Need advice- first whole brisket on Traeger

[ShpRchr.44]

My first brisket ever plus I am green on using my new Traeger so I need some guidance on this

 

[TulsaJeff]

Welcome to the forum! lot of Traeger and other brand pellet smokers on here who do brisket pretty often.

 

[gmc2003]

Welcome from VT.. I'm a charcoal burner - not a pellet pooper, but from what I've read. Most folks let it ride on the smoke setting(or lowest setting) for a couple/three hours. Then turn the heat up to 250* to 275*. When you reach the stall around 160* you can wrap in foil or butcher paper to help power thru the stall or you can just ride the storm out. It will be done when it's probe tender. Usually around 205*, but I would start probing around 195*. You just never know. That's it in a nutshell. One our pellet smokers will be around soon to give you more hands on advice.

Chris

 

[playfield]

I agree with gmc2003. I have a 20 year old Traeger and have smoked many briskets. Mine is an old one so it doesn't have all the new tech but the technique is the same. Season her up and roll at 225 till 160 internal. Wrap in foil and let it ride till its probe tender. Like gmc2003 said its different in every brisket but start probing at around 190. A good instant read thermometer is a must I recommend the Thermapen One from Thermoworks. Also you have to let it rest in the foil for 2 hours minimum to get the best result. An old cooler with towels works great. I hope it comes out great!

 

[tallbm]

My first brisket ever plus I am green on using my new Traeger so I need some guidance on this

Hi there and welcome!

I'm gonna rapid fire a bunch of info for you.

• A brisket is only done when it is tender, never by time or temp
• Check for tenderness around an internal temperature (IT) of 198F(many check at 195F, I often wait to 200F so splitting the difference)
  • Check by stabbing ALL OVER with something like a wooden kabob skewer and when it goes in with no resistance (or very very little) then it is tender
• Best place to put a thermometer temp probe is the thickest yet center most portion of the FLAT muscle. NOT the Point muscle, it will be tender faster than that flat and will throw you off
  • I often use 3 probes from different angles because it is hard to nail the spot so 3 probes lets get more chances and then I follow what the lowest temp probe is tellin g me
• I recommend you trim off the thin meat area of the Flat and save itfor stew or something like that. Trim so the brisket is like an oval shape and what is left of the flat is about uniform/equal in thickness to the rest of the flat. That thin bit of meat will simply dry/burn up and be worthless if you leave it on.
  • Fat Trimming - I also recommend for your 1st brisket, only remove that hard deckle fat in the seam between the FLAT and the POINT. Leave the rest and see how you like it. So many people over trim the brisket fat when most of it simply melts away during the smoke.
• I recommend smoking at a smoker temp of 275F degrees or even higher if you want. Briskets don't care what temp you cook them at as long as you arent burning. Just don't put sugar in the rub/seasoning, which is not a normal brisket seasoning anyhow.
• IMPORTANT: Plan plenty of time and then at least 4 hours extra for the smoke!!!!
  At a steady smoker temp of 275F I find my whole briskets take roughly 1hr 5-10min per pound where they may probe tender.
  Then add 4 hours to that and don't open the smoker until your thermometer tell you to check for tenderness!
  So Example: A 14 pound brisket at 275F will be estimated at about 15.5 hours before it may be tender. Add 4 hours to that for buffer/rest time. So start your smoke 19.5 hours before you plan to eat. If it finishes on time fantastic, you have 4 hours to rest it by wrapping in 2 tight layers of foil and tightly in 3 bath towels, it will be steaming hot 4-5 hours later. If it is not tender... you ahve 4 hours of buffer.
  Recap: Estimate your time properly so (65 x Weight of brisket + 4hrs) = Estimated amount of time for the whole smoke.
  
  This estimation is the #1 reason people fail a brisket. They run short on time and pull the brisket too early before it can get tender and boom, bad brisket smoke. The meat can be easily salvaged, but its not fun to kinda fail.
• Wrap vs No Wrap - I personally don't ever wrap a brisket. BUT if you do wrap I highly highly highly recommend you wait until the brisket IT is at least 180F so you get actuall smoked brisket flavor instead of roast beef!
  If you wrap too early you will end up roast beef flavor. You will see a lot of people wrapping around 160-165F IT so they can beat the stall of the brisket. I cry a little inside because the brisket has a high likelihood of tasting like a slightly smoked roast beef vs beef bbq. Since flavor is everything to me I simply plan to let the stall happen and my time estimates deal with it well. I just can't bring myself to sacrifice such amazing flavor just to speed through the stall.
  Do what you want, just understand what/why you are doing it and what the outcome can be.
• Resting - I always recommend a 4 hour rest or a little more if you can manage it (hence 4 extra hours of planning, no coincidence lol). I simply double wrap tightly in 2 layers of foil and then tightly wrap in 3 bath towels and set on the table until 4-6 hours later when it is time to eat. It will still be hot, ready to eat, and easier to slice.
  You will read a lot of stuff about coolers and ovens, etc. and they work too but this approach is simple, effective, and uncomplicated. So I recommend it for a 1st time smoke and then you can wander into the world of coolers and ovens if you like or need.
• Seasoning/Rub - many go with Salt and Pepper (often 2x pepper). I prefer Salt, Onion, Garlic, Pepper (SPOG).
  Contrary to popular beliefe, you can oversalt the FLAT portion of the brisket, just don't go wild with the salt. The other seasonings u cant really overdo them. I dont use a binder, whatever the brisket will take while wet from it's own juices out of the cryovac bag does the trick. Keep it simple :)
• Smoke - You can apply it the whole time but I would recommend at least half the smoke.
  For me it's all about Mesquite wood flavor with beef but that may be hard for you to come by and is hard for some people to manage the smoke as it can be strong when it is not thin blue smoke (TBS).
  I would say use some Oak and blend it with something else like hickory or even blend some Oak into a Competition Blend (maple/cherry/hickory). It's a hardy piece of meat so some good stronger smoke flavor is good, but I just can't bring myself to recommend 100% Hickory for beef. That would be un-Texan of me :D

I think I covered the main points.

Doing a brisket really isn't hard, there is just a lot of nuance to this, the king of bbq meats.

I hope this giant list of info helps :)

 

[Fueling Around]

I use a smoke tube filled with mesquite pellets and tun my pooper at 250-275*
Poopers are a convection oven which speeds up the process, but as others posted it is done when it’s done

 

[schlotz]

On probing for doneness: probe all over on the flat. The point will always probe tender due to the fat content.

 

[SmokinAl]

Good luck & take photo’s!
Al