Brisket that ends up like roast beef?

[squatchin]

I've heard many times (here or on Youtube) something like, "Don't do X, that's how you get brisket which ends up with that 'roast beef' taste." Well, I finally did X. I ended up with some really good roast beef that was a crowd pleaser, but I was silently ashamed before the gods of BBQ by my technical failure.

I was hoping someone here might be able to remind me what mistake produces brisket that has that roast beef taste? Cooking to too high of an internal temp maybe? Thanks!

 

[SmokinEdge]

Explain your process first. Otherwise it is technically roast beef.

 

[DougE]

What he said. Cooking brisket is more or less roasting a cut of beef. The smoking process is where things change.

 

[noboundaries]

Equipment used?

 

[squatchin]

Ok, fair enough! I used a Smokin-It Model #1 electric smoker at 225F for about 12 hours until internal temp of about 200F. Turned it down to 150F for maybe 2 more hours. Let it rest in a cooler for about 1 hour before slicing and serving.

Unlike previous times (not a whole lot; I'm obviously no brisket expert), I took a test bite, and thought "this is roast beef." Also, it didn't want to slice so much as fall apart, which is why I was thinking maybe I cooked it too long.

 

[noboundaries]

Fall apart is overcooked. A full packer of 12+ pounds at 225F should easily handle that time and temp. My guess is it was either a small packer (8 lbs), or a 6-8 lb flat.

Fill in the meat weight blanks.

 

[squatchin]

Sorry, I should have mentioned: this was actually a full brisket --- about 17 lbs from Costco; I trimmed it down some, but not a whole lot. I had to angle it when placing in the smoker, which I've done before. After looking at my notes, I'm not completely sure how long it was at 225; could have been up to like 14.5 hours but not more than that. Maybe that was just enough to overdo it?

 

[chilerelleno]

Did you inject with anything, e.g. beef broth?
The one or two times I tried that it gave it a very beefy, roast beef like flavor.
Falling apart, as said before, is over done and could contribute.

 

[801driver]

What kind of Rub? Did you add smoke chips later into the smoke? I have a Smoke-it 2 and have put foil with just a few holes in my smoke tray for a lighter longer smoke period with little air flow, then after a couple hours into my smoke I add a few more chips to usually get the flavor I like. Every piece of meat is not the same and will have a different "meat" flavor. The only thing you can change is the rub seasoning, and the smoke flavor which is a big difference from "Moms pot roast" and "regulate" by poking, the temperature that particular piece of meat needs to be taken to before pulling to be tender.

Might be more than you want to know, but this is how I do mine in a Smoke-it 2

I trim a little, 3/8-1/4 inch or so of fat is good for me and adds flavor. I try to take off most of the hard gristle. I look at my brisket before rubbing and put a tooth pick in the side end of the flat to show me where to start slicing against the grain to get the most tender slices. Cap will be a different direction. (After smoked it is harder to find direction right off.) I use a remote temp probe set to alarm at 195 in the middle of the cap and start poking every half hour or so after it beeps because every piece of meat is different. I have had some "ready" at 198, others had to take to 206. If I am going for more sliced, I pull it a little early so the thicker part will hold together to slice just as it is getting soft. If going for mostly chopped, take the IT on up till the cap gets butter knife soft also and a little more. You will still get many slices, but you will have more chopped. Turning it down to 150 at that time to me is essentially like having it in a cooler to rest, which with an electric you can easily control. I do that also at times, but you have to remember It is still "cooking" there, so again think about if you are wanting more sliced or "more well done tender" to be chopped.

Once, I pulled a brisket when done and put it in foil and towel wrapped it in an ice chest cooler to run a short errand that did not work out as planned. Well, woops, almost 5 hours later I pulled it out of the cooler, still steaming, got about half slices and chopped the rest. It turned out to be one of my better briskets.

I have smoked a roast like a brisket, but it was not quite a brisket taste even with the rub and smoke. Yep, every chunk of meat is different. I would suggest you just practice more and keep eating your perfect successes and remember, you can also eat your mistakes to hide them. I hope all the comments above and a little of mine here have something in them that will be of help. Good luck to you, and keep posting.

 

[tallbm]

I've heard many times (here or on Youtube) something like, "Don't do X, that's how you get brisket which ends up with that 'roast beef' taste." Well, I finally did X. I ended up with some really good roast beef that was a crowd pleaser, but I was silently ashamed before the gods of BBQ by my technical failure.

I was hoping someone here might be able to remind me what mistake produces brisket that has that roast beef taste? Cooking to too high of an internal temp maybe? Thanks!

Hi there and welcome!

Did you happen to wrap this brisket in foil? or anything?

Hands down the 1 thing I know will for sure make a brisket taste like roast beef, is if you wrap too early. Meat needs to sit out in the smoke and cooking for long enough or it will taste like a roast (briskets = roast beef, pork butts = pork roasts).

I don't wrap at all but my smoker setup is an MES allows for this to happen easily where an offset may not hold moisture nearly as well so they may need to wrap.
In any case I always suggest NOT wrapping before 180F internal temp of the meat, checking for temp in the thickest yet center-most portion of the FLAT muscle on the brisket.

You will see tons of people saying to wrap at 165F, BUT this is so they can speed the cook up and get through the stall, this has nothing to do with BBQ flavor!

What you don't see is many of them saying, let it sit at 165F for a couple hours THEN wrap it. It sitting unwrapped extra hours at the 165F stall makes a huge difference, vs wrapping the moment it hits the 165F stall. I don't care about the stall at all.
I'm all about flavor so I don't wrap.

On cuts of meat that I do wrap I will not wrap below 180F in my MES. If you just plan more time and wait to wrap then you should never get roast beef flavor on a brisket! :D

Finally, a brisket does not care what temp you cook it at. So if you want it to go faster then crank it up to 275F or higher, as long as you aren't burning the brisket :D

 

[schlotz]

What tallbm said! Wrapping towards the end of the stall i.e. 180º helps to maintain the flavor profile of the Smoked Brisket.

 

[mneeley490]

I have a Smokin' It model 1. It doesn't put out a lot of smoke. I'm guessing that there wasn't enough wood inside to flavor a whole packer.

 

[squatchin]

Everyone, thanks much for all the thoughts, advice, and insight!

What kind of Rub? Did you add smoke chips later into the smoke?

For beef rub, I just do a 50/50 mix of coarse ground black pepper and Kosher salt. I did not add smoke chips later, which is something I've done previously. Thanks also for sharing your step-by-step technique!

I would suggest you just practice more and keep eating your perfect successes and remember, you can also eat your mistakes to hide them.

Lol, yes! I ate a bunch of scrambled eggs before I could reliably make a classic French omelette. I really don't mind failures like the brisket in question. It was good eating if you didn't come at it with expectations, and everyone seemed to like it just fine.

Did you happen to wrap this brisket in foil? or anything?

I did wrap it in butcher paper, but not until I took it out of the smoker. I just wrapped it to transport it to where we were eating.

Finally, a brisket does not care what temp you cook it at. So if you want it to go faster then crank it up to 275F or higher, as long as you aren't burning the brisket :D

That's good to know, thanks.

I have a Smokin' It model 1. It doesn't put out a lot of smoke. I'm guessing that there wasn't enough wood inside to flavor a whole packer.

I had it filled up pretty good (not that it can hold all that much), but I'm thinking you might be right. Previous times I've done a whole brisket, I usually go out and refill it a couple times. This time I didn't.

 

[squatchin]

Did you inject with anything, e.g. beef broth?

Forgot to address this in my last reply, but, no, I didn't inject it with anything.

Falling apart, as said before, is over done and could contribute.

Yeah, I'm leaning toward this being a case of internal temp getting too high (although it seemed OK when I checked it) and not enough smoke.

 

[tallbm]

Everyone, thanks much for all the thoughts, advice, and insight!



For beef rub, I just do a 50/50 mix of coarse ground black pepper and Kosher salt. I did not add smoke chips later, which is something I've done previously. Thanks also for sharing your step-by-step technique!



Lol, yes! I ate a bunch of scrambled eggs before I could reliably make a classic French omelette. I really don't mind failures like the brisket in question. It was good eating if you didn't come at it with expectations, and everyone seemed to like it just fine.



I did wrap it in butcher paper, but not until I took it out of the smoker. I just wrapped it to transport it to where we were eating.



That's good to know, thanks.



I had it filled up pretty good (not that it can hold all that much), but I'm thinking you might be right. Previous times I've done a whole brisket, I usually go out and refill it a couple times. This time I didn't.

I think you found the problem.

Oh yeah too little smoke will definitely mean you pretty much oven roasted your brisket outside in the smoker :D

I bet it had a great bark to it! I love an uncovered oven roasted brisket that gets good and barky.

So just don't wrap early (you didn't wrap at all) AND make sure you keep smoke going for quite a few hours and you should solve the problem :D

 

[PulledPorkSandwich]

I have a Smokin It model 2 analog and it never fails to produce a smokey flavor. As I read through this thread, I didn't notice what kind of wood used. If you use something like apple or cherry, you'll get a very "muted" smoke flavor as opposed to something like pecan or hickory. Also, how much wood did you use (in ounces)? The Smokin It Lazy Q manual provides guidance as to what kind of wood and how much of it to use.

I wrap mine in butcher paper at around 160 IT and aim for finished around 203, but that's well after the wood burns out, so it doesn't affect the smokey flavor.

I've had issues around "burping" smoke and dry cooks that I could elaborate on, they they're well off-topic for this thread.