Brisket cooking fast

[kebrown]

I put my 11lb. brisket on my Pit Boss pellet smoker at 5:30 this morning, expecting it to smoke for about 6 to 8 hours before hitting 165 degrees. Smoker is set to 225 and is running between 210 - 230. This reading comes from both the digital on the smoker and my own probe laying on the grate. 4 hours in and I’m already at 165. It hasn’t stalled yet though. Still slowly climbing. This is my third brisket but this one seems like it’s cooking pretty quickly. Should I go ahead and wrap in butcher paper or let it continue till it actually stalls out?

 

[kebrown]

Just checked with my instant read therm and it’s reading about 150. I guess my remote therm is messed up as well.

 

[texomakid]

I'd leave it until you reach the 165 on a thermometer you trust (to get as much bark as you can) then wrap it and finish it off (190 - 210). You'll know it's done when you probe it and it feels like you're probing soft butter.

 

[kebrown]

Thx. I’m using my instant read and checking every 30 minutes. The 155 it just read seems more consistent with time in the smoker and feel.

 

[noboundaries]

Don't fixate on 165F. Meat can stall anywhere between 140-170F IT. Also, I've never had a brisket take 6-8 hours to reach the stall, even large ones. 3-5 is closer to reality. It's a physics thing due to temp differentials.

You can wrap it now in butcher paper. Another 10F won't make a difference.

 

[gmc2003]

I fully agree with noboundaries, and I'll add - stop opening the door every 30 mins. Your adding to your cook time.

Chris

 

[kebrown]

Yeah, I know I’m adding to the cooking time but I wanted to give it more time to build that crust before wrapping.

 

[gmc2003]

Unless your looking for bark that resembles a meteorite. Then I wouldn't worry about it. Plus you mentioned foiling it so your gonna lose some of your bark anyway. Good luck and enjoy the finished product. Remember to post the results.
Chris

 

[kebrown]

Just checked temp and it’s 165. Wrapped in butcher paper and back in the smoker. How long should I leave it before I check temp again? I was thinking 3 hours.

 

[texomakid]

Unless your looking for bark that resembles a meteorite. Then I wouldn't worry about it.
Chris

LOL - that hit my funny bone.....I guess because I do that :)

 

[hardcookin]

Do a quick probe in the thickest part of the flat in about 1.5 hours.
Just to give you an idea where your at. Then close it back up.
To me it seems your smoking hotter than 225.
The bottom line is your trying to achieve probe tender in the Thickest part of the flat. 195-210

When you pull the brisket let sit uncovered for 10-15 minutes. Then wrap and rest.
Be patient!

 

[kebrown]

Patience I’ve got but briskets always stress me. Especially since this is the first on a pellet smoker. Smoker seems to be running from 235 at the coolest side to 265 at the hottest. Sun came out and it’s starting to get hot so I’m expecting the smoker to run hotter now.

 

[gmc2003]

Relax, kick back and let the brisket and smoker due their thing. Enjoy a cold one if you wish.

Chris

 

[millerbuilds]

I agree, check it in 1.5 hours then more often as you get closer to 199-203. I let mine sit on the counter for 30 minutes before wrapping in beach towels and tossing in a cooler for 2 hours before slicing. I also only slice as I serve unless I am doing chopped sandwiches (which I typically only do for leftovers).

Good luck and look forward to seeing some pics.

Smoke ON!

- Jason

 

[fivetricks]

My briskets always race to about 160-165 too. Then they calm right down through the stall and take much longer from say 170-203 than they did from 39-165

 

[NU2SMOKE]

The one brisket I did took a very long time about 17 hours to go from 40 degrees to tire retread!
Kinda scared to try another!

 

[kebrown]

The one brisket I did took a very long time about 17 hours to go from 40 degrees to tire retread!
Kinda scared to try another!

No, don’t give up. This is only my third brisket, first packer, and every one of them cooked differently.

 

[kebrown]

Pulled at 203. Felt probe tender without being overly soft. Sitting on counter for 20 minutes before rewrapping and putting into cooler for a couple of hours.

 

[NU2SMOKE]

View attachment 400992

Pulled at 203. Felt probe tender without being overly soft. Sitting on counter for 20 minutes before rewrapping and putting into cooler for a couple of hours.

That alone looks leaps and bounds better than mine did. Mine looked liked it was crapped straight from hell!!
Great Job...cant wait to see the cutting!

 

[tallbm]

Just checked with my instant read therm and it’s reading about 150. I guess my remote therm is messed up as well.

Nice job on the brisket!

My friend, I think you have run into one of the "mysteries" of a brisket. My hunch on why people have such wildly varying Internal Temp (IT) numbers they mention for a brisket is that it is NOT easy to get the probe placement correct in a brisket.

I have been running 3 probes in my briskets for a good while now and I find that I usually only get 1 of the 3 placed properly hahhaha. So now I always use 3 probes and I target the thickest yet center most part of the Flat muscle, NEVER the point muscle.

Additionally, the temps from those 3 probes are crazy as the brisket cooks. They all overtake one another at some point like it was a race hahahhaa. I should open a betting circuit where you bet on which probe is going to come out as being the most accurately placed in the end, it is like a crazy (yet slow) horse race with many lead changes.

Finally, I find that getting up to 140-155 can happen quickly and then hours to get to 203'ish and tenderness to tell you that the brisket is done.

Keep on smoking them and learning and remember that briskets and pork butts don't care what temp you smoke them at so don't worry about temp spikes or anything of that nature, they will be fine as long as they aren't on fire :)