New Member...2nd post...Smoking Brisket

[NWFFT]

I am very new to smoking and I posted a thread in the new members section before I cam here. I have a Traeger Pro 22 and I "attempted" to smoke a brisket last Sunday. I followed the Traeger book fairly close...Rubbed the brisket, overnight in the frige, put the meat in the smoker for 3 hours on "smoke (about 130 degrees)with the meat on an raised rack and a aluminum pan under the rack for adding beer later, then raised the smoker temp to 225 for another 6 hours. I put some beer in the pan after 1 hour on 225 and then basted the meat with a apple juice/water mixture every hour (once I used a baster to get juice from the pan and baste with that. After another 6 hours (9 hours total) the meat was only 160 degrees. The book said it should be at about 180-190 degrees (The book says 145-160 for medium which I like). What am I doing wrong or what do I not understand about meat temp and smoking. Thanks very much!

 

[demosthenes9]

It's the latter. Not all cuts of meat have the same characteristics, so they shouldn't all be cooked the same. "Steak" cuts like Ribeye, Sirloin, Strips, Filets, etc are best when only taken to mid rare or medium at most. Other cuts need to be taken up past well done in order to get tender. Brisket is such a piece of meat. It's generally done somewhere between 185 and 210 or so, depending on a number of factors.

Instead of me trying to reinvent the wheel, I'll see if I can dig up a good How To thread for you.

 

[SmokinAl]

As said above, you didn't cook it long enough.
Brisket needs to get to 190-210, or until probe tender.
Al

 

[Ed Crain]

My pellet smoker produces good smoke up 250 the last brisket I done I set it on 225 from the start and pulled it approx 10hrs later was perfect

 

[Rings Я Us]

So much basting and spritzing slows it down also . 5 lb piece I did took 13 hours last week. Had good fat on it so I didn't use a pan or spray. I cooked it to 195 and checked it. Some areas were about done and some were firm still. At 200 softer everywhere I probed but a couple areas again firm. I took it off at 205 and it was nice and moist still.. soft everywhere. Like a ... well I won't go there. But yeah, 200 is pretty close to the mark , but not always.