dunstablegrizzly]

What was the thickest section? You can have a 10 pound brisket but if it's thin, let's say its long, then it really won't take long. Sort of how a spatchcock poultry cooks faster than if left whole. I did a 18 pound brisket thats was about 23 long! It took 9 hours to cook. I placed it into a warmer at 160 for about half a day until it was time to serve. It was the best brisket to date. From now on ill smoke hot and fast!

 

[jcam222]

I think tag0401 nailed it suggesting you likely run more at 300F than you realized. You may be surprised at how juicy it is. As others have said plenty of folks run hot and fast for brisket now.

 

[noboundaries]

I'm along for the ride on this one.

There's no mention of how it probed, only meat temp.

It's not too late to probe it for tenderness.

Just sayin'.

Edit: Ooops, checked the posting times. Guess it is too late. Just how tough was it?

 

[tallbm]

I'm late the party too.
I was gonna say that briskets are super hard to temp properly and that is why I use 3 leave in probes from different angles aiming for generally the same spot.

Also the thickest yet center most portion of the flat is where you need to be putting your temp probes, not the point, the point is not ever the issue. The flat is the problem child of the brisket.

Finally, there was no mention of a tenderness check by stabbing all over.

If I had to bet money I would say that probe placement was not ideal and you got a temp reading that wasn't useful because the probe wasn't actually in the proper/best spot of the flat.

I look forward to hearing how it came out though :)

 

[Millberry]

I cook all briskets (large and small) hot and fast now, I just can't cope with 12 to 16 hour cooks anymore.
All of mine are fully done at no more than 6 hours and the last one I let run for 6 was overcooked.
I use 350 for 3 hours and 325 for 2 /2.5 hours.

I know you don't put water in your pan--BUT do you remove the water pan altogether?

 

[snakehead]

So here's the results of the brisket for those inquiring minds. I have to say that if it wasn't the best damn brisket I've ever made, it's gotta be damn close! I was so amazed at how wonderful it came out. I ended up doing some research, and I believe what occurred was a) injecting it with bourbon (and some for myself of course!) caused the internal temperature of the brisket to rise much faster than it normally would have, and b) the temperature gauge on my fairly new Kamado Joe is most likely off and it likely cooked at closer to 300 to 350 instead. This caused the meat to cook incredibly fast. And by me putting it in a foil lined pan and covering it with about 2 cups of beef broth, topping it with foil and letting it rest, caused it to re-absorb moisture and thereby causing it to be incredibly tender and flavorful.

It was so good in fact, I had a guy at the party ask me to make a bunch and vac-seal it for gifts for his customers (along with my dry aged Italian salami that my good friend tx smoker taught me how to make!)

 

[noboundaries]

Now THAT was unexpected and a surprising success! Congrats!