First brisket - was not what I expected...

[PoukieBear]

I finally did it, I jumped into the deep end and finally smoked my first brisket.

10 pounds, smoked at 250 degrees for about 10 hours (I wrapped it at 160).

In all my excitement, I forgot to take before and after pics. But the meat was perfectly tender and joyfully giggly :)

My only problem was slicing the darn thing. I watched so many videos and thought I had the skill to do it right.....

It was so tender that it just flaked apart. I couldn’t get any slices off of it, cutting against the grain, so it turned into more of a pulled brisket. Still delicious of course, but not the pretty competition style slices that I wanted to show off.

Sausages on the left, pulled pork in the middle, brisket on the right.

 

[jaxgatorz]

It looks great from here !!

 

[SecondHandSmoker]

Well, it happens.
Just work on the techniques for getting sliced brisket.
But you know what?
You wouldn't have to twist my arm one bit to load up a couple of platefuls with that fine looking Q.

 

[nomad297]

My only problem was slicing the darn thing. I watched so many videos and thought I had the skill to do it right.....

Congratulations on jumping into the deep end!

There’s a couple of things to consider with what I quoted. First, you may have slightly overcooked it. In this case, try slicing it a little thicker. Also, you may have used the “wrong” knife or you used the right knife and it just wasn’t sharp enough. I have several knives to choose from for slicing brisket, and it is usually the condition of the bark and the flexibility of the flat that makes me decide which knife to try first. I usually end-up using a very sharp, long blade with curved serrations, but if the bark is really crunchy, I will use a blade with more aggressive pointed serrations. Sometimes I will just start the cut with this knife to get through the bark, then use a long granton blade to make a nice, smooth slice. If the bark is just right and the flat is just right, I will usually use just the granton blade for the whole process.

Bruce

 

[DD Alberta]

Still makes me hungry! Looks good.

 

[EdP]

It was so tender that it just flaked apart. I couldn’t get any slices off of it, cutting against the grain, so it turned into more of a pulled brisket.

I had that happen too, I think I cooked it too long.

I just cut it with the grain and then cut that into large pieces to keep it together. I probably read about doing this here.

 

[drunkenmeatfist]

The description does seem to indicate that it was overcooked. However, overcooked is still really good and way better than underdone. There have been many times when I ran out of patience and pulled a brisket too early. I'd say that your first brisket was a huge success.

 

[kruizer]

Good looking Q. Whats the address? I'll be there.

 

[hardcookin]

Sounds like you might have over cooked it...falling apart is still good eating,I would say it was a good first brisket cook!
Remember...Every smoke is a learning experince.

 

[banderson7474]

Congrats! I'm still trying to soak in as much info as possible with briskets. I did a flat and it was a c- for me but I got some tips for next time. I want to do a whole brisket but I find it confusing b/c I'm almost positive that the flat will be done first so I'm trying to figure out if you should pull and then cut the point to make burnt ends or if I face the point towards the heat box, will they both reach IT about the same time? I feel like if you cook the point to temp/probe then the flat will almost always be over done.

 

[JC in GB]

Nice looking spread. Nothing says summer like a backyard BBQ.

 

[nomad297]

Congrats! I'm still trying to soak in as much info as possible with briskets. I did a flat and it was a c- for me but I got some tips for next time. I want to do a whole brisket but I find it confusing b/c I'm almost positive that the flat will be done first so I'm trying to figure out if you should pull and then cut the point to make burnt ends or if I face the point towards the heat box, will they both reach IT about the same time? I feel like if you cook the point to temp/probe then the flat will almost always be over done.

There’s nothing confusing about it at all. It is just magic! Somehow, the flat and the point are always done at the same time. Always put your whole brisket in the smoker with the point end closer to the heat source. I don’t know how you do this with the smokers that have a central heat source, like the Traegers, but I’m sure there are people here that have this all worked out. I always keep a pan of water close to the heat source, right beside the point.

At first, I had the same concerns as you, and I had temp probes stuck in all over different parts of the brisket, just like I was performing acupuncture on that poor piece of meat. It didn’t take too long to realize that all I needed was one probe, which I always place in the thickest area between the point and the flat.

Bruce

 

[tallbm]

I finally did it, I jumped into the deep end and finally smoked my first brisket.

10 pounds, smoked at 250 degrees for about 10 hours (I wrapped it at 160).

In all my excitement, I forgot to take before and after pics. But the meat was perfectly tender and joyfully giggly :)

My only problem was slicing the darn thing. I watched so many videos and thought I had the skill to do it right.....

It was so tender that it just flaked apart. I couldn’t get any slices off of it, cutting against the grain, so it turned into more of a pulled brisket. Still delicious of course, but not the pretty competition style slices that I wanted to show off.

Sausages on the left, pulled pork in the middle, brisket on the right.

My favorite way to eat brisket is chopped mixed with some bbq sauce, very similar to what you ended up with. At large events where brisket is cooked in TX it is often served like you have it so that it goes a longer way :)

As others have said, it was probably a little over cooked for slices OR you pulled it and wanted to slice it immediately. A good amount of time resting helps slicing a little bit as well.

If you make a brisket the day before and put it in the fridge, you can slice it the next day while it is good and cold and even the most tender jello-like brisket(when it was pulled off the smoker) will slice up with no problems to the thickness of your liking!
You can then push all the slices back together to reform your brisket, wrapp in foil, and reheat or throw the slices into foil,any which way you please, wrap, and reheat. They will be perfectly fine. This is a little trick when having to do a lot of brisket and being able to craft each one perfectly is not an option so a little overcooked and this approach makes life easy :)

Congrats! I'm still trying to soak in as much info as possible with briskets. I did a flat and it was a c- for me but I got some tips for next time. I want to do a whole brisket but I find it confusing b/c I'm almost positive that the flat will be done first so I'm trying to figure out if you should pull and then cut the point to make burnt ends or if I face the point towards the heat box, will they both reach IT about the same time? I feel like if you cook the point to temp/probe then the flat will almost always be over done.

The flat is the problem child, not the point. Put your temp probe in the thickest yet center most portion of the flat when temping a brisket. Also that is the last of the areas to go tender so don't skip it when you're stabbing the meat all over during your tenderness check.
The point is simple and almost impossible to mess up. It gets tender way before the flat and when your flat is tender the point will be just as tender and ready to come off.
So the main lesson here is to let the cook be dictated by the tenderness of the flat and to not worry about the point, the point will be fine :)


Briskets can usually teach us something with just about every cook :)

 

[EdP]

So the main lesson here is to let the cook be dictated by the tenderness of the flat and to not worry about the point, the point will be fine :)

I remember you saying this in your brisket trimming thread. My next brisket's gonna follow your instructions there.

 

[noboundaries]

PoukieBear, that table spread looks FANTASTIC! Given the choice between sliced brisket or pulled/chopped, I usually choose the latter. Congrats on your first! Our smoke baby is turning into a smoking mama (sniff sniff). We're so proud!

And banderson7474, don't worry about the point. Probe the flat on a packer to tell when it's done. The point is FULL of fat and will give a false reading that it's tender when probed.

 

[zwiller]

NICE SPREAD! Great comments so far. Only thing I will add is that chopped/flaked brisket is killer to use for soft tacos.

 

[PoukieBear]

Thanks for all the replies and praise :). It means a lot coming from the pros like you all!

Some of you said I may have over cooked it. I pulled it off at 201, and wrapped it in a towel to rest in the cooler. It was in the cooler for a lot longer than I anticipated, about 6 hours. It was still hot when I tried to slice it.

Did it maybe sit in the cooler for too long?

 

[noboundaries]

6 hours is the culprit. Collagen continues to melt if the temp remains high, especially if the meat temp stays above 170F.

 

[gmc2003]

Noboundaries has it correct. If you wrap and store it in a cooler to keep it warm. Then let it cool down to about 170 to 180* before wrapping and putting it in the cooler. That way it basically stops the cooking process.

Chris

 

[PoukieBear]

Aha! Thanks guys! I had no idea I had to let it cool first.

Darn, I’ll just have to try again! Mmmmmmm...