I think I just FUBAR’d my brisket! HELP!!

[FloridaChris]

Hi all! So I set up a 20lb brisket on the Big Green Egg, set the temp to 225 and put the brisket on. Now the BGE dome thermo showed 210 degrees, but my iGrill was showing 320 at the grid. I almost totally closed the vents and figured it was safe. Now 1.5 hours later (2 hrs total on the grill) the brisket is at 170!! Is there any way to save this thing?

 

[gmc2003]

The way I see it you have two choices. First, let it ride and pull it when it probes tender in the flat(Normally around 205*, but that's not carved in stone). Plenty of members here smoke brisket hot-n-fast. Second, pull it now and put it in your oven at a lower temp.

Here's hoping nothing else pops up.

Chris

 

[chef jimmyj]

Good advice...JJ

 

[chopsaw]

I'm not the brisket voice of knowledge , but I've had them hit 170 in short time , and still didn't finish in time to eat .
I agree with above , and would check a few other spots with an instant read too .
Good luck , and enjoy .

 

[noboundaries]

The internal temp rise in meat is not linear. In a 275F smoker, it can reach the stall in as little as 2.5 to 3 hours because cold meat absorbs a LOT of heat energy. Then chemistry joins the meat dance with physics. The stall can take 4-7 hours, and the last 30-40F of meat temp can take .5 to 1.5 hours per ten degrees.

I've had meat surprise me and finish WAY faster than I expected, and it's often a brisket. When the packer's flat probes tender, or almost tender, wrap it, then slap it in a 170F oven until ready to cut.

 

[tx smoker]

Hi all! So I set up a 20lb brisket on the Big Green Egg,

I'm not going to go into the science of things. The folks have you pretty well covered there. I will say from considerable experience that everything, and I mean everything, cooks faster on a BGE. It's due to the radiant or convection style of heating created by the dome shape of the lid and the way the heat is distributed around the perimeter of the shell. Are you using a plate setter for indirect cooking?

Robert

 

[tallbm]

Hi all! So I set up a 20lb brisket on the Big Green Egg, set the temp to 225 and put the brisket on. Now the BGE dome thermo showed 210 degrees, but my iGrill was showing 320 at the grid. I almost totally closed the vents and figured it was safe. Now 1.5 hours later (2 hrs total on the grill) the brisket is at 170!! Is there any way to save this thing?

Hi there and welcome!

No need to panic you are fine.
Brisket is a cut of meat that doesnt care what temp you are cooking it at as long as you aren't burning it and at 320F you aren't burning it so feel free to call off the red alert :)

Also I would highly suggest you check your probe placement. The best spot is the thickest yet center most part of the Flat muscle. Properly placing a meat probe in a brisket is actually a very difficult thing to do and because so I use at least 3 meat probes. Here is an image from a post I did early this year on this topic.
In the picture you see I have 5, yes 5 meat probes in a brisket and only 1 of them hit the magic spot and you can see the differences in Internal Temp (IT):

Finally as was mentioned, your brisket is done ONLY when it is Tender! It is tender when you stab it ALL OVER with something like a kabob skewer or your meat probe and it goes in like butter ALL OVER. If it doesnt pass the tenderness test ALL OVER then let it raise a couple of more degrees in IT and test again. Pull when tender :)

So again, keep calm u are ok. Just keep going and honestly you want to finish 4 hours before eating time anyway if you can. At that point you can tightly double wrap in foil, and then tightly wrap in 3 bath towels and set the brisket on the counter and I PROMISE it will be piping hot and ready to serve 4-5 hours later after it has rested and reabsorbed all the juices.

So again, again... keep calm u are ok and just follow the fundamentals here and that other guys have mentioned and you will have a successful brisket cook :)