Brisket frustration

[smokenbuns]

My brisket tastes smokeless.
It’s the third time I smoked a brisket, and it came out tasting smokeless just like my first other twos.
For this third cook I decided to throw in a rack of spare ribs to make sure there was no problem with my smoker or wood, and the ribs came out great (tender and smokey), but on the other hand my brisket tasted smokeless. Here’s how i smoked it:

- 3hours at 250
- 5hours 275 and then i wrapped it in butcher paper
- 4hours at 285 after wrap and pulled when it was soft (internal temp was 206)
- rested 2hours until internal temp hit 150 and let it sit on my oven at its lowest setting which was 150 for the next day

Why do my briskets taste smokeless every single time? Am I smoking it wrong ? Tenderness and bark were great tho.

 

[BrianGSDTexoma]

What are you smoking on?

 

[912smoker]

Sounds like you're moving in the right direction. What type of smoker are you using?

Keith

 

[schlotz]

As far as smoke amount, really need to know what equipment you are using which might lead to some suggestions on what to change. For example, with my pellet smoker I turn it on (defaults to the low temp hi smoke setting ~190º) and the brisket stays there for 2 hours before cranking up to 275º for the remainder of the smoke. The color I'm looking for usually occurs around the 6-7th hour with the IT in the 160-170º range. At this point I wrap in butcher paper. Usually once its determined to be tender via probing the flat all over (feel should be like probing a jar of peanut butter), the rest should begin on the counter with opening the wrap and letting the temp drop 5º. If you go directly to resting without this step the cooking will continue and the brisket can become overdone. After the temp drop, re-wrap and rest for 2-5 hours before serving in a cooler surrounded with towels. But, you mentioned in the 150º oven until the next day ???

 

[smokenbuns]

Sounds like you're moving in the right direction. What type of smoker are you using?

Keith

I’m smoking on an 250gal offset with some white oak.

 

[smokenbuns]

As far as smoke amount, really need to know what equipment you are using which might lead to some suggestions on what to change. For example, with my pellet smoker I turn it on (defaults to the low temp hi smoke setting ~190º) and the brisket stays there for 2 hours before cranking up to 275º for the remainder of the smoke. The color I'm looking for usually occurs around the 6-7th hour with the IT in the 160-170º range. At this point I wrap in butcher paper. Usually once its determined to be tender via probing the flat all over (feel should be like probing a jar of peanut butter), the rest should begin on the counter with opening the wrap and letting the temp drop 5º. If you go directly to resting without this step the cooking will continue and the brisket can become overdone. After the temp drop, re-wrap and rest for 2-5 hours before serving in a cooler surrounded with towels. But, you mentioned in the 150º oven until the next day ???

After pulling out the brisket from the offset, I let it rest on my counter for 2-3hours in room temp until the IT drops to 150, and then put it back on my oven at 150 so that i could eat it the next day.

 

[tallbm]

My brisket tastes smokeless.
It’s the third time I smoked a brisket, and it came out tasting smokeless just like my first other twos.
For this third cook I decided to throw in a rack of spare ribs to make sure there was no problem with my smoker or wood, and the ribs came out great (tender and smokey), but on the other hand my brisket tasted smokeless. Here’s how i smoked it:

- 3hours at 250
- 5hours 275 and then i wrapped it in butcher paper
- 4hours at 285 after wrap and pulled when it was soft (internal temp was 206)
- rested 2hours until internal temp hit 150 and let it sit on my oven at its lowest setting which was 150 for the next day

Why do my briskets taste smokeless every single time? Am I smoking it wrong ? Tenderness and bark were great tho.

Hi there and welcome!

I recommend you do a no wrap brisket. This will tell you a lot.
If you are skeptical or just hellbent on wrapping then I would suggest you wait until the Internal Temp (IT) is 190F degrees (no lower than 180F degrees), then wrap if you must.

Keep the fat and the point towards the heat source (fat down if heat from below, fat up if more heat from uptop).

Also if you can get your hands on some Mesquite you may want to throw a log or a good sized chunk on there when you are producing good smoke. Mesquite and beef are probably the best match of smoke flavor/meat I can think of.

Keep at it and I'm sure the folks around here can help get you sorted out. Best of luck :)