Brisket questions

[Dolejh76]

Smoking brisket

So for starters I have the butcher separate the point and flat for me because it would be to much meat for me and my family to do the whole thing. I have started with choice meat because I want to get a good strategy before moving up to prime and waygu.

I have had decent luck with the following

1. Flat cut
2. No injection
3. Basic rub
4. Smoker at 225
4. Wrap in foil at 160 after the stall.
5. Pull out at 195
6. Rest about 30 min.

Was a little dry and big issue with that was I started it at 6am and it wasn’t done until 8pm. Really tough for dinner time planning. So I tried a different strategy.

Yesterday tried the point cut and it tasted like pot roast!

1. Point cut
2. Injection 4 hours prior (apple juice, garlic, beef broth)
3. Basic rub
4. Smoke 225
5. Wrap in foil at 150
6. Pulled out at 202
7. Rest in cooler for 4 hours.

Was good but did not taste like brisket - tasted like a pot roast!

So my thoughts on this and appreciate comments.

Injection added to much moisture for point. With the point being more fatty, all the extra moisture from injection and wrapping in foil - I think I basically braised the meat which is why it tasted like pot roast.

I did order butchers paper for my next attempt. Going to try that over foil so meat can breath me. I think injection might work with flat but I think the point has to much fat.

What’s the best way to calculate time for smoking brisket?

If I start at 6am - I don’t eat until 8pm. I started at 6pm the day before this time and smoked until 12pm and then wrapped in foil and let it finish. Was done at 6am (little to much at 202 degrees). Rested until 11am in cooler.

So hard to figure out timing and be able to run it without staying up all night. I think I need a pellet attachment so that I can start at midnight and smoke overnight.

 

[JC in GB]

I feel your pain on cooking times. Sometimes the BBQ is done when it is done. My apologies for that tautology but it is often true. I have had ribs that I cooked for 6.5 hours that were underdone and some that were fall off the bone at 5 hours.

As far as Waygu beef goes, I spoke with a Waygu beef rancher last night and asked all kinds of questions about the Waygu product.

The thing I was most surprised about was because of the consistency and quantity of fat in the Waygu cut, cook times are significantly shorter than with a choice or prime cut.

That said, brisket is more about tenderness than time. I usually run my smoker at 250 degrees F. Perhaps jumping the temp of your pit by 25 degrees might help?

Hope you get it figured out and turn out some great Q!

JC

 

[Dolejh76]

What’s your thoughts on injection? Do you think the fat content in the point plus injection is the cause

 

[gmc2003]

Answers in Red:

Smoking brisket

So for starters I have the butcher separate the point and flat for me because it would be to much meat for me and my family to do the whole thing. I have started with choice meat because I want to get a good strategy before moving up to prime and waygu.

I have had decent luck with the following

1. Flat cut
2. No injection
3. Basic rub
4. Smoker at 225
4. Wrap in foil at 160 after the stall.
5. Pull out at 195
6. Rest about 30 min.

Was a little dry and big issue with that was I started it at 6am and it wasn’t done until 8pm. Really tough for dinner time planning. So I tried a different strategy.

Flats and points are two different animals in smoking terms. Your flat sounds like it was undercooked. As JC mentioned bump your temps up to 250*, and go for probe tender in the thickest part of the flat. Every flat is a little different so it may be done at 195* or it may be done at 215*.


Yesterday tried the point cut and it tasted like pot roast!

1. Point cut
2. Injection 4 hours prior (apple juice, garlic, beef broth)
3. Basic rub
4. Smoke 225
5. Wrap in foil at 150
6. Pulled out at 202
7. Rest in cooler for 4 hours.

Was good but did not taste like brisket - tasted like a pot roast!

So my thoughts on this and appreciate comments.

Injection added to much moisture for point. With the point being more fatty, all the extra moisture from injection and wrapping in foil - I think I basically braised the meat which is why it tasted like pot roast.

I did order butchers paper for my next attempt. Going to try that over foil so meat can breath me. I think injection might work with flat but I think the point has to much fat.

What’s the best way to calculate time for smoking brisket?

If I start at 6am - I don’t eat until 8pm. I started at 6pm the day before this time and smoked until 12pm and then wrapped in foil and let it finish. Was done at 6am (little to much at 202 degrees). Rested until 11am in cooler.

So hard to figure out timing and be able to run it without staying up all night. I think I need a pellet attachment so that I can start at midnight and smoke overnight.

My suggestion is to bag the injection. The point has enough inner fat to remain moist. You really have to try hard to make a brisket point dry. The pot roast taste is from everything you pumped into the point and foiling. Remember foiling is basically braising.

Chris

 

[Heart of Dixie]

When you cook a brisket, start checking it when the internal temp in the thickest part hits 195. It is done usually somewhere around 200 up to 210. When you poke it with a probe, toothpick, or whatever and it is like pushing into soft butter, its done. I wrap in butcher paper just after the stall and start checking by unwrapping a bit then poke with my finger. The paper will get saturated but it still allow the meat to breathe and not get too dry. Pull it when the flat is literally soft like jello.
I use a stick burner and cook between 260 & 275. My last whole packer was 15 pounds and took 40 minuter per lb.
I hope this helps.

 

[Jonok]

I like to cook packers because the greater mass makes for a more forgiving naked cook, and I like a nice bark, but I find that when I cook a flat, smoking at a higher temperature (275-300) and wrapping closer to 145-150 makes for a more palatable overall product. I think that the advice about really paying attention to probe tender is critical, but it's also important to remember that by the time you get to 160, a bunch of the collagen and what little interstitial fat is present in a trimmed flat has long begun to render.

 

[Dolejh76]

When you cook a brisket, start checking it when the internal temp in the thickest part hits 195. It is done usually somewhere around 200 up to 210. When you poke it with a probe, toothpick, or whatever and it is like pushing into soft butter, its done. I wrap in butcher paper just after the stall and start checking by unwrapping a bit then poke with my finger. The paper will get saturated but it still allow the meat to breathe and not get too dry. Pull it when the flat is literally soft like jello.
I use a stick burner and cook between 260 & 275. My last whole packer was 15 pounds and took 40 minuter per lb.
I hope this helps.

10 hours is not bad for a 15 lb brisket!

 

[Dolejh76]

Thanks for the suggestions. I will try again in a few weeks. I will raise to 250 and skip the injection. I still like a dry rub - feel it adds flavor to the bark. Should have my paper in by then. I will say with foil my
Bark felts a little soggy. Hoping the paper helps with that as well.