First brisket, some issues and looking for advice

[Firemedic76]

so at the campground this weekend I decided to try my first brisket that I got in the 1/4 we bought. It was tiny and I’m guessing the cut came from the end of the flat, it was also pre trimmed so it didn’t have a huge amount of fat on it to begin with. Once it thawed the meat was prob 3” thick. So I seasoned with a generous amount of salt and pepper, maybe a touch to much it was pretty peppery but I like it. Cooked it on my buddies new mini acorn with lump coal and hickory chunks. Got the temp to 215-225 and the IT quickly rose into the low 100’s we then added a small water pan under the grate which seemed to help slow the quick IT rise. When it hit IT 165 after 3hrs I foiled it and put it back on, hit the stall and went to the dunes. Came back 90 min later and the IT was reading 198 so I pulled it and let it rest for an hour +. It had a pretty nice bark but Taste wise it seemed and looked dry, but wasn’t chewey like overdone steak. Failed the pull test and the bend. So I’m wondering what I can do diff as I have a nice packer from our 1/2 cow we just got, cut in half due to size fitting in my masterbuilt smoker and their prob 8lbs each half so I don’t want this to happen when I have to cook those. Thanks for any advice. Was it just a thin cut of meat, not enough fat, should I have pulled it sooner than 198????

 

[chilerelleno]

Let it cook a bit more.
198° isn't unheard of for a brisket flat to be tender, but very unusual.
Probe tender IT is usually more like 200°-210° with a 205° average.

Flats are generally low in fat and thus prone to being dry.
I'm a fan of wrapping in butcher paper at 165° and finishing till probe tender.
Others will advocate wrapping in foil with a braising liquid.
Still others pan theirs with a braising liquid.

I'd suggest you try SmokinAl's method for starters.
https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/threads/brisket-flat-my-way.277499/#post-1851810

 

[fivetricks]

Should've prob pulled it later than 198. Always use a skewer with brisket. When you can probe it with the skewer and you get no resistance (think room temperature butter sort of feel) it's done. But more often than not this will happen in the 203 degree range

 

[Firemedic76]

Thanks for the reply. I planned on injecting it but that didn’t happen and may have helped and I’ll def check out that link.

 

[Firemedic76]

Should've prob pulled it later than 198. Always use a skewer with brisket. When you can probe it with the skewer and you get no resistance (think room temperature butter sort of feel) it's done. But more often than not this will happen in the 203 degree range

Ok see I thought if I cooked it longer at 198 for a thinner piece it would’ve over cooked it. And so u believe that 5deg would’ve made it better? I ask cuz to me I’m like wow just that little bit of temp change could’ve chnsged the brisket so much.

 

[wbf610]

Ok see I thought if I cooked it longer at 198 for a thinner piece it would’ve over cooked it. And so u believe that 5deg would’ve made it better? I ask cuz to me I’m like wow just that little bit of temp change could’ve chnsged the brisket so much.

It can help a lot. You have to render the collagen out from between the meat fibers for tenderness and moisture. If you see any gray between the fibers, it’s undercooked.

 

[Firemedic76]

It can help a lot. You have to render the collagen out from between the meat fibers for tenderness and moisture. If you see any gray between the fibers, it’s undercooked.

That’s what I’d say the finished meat looked like, lifeless and grey, more a tender jerky consistency than that super soft looking, juicy, pull apart meat I’ve seen made on you tube.

 

[Jonok]

Cooking a piece of a brisket dry is hard to begin with. Cooking a little piece is even harder. I would have injected and wrapped at 150-160. +1 on going for texture rather than temperature.

Good to learn.

 

[fivetricks]

Ok see I thought if I cooked it longer at 198 for a thinner piece it would’ve over cooked it. And so u believe that 5deg would’ve made it better? I ask cuz to me I’m like wow just that little bit of temp change could’ve chnsged the brisket so much.

Sorry. Just seeing this.

203 is just a starting point. I had one that didn't finish until 211 this last weekend. But yes, those few last tics of the thermometer are the most important ones. There's a whole scientific explanation as to why there is such a vast difference in texture between 195 and 210 degrees. It has to do with breaking collagen down into gelatin. Do a little reading on the subject. Pretty interesting stuff.

Is the same reason that a pork shoulder/butt cooked to 195 would be best sliced and one cooked to 203+ gets turned into pulled pork.

 

[Firemedic76]

Sorry. Just seeing this.

203 is just a starting point. I had one that didn't finish until 211 this last weekend. But yes, those few last tics of the thermometer are the most important ones. There's a whole scientific explanation as to why there is such a vast difference in texture between 195 and 210 degrees. It has to do with breaking collagen down into gelatin. Do a little reading on the subject. Pretty interesting stuff.

Is the same reason that a pork shoulder/butt cooked to 195 would be best sliced and one cooked to 203+ gets turned into pulled pork.

So for a larger brisket like the point half I have in the freezer i can wrap at 160 but the tenderness is the key at the end so if it’s IT at 190 or even 205 but not probe tender it needs to stay on.

 

[chilerelleno]

So for a larger brisket like the point half I have in the freezer i can wrap at 160 but the tenderness is the key at the end so if it’s IT at 190 or even 205 but not probe tender it needs to stay on.

Correct, IT is secondary, probe tender is primary.

 

[Firemedic76]

Correct, IT is secondary, probe tender is primary.

Oh see I thought one was always figuring 190 to 200 deg IT was when it should be pulled and rested. Is there a cap as far as how high you wanna let the IT get after the meats been on say 12hrs or so. Like if I’m probing at hr 12 and it’s not there yet but IT is say 210 deg do I never want the meat to go up to 225 deg or is it that fine cuz that could take another hour or so and then be probe tender. And is there a std rest time? Like min of 1 hr but 2 is better.

 

[fivetricks]

IDK about a MAX temp persay. There's really no reason that your meat would ever get past say 212 or so. Quite frankly once you're up in the 203+ range you've almost stopped considering temperature and are just focused on tenderness. This is what the skewer test is all about.

Hyper focusing on temps isn't really what roasts and ribs are about. That's more for poultry, steak cuts slabs, things like that.

Re: rest time. I'd say a minimum of 30 mins. This way you won't burn your damn hands lol. But lately I've taken to doing a cooler rest on my pulled pork and briskets for the 4 is hour range.

Again this isn't a Hardline time. I leave myself a certain window (say 4, hours) between the expected time that the meat will be done and service time. If the meat gets done early and has to rest say... 6 hours? No big deal just keep it wrapped tight and in that cooler without peeking and shell still be nice and hot come time for service.

This way if you run a bit longer in the cook than anticipated you can just shorten your rest window. Say, an hour or two hours. It'll all come out about the same :-)

Plus it reduces your stress about 100-fold

 

[jokensmoken]

Spot on advice from everybody...
I definetly inject flats and even smaller packers...say the 10-12 pound range...
I usually use some quality beef base with bit of Worcestershire sauce but Al mentioned onion soup...that sounds like a perfect flavor profile to me and I'm going to try it out on next one...
Keep smoking, keep tweeking, keep asking...lol...
You'll get it and when you do
OH BOY...you'll be a lifer like most of the rest of us...and the most popular guy in the neighborhood/campground...
PS...I love going to the campground on "off" non holiday weekends and having a bit of an impromptu BBQ...made some great friends doing that.

 

[browneyesvictim]

Great advice given! I have nothing to add other than to keep practicing! Even the "failures" are deicious.

 

[Firemedic76]

Thanks for all the advice gonna attempt another larger flat Tomm that came with our 1/2 cow, I had the butcher half the brisket cuz it’s to big whole to fit into my MB smoker.