First Beef Brisket, confused.

[beerguy65]

Newbie here,

I'm confused about smoking times for a beef brisket.  I've read 1 to 1.5 hours per pound and also read a 7-8 lb. brisket should be smoked 5 -6 hours, that doesn't compute.  I started a 7 lb. brisket this morning at 4:15am, I've got my temp alarm set to 190.  It went off only after 4 hours, I new that was right, so I moved the probe and now it is sitting at 187.  So, how many time do you re-probe and check the temp?  Temp of the smoker has been around 225-240.  So, it only been 6 hours.  Help if can.

 

[pineywoods]

If you know your thermometer is correct because you have checked that it is accurate. If you have probed the meat in a couple places to make sure you are not in a fat pocket then you pretty much have to go with what the thermo shows. Have you double checked the temp of the smoker itself? Sometimes you just get a weird piece of meat that seems to be done way to fast its odd but it does happen once in awhile

 

[bmudd14474]

Is this a full brisket or just the flat? Like Piney said make sure you thermometer is correct but doing the boiling water test.

 

[beerguy65]

I think it's just a flat, but I'm not sure.  As of 1:55pm, the temp has dropped to 181.  At 2:15, it will be 10 hours in the smoker.  I think I will take it out and wrap it and let it rest for an hour.

 

[pineywoods]

I wouldn't take it out till it hit the target temperature

 

[beerguy65]

Well, after 10 hours, here is the result.