Botched My Brisket

[Boldsmoke]

I’m sure you’ve heard it all before but just need to vent get my panic out before I pull the brisket off.
I can’t help but think I’ve botched my brisket. Started off with a 14lbs full packer and definitely cut out way too much fat. Did a mustard smear and probably used too much mustard. Planned on starting at 5am at 225 but had some trouble with the traeger so went back to sleep and vacuumed it out when I got back up. Finally got the brisket on at 10:40 this morning and decided to go hot and fast at 275.. now it’s 3pm and it’s already reading internal temp at 200° But still not the bark that I want and still too firm.

I lowered the smoker temp down to 225° but I think I’m already too late. I spent the summer learning how to smoke meats on my charcoal kettle smoker and I really love maning the fire adding the wood chips and everything that comes with the kettle! This is only my second smoke on the pellet smoker but so far I’m not convinced the pellet one is for me.

It looks like it’s on the right track (maybe) but everything still feels off. Happy to hear any thoughts suggestions or honestly even jabs at where I messed up. Feel free to laugh with me or even at me I’m a mess today and just laughing this one off!

I’ll check back in later with a final verdict!

 

[chef jimmyj]

RELAX and let it ride. The Therm may be shallow or in a thin spot, that it reads 200 and the meat isn't Probe Tender. I think you will be fine...JJ

 

[Boldsmoke]

RELAX and let it ride. The Therm may be shallow or in a thin spot, that it reads 200 and the meat isn't Probe Tender. I think you will be fine...JJ

Thanks I needed that grabbing a beer and gonna try out the Relax method! it’s definitely not probe tender couldn’t get it in very far. Think it’s fine that I lower back to 225 or am I messing with the temp too much?

 

[sandyut]

what chef jimmyj said. if you have an instaread thermo use that to probe and check temps. I have had probes placed in thin or fatty areas read bizarre temps. they can be way off. have a beer, chill, check the temp and probe tenderness and see when the end product is like.

 

[normanaj]

chef jimmyj has it!

 

[smokinsullivan]

I’m with the other guys, but if you wanted some more opinion...for me I’d have wrapped in foil. Going to hot and fast generally means you don’t have the breakdown you’re looking for. So I’d wrap and if you need that bark you can finish off without wrap to firm it back up

 

[crazymoon]

Bold, I think your brisky is ruined and you need to send it my way! :) As the Chef said let it ride !

 

[FowlAntics]

I can't say whether your brisket is ruined or needs more time and will be just fine.. However I can say that when days like this happen, where everything seems to just go all wrong, to just let it roll off your shoulders and chalk it up to a day of entertainment and a good story.

That being said, I hope it still turns out!

 

[tallbm]

I’m sure you’ve heard it all before but just need to vent get my panic out before I pull the brisket off.
I can’t help but think I’ve botched my brisket. Started off with a 14lbs full packer and definitely cut out way too much fat. Did a mustard smear and probably used too much mustard. Planned on starting at 5am at 225 but had some trouble with the traeger so went back to sleep and vacuumed it out when I got back up. Finally got the brisket on at 10:40 this morning and decided to go hot and fast at 275.. now it’s 3pm and it’s already reading internal temp at 200° But still not the bark that I want and still too firm.

I lowered the smoker temp down to 225° but I think I’m already too late. I spent the summer learning how to smoke meats on my charcoal kettle smoker and I really love maning the fire adding the wood chips and everything that comes with the kettle! This is only my second smoke on the pellet smoker but so far I’m not convinced the pellet one is for me.

It looks like it’s on the right track (maybe) but everything still feels off. Happy to hear any thoughts suggestions or honestly even jabs at where I messed up. Feel free to laugh with me or even at me I’m a mess today and just laughing this one off!

I’ll check back in later with a final verdict!

Hi there and welcome!

Yeah the guys have got you covered.

Just know that probe placement in a brisket is hard to nail. I use 3 probes aiming for the thickest yet center most part of the FLAT muscle of the brisket. I go with the probe that reads the lowest.

The most IMPORTANT thing is that the brisket is done when it is tender and it is tender when you stab it ALL OVER and it goes in like butter ALL OVER.
I use a wooden kabob skewer to do this but you can also use your meat probe to do it.

Like has been said, not a time to panic yet. Reposition your probe to the spot I mention (thickest yet center most part of the FLAT) and I bet you see it is nowhere 200F because even at 275F smoker temp you will still go at least an hour a pound before it gets close to probing tender and you aren't even 5 hours in.
Go until it is tender all over.

 

[Boldsmoke]

I can't say whether your brisket is ruined or needs more time and will be just fine.. However I can say that when days like this happen, where everything seems to just go all wrong, to just let it roll off your shoulders and chalk it up to a day of entertainment and a good story.

That being said, I hope it still turns out!

Needed this too! In the end it turned out alright!

 

[Boldsmoke]

Bold, I think your brisky is ruined and you need to send it my way! :) As the Chef said let it ride !

I would gladly send it over but turns out there wasn’t much left! I definitely have a long way to go to get it right but today was a pretty good day!

 

[Boldsmoke]

Hi there and welcome!

Yeah the guys have got you covered.

Just know that probe placement in a brisket is hard to nail. I use 3 probes aiming for the thickest yet center most part of the FLAT muscle of the brisket. I go with the probe that reads the lowest.

The most IMPORTANT thing is that the brisket is done when it is tender and it is tender when you stab it ALL OVER and it goes in like butter ALL OVER.
I use a wooden kabob skewer to do this but you can also use your meat probe to do it.

Like has been said, not a time to panic yet. Reposition your probe to the spot I mention (thickest yet center most part of the FLAT) and I bet you see it is nowhere 200F because even at 275F smoker temp you will still go at least an hour a pound before it gets close to probing tender and you aren't even 5 hours in.
Go until it is tender all over.

Thanks!! I repositioned and it was around 180 in the flat which made me feel a bit better. Man did it climb a lot faster than I expected!

 

[Boldsmoke]

Thanks again everyone for checking me and the reminders to just let it ride! I’m clearly still working on that part lol. I ended up repositioning the thermometer to deeper in the flat and got a read of 180° internal and kept the grill at 225. I left it on till about 5pm when it was tender throughout and internal temp ended at about 220°.

I’ll definitely have a better game plan next time- cut off less fat, start at a much lower cook temp and definitely need to go back to wrapping it. Flat was pretty dry but other than that it turned out alright!

In the end the bark turned out GREAT, got some wild coloring inside, and point was good too! I thought the brisket would last us through Christmas but between 6 of us there isn’t much left. Going off how quick everyone ate I’ll chalk that up as a win!

Really do appreciate all the help and kind thoughts! Thanks again all!

 

[chef jimmyj]

You learned a lot today. Won't be long and You, will be telling a Newbie to Relax. Merry Christmas...JJ

 

[tallbm]

Great to hear it was a success!
Yeah you will get better and each brisket cook will teach you something.

On to probe placement again. Check out how I put 5 probes into a brisket flat with some aiming for the sweet spot and notice how differently they read:

Full post here: https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t...u-properly-placed-your-brisket-probes.294810/

Also you mentioned the flat being dry. The flat is the problem child. Picking better briskets (more consistently thicker flat muscles while being flexible briskets) will help. Also trimming your brisket where you cut away GOOD flat meat to leave consistently thick flat meat on the brisket really helps as well:

With this trim approach you are ensuring the whole brisket comes out better with fewer issues like dry or burnt up flat meat. Also you repurpose that good flat meat in various ways, one being to just throw it in with the rest of the brisket and handle it separately since it is a smaller chunk of meat but you ensure it isn't wasted :)
Here's my trimming post in great detail which will be a good read for ya. Take or leave as much/little info as you like for your next brisket smoke :) https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/threads/my-brisket-flat-trimming-approach-explained-qview.286564/

I roll my briskets unwrapped the whole time. You just can't beat the flavor and the bark on an unwrapped brisket cooked well :)

I hope this info helps! :)