Apologies for the square videos - these were pulled from my Instagram!
For the first time ever, I managed to cook a packer-cut brisket almost perfectly! There were 2 things that I did differently to before:
I cooked it on my Traeger Pro 575 using Hickory and Cherry pellets. I started it last Saturday morning at 06:00 and it took around 11 hours to cook + 2 hours of rest.
I trimmed and rubbed the meat at 05:00 with a base layer of salt, black pepper, celery salt and oregano and then added a generous layer of Traeger's Beef Rub. It hit the grill (set to 250°F) at 06:00 and I monitored the internal temperature to look out for the stall. I wrapped it in butcher paper after it had pushed through the stall, which was around 171°F - this was around 7 hours in and also gave it time to pick up some nice colour:
I didn't use a water pan at all during the cook.
Once wrapped, I monitored the internal temperature until 200°F and then checked for doneness with a probe. I ignored what the temperature probe was saying and simply went by feel. It was still feeling tough in areas so I left it and kept checking every 30-40 minutes. Around 4 hours after wrapping, (207°F internal temperature) the probe was literally going in and out like butter and so I pulled it off and put it in a cool bag for 2 hours.
After 2 hours, I was super excited to slice into it:
The texture was unreal - super soft all over and even really thick slices were tender and 'floppy'. I had previously read advice saying to use a probe to check for tenderness, but my issue before was that I was too worried about overcooking and so was unknowingly pulling my briskets off before they were really getting to that sweet spot.
Let me know if you have any questions!
For the first time ever, I managed to cook a packer-cut brisket almost perfectly! There were 2 things that I did differently to before:
- I sourced the perfect piece of meat from Meat and Cleaver UK (no affiliation but they know their stuff when it comes to cooking low-and-slow and were able to source a packer-cut brisket that they trimmed nicely aka leaving some fat on)
- I didn't undercook it (more about that below)
I cooked it on my Traeger Pro 575 using Hickory and Cherry pellets. I started it last Saturday morning at 06:00 and it took around 11 hours to cook + 2 hours of rest.
I trimmed and rubbed the meat at 05:00 with a base layer of salt, black pepper, celery salt and oregano and then added a generous layer of Traeger's Beef Rub. It hit the grill (set to 250°F) at 06:00 and I monitored the internal temperature to look out for the stall. I wrapped it in butcher paper after it had pushed through the stall, which was around 171°F - this was around 7 hours in and also gave it time to pick up some nice colour:
I didn't use a water pan at all during the cook.
Once wrapped, I monitored the internal temperature until 200°F and then checked for doneness with a probe. I ignored what the temperature probe was saying and simply went by feel. It was still feeling tough in areas so I left it and kept checking every 30-40 minutes. Around 4 hours after wrapping, (207°F internal temperature) the probe was literally going in and out like butter and so I pulled it off and put it in a cool bag for 2 hours.
After 2 hours, I was super excited to slice into it:
The texture was unreal - super soft all over and even really thick slices were tender and 'floppy'. I had previously read advice saying to use a probe to check for tenderness, but my issue before was that I was too worried about overcooking and so was unknowingly pulling my briskets off before they were really getting to that sweet spot.
Let me know if you have any questions!
