First Brisket FAIL with PICS

[smallbuck]

I have a upright gas smoker. It has 3 racks. 2 pans on the bottom. I have the Mesquite Chips right above the flame then the water pan. 

I placed the 6lbs brisket flat on the 2nd rack. I started it Fat up. ( I read a lot about this here before attempting this. So I just did both.)

The Night Before.

I trimmed the extra fat off the top and left the Fat on the bottom.

Rubbed in Mustard and covered with a basic dry rub. Salt, Pepper, Garlic.

Wrapped in plastic wrap and put it in the fridge till the next day.

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• smallbuck
• Sep 1, 2012

7am 

I take the brisket out of the fridge. 

Get the water pan full and turn the Smoker on.

Soaked my chips for about 30 min waiting on the smoker to heat up.

7:30

the smoker hit 230F I put the brisket in. I had some chips already in from the last smoke.

I place the brisket Fat up. 

I added Chips about every hour.

I had a hard time getting it to stay above 220F (Early Windy I don't know)

9:30

I flipped the brisket over

The Smoker was holding about 240F 

I checked the temp a few times looking for 160F

11 

It was at about 158F.

I left if for another 30 min it got to about 170F

Wrapped it in Foil

12:30 

Checked temp again. It was 185F

Took it off and placed it in the oven wrapped to set for about 1 hr. 

The oven was on 180F

1:30

I unwrapped it. It smelled amazing. It looked amazing.

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• smallbuck
• Sep 1, 2012

I cut in up. Sliced pretty thin.

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• smallbuck
• Sep 1, 2012

It tasted pretty good. Not as much Smoke flavor as I would like, but a good flavor I was disappointed because it was dry. Now I have  6lbs of pretty dry brisket. It isn't overly tough but definitely dry.

What could I have done differently. 

I suspect the oven was a mistake.

Maybe it didn't set long enough before putting it in the smoker. 

Maybe the temp was to high.

Also what can I do with this Brisket. I thought about cutting it up or pulling it to make sandwiches. Any ideas on getting some juice back?

Thanks for your help and comments.

I have learned a lot here , but need more practice.

 

[wctaxi]

Hi smallbuck, what you might want to try next time is inject it before you put it on your grill.  You will see a world of difference in moisture and tenderness.  I don't think I would have put it in the oven after you foiled.  I usually foil at IT 160 and then continue at 235-240 until IT reaches 198.  I pull it and open the foil to let all the steam escape to ensure the brisket won't cook anymore.  Then seal back up in foil and wrap in towels and put in cooler or blanket for 1 hour to rest.  I couldn't tell if you had a thermometer in the meat or not leading to a external unit, but that might have alos caused your meat to dry out a little.  Every time you open the smoker to check temp, it messes up your BBQ temp and causes the meat to dry out.  If you don't have one I would highly recommend a thermometer that you can read without opening your smoker up.  That will make your life a whole lot easier.

What you might do with the brisket you have done already is either refridgerate or freeze until your ready to make sandwiches with it.  Since it is a bit dry, Heat up some Au-Ju (sp) sauce and dunk the meat in it before you make your sandwich or have it for dinner.  It will moist right up and be very good.  Hope that helps.......John
 

 

[bmudd14474]

You have to be careful when you are just doing the flat of the brisket because it doesn't have alot of fat to keep it moist. When you do the whole packer you have the fat to keep it moist. If I am doing just the flat I will smoke it at a little lower of a temp between 210-220. If you go higher it will dry out faster. But if it is dry you can slice and put in the pan with the juice and some added stock and it will get you some moisture back. But not all of it.

Good luck next time.

 

[smallbuck]

Thanks
I think the temp was to high. I did take the juice from the pan and the sliced brisket and put it in a ziplock bag. It helped. My father in-law didn't seem to mind he had three plates. The flavor was good.
6lbs was a bitt much
Is it worth doing a half flat?