Brisket help

[Volrunner]

I have a question. I have been smoking for about 4 years now and I have finally gotten up the nerve to try my first brisket. Just bought the Pit Boss 1100 pellet smoker and did some ribs yesterday and they turned out great. Now to my question. I put the 13.25lb brisket in the smoker at 240 degrees this morning at 4:00am and at 10am I went out just to see if the temp was at a point to wrap it. The temp on the meat was 205 in several parts of the meat and the probe went in with no resistance. I went ahead and took it out and wrapped it in butcher paper and put it back on. Just curious is this even possible?? I used 2 different thermometers and they both read the same. The meat was very juicy and not dry at all. What do I do from here????. Thanks for your help and I hope you get this in time to help me out.

 

[JC in GB]

Sounds like your smoker is running hotter than 240. How are you monitoring the smoker temp?

If the meat is measuring 205 and it is probe tender, it is done, don't over cook it. It will get mushy and nobody likes mushy meat outside of the retirement homes. ;)

My $0.02...

JC

 

[Volrunner]

I am watching the temp on the dial thermometer on the front of the grill and the digital thermometer on the pellet smoker control panel. I did turn the temp down to 225 after I wrapped it and it’s been in there for about an hour at this temp wrapped in butcher paper. I want it to be perfect but it is too early since no one will be here until about 5 hours from now and if I take it off now I am afraid I will eat it all. Lol

 

[BigW.]

I'm far from a brisket expert but I agree that 6hrs is a short cook time at 240. I think it was cooking at a temp closer to 300 degrees. At 225 you will continue to cook it. Might want to drop it closer to 165 or wrap in a cooler surrounded by towels to keep it warm. Good luck and keep us posted.

 

[banderson7474]

It took me 10hrs to smoke a flat. That's crazy fast.

 

[Volrunner]

Thanks for the replies. I let it cook at 225 for a couple of hours and now it is resting in a cooler with some towels. I will let you know how it ends up.

 

[jokensmoken]

I dont have any experience with pellet smokers but have done too many briskets to count...
THATS FAST...I can honestly say I've never had a full packer cook that quickly at 240°.
I have however had 13ish pounders cook in 8 or 9 hours at 300°...
I'm going with the others that think you're running hotter than 240°...
I would set my temp (when you're done) at 250° with a good digital probe at grate level, fire it up and compare everything.

 

[Volrunner]

I am doing a test on the temp in my smoker now that there is nothing in the smoker. The dial thermometer is showing 270. The digital actual temp is showing 260. I also have 3 meat probes (one that came with the smoker and 2 that are a separate unit). 2 meat probes next to the internal digital thermometer are both reading 265 and 1 in the middle of the unit (at the same area as the dial) is reading 261. So it seems like all those temps are pretty close. What do you guys think??
The smoker is set on 250 and the temp on all the thermometers fluctuate between 7-10 degrees up and down.

 

[banderson7474]

Im dumbfounded

 

[banderson7474]

Are u sure its a brisket lol

 

[Volrunner]

Yeah it is a 13.25lb packer brisket. I am skeptical myself but I will know for sure here in a couple of hours.

 

[SmokinVOLfan]

Man you never know you could have just gotten that magic brisket. Every one of them is different. One I did on Monday took 23 hours. Post some pics of it when you slice it up would love to see how it turns out

 

[Volrunner]

If it turns out well I will for sure post pictures. If not the pictures will be me crying. Lol

 

[Volrunner]

These were my temps at the 6 hour mark before wrapping in butcher paper.

 

[bregent]

IMO, it's always best to measure temps by going into the side of the brisket, so you are sure you are close to the middle. Briskets are thin and the parts closer to the surface will always be hotter than the middle. It's hard to imagine that a 13lb brisket could have gotten than hot in 6 hours running at 240. But that looks like quite a bit of bark for only 6 hours as well. Time warp maybe? Sunspots?

 

[Volrunner]

Man I am serious I put it on the smoker at 4 am and took those temps at 10 am. I checked on the temp a couple of times but never opened the top during that 6 hours. I had a meat probe in it from the beginning from the end of the brisket on the thickest end.

 

[Volrunner]

Well I would have to say that at the 6 hour mark I should have taken it off and wrapped it and stuck it in the cooler at that point. It had about a 1/2” BURNT BARK on the bottom and the flat slices crumbled as I cut them. They were really juicy and had a great flavor but it was not the brisket slices that it should
have been. The Point was really juicy and tasty but it had more of a roast like cut to it. It shredded and looked more like my pulled pork than a beef brisket. Thanks to those who gave me advice and I will for sure try one again sometime and hopefully get it right.

 

[tallbm]

Well I would have to say that at the 6 hour mark I should have taken it off and wrapped it and stuck it in the cooler at that point. It had about a 1/2” BURNT BARK on the bottom and the flat slices crumbled as I cut them. They were really juicy and had a great flavor but it was not the brisket slices that it should
have been. The Point was really juicy and tasty but it had more of a roast like cut to it. It shredded and looked more like my pulled pork than a beef brisket. Thanks to those who gave me advice and I will for sure try one again sometime and hopefully get it right.

Hi there and welcome!
If the bottom was burnt and it cooked that fast my guess is that you probably ran real hot for quite a while. That isn't necessarily an issue... if you planned things to happen that way lol.

The best place to probe a brisket is in the thickest yet center most portion of the flat from the side. The point will always finish sooner, be easier to deal with, and will be hard to mess up. The flat is the problem child.

In TX we eat A LOT of chopped/shredded BBQ brisket (it's actually my favorite). Take all that shredded meat, mix in a little BBQ sauce and go to town on it! Make brisket sandwiches, tacos, and nachos with it. You just may find out why I love brisket that way over sliced.
Don't get me wrong, sliced is fantastic. However once the appeal of just sliced brisket starts to wear off then in comes all the other options. Oh squeeze a little lime on your brisket meat as you eat a taco or nachos with it and prepared to be amazed! :)

 

[bregent]

>It had about a 1/2” BURNT BARK on the bottom

Are you sure the flame broiler plate was completely closed?

 

[Volrunner]

Not sure about that. Just got the grill
So that might be an answer. I will look at that.