New Recteq Smoker/Dry Brisket

[Sunseekr5]

Hi Everyone, I have been a follower for years and receive the emails almost daily. Per your review I recently purchased a Recteq smoker. I tried my first brisket recently and was a bit disappointed with the outcome. I found the final product to be quite dry. I did wrap the meat at about 165*. I set the smoker at 240* and it did hold temp much better than my old Traeger.
Any suggestions will be much appreciated.
Thank you,
Sean Kelly

 

[GatorAGR]

Curious to see responses from others. I've never been thrilled with my briskets either though I have a Kamado Joe. Eventually I'll get a RecTeq. My buddy, who is very much an amateur makes brisket every New Years Eve and it's the best brisket I've ever had. Makes me crazy :)

 

[Coreymacc]

Hi Everyone, I have been a follower for years and receive the emails almost daily. Per your review I recently purchased a Recteq smoker. I tried my first brisket recently and was a bit disappointed with the outcome. I found the final product to be quite dry. I did wrap the meat at about 165*. I set the smoker at 240* and it did hold temp much better than my old Traeger.
Any suggestions will be much appreciated.
Thank you,
Sean Kelly

We are going to need a pretty detailed procedure, dryness can be from a lot of things. Maybe layout a bit of detail including your rest and any holding you may have done. How you checked doneness etc.

Corey

 

[okie sawbones]

First off, what grade meat did you use, select, choice, or prime. Second, did you inject the brisket? Then what did you wrap it in? Did you cook until probe tender, around 200-206. Did you cover and let the brisket rest for 2-4 hours? Lots of questions.

 

[miller51]

We are going to need a pretty detailed procedure, dryness can be from a lot of things. Maybe layout a bit of detail including your rest and any holding you may have done. How you checked doneness etc.

Corey

Agreed, some pictures also might help, what did the trim/cut of meat look like? How long? What was the final temp, was it tender or falling apart? Ect..

Even though this may not be relevant, something else to keep in mind I was taught a while back is the wrap doesn't come at any specific temp unless thats "your technique" and preference, it should be done in the stall and the meat will hit that temp and just sit there for a while... wrap after its in the stall might be 168*, might be 175* etc...

Good luck and keep at it, I just got a recteq in September and so far, it's been great, slight leaning curve but I've produced some good work with it, brisket included...

 

[Fueling Around]

Welcome to SMF
Was the brisket probe tender? "Dry" is usually an indication of under cooked brisket.

 

[schlotz]

Yup, plenty here are willing to help but you need to provide a lot more information like okie sawbones asked. BTW: was this brisket a whole packer or only the flat?

 

[sandyut]

Yup, need more intel on what you did.
Flat or whole packer?
finish internal temp
time etc.

I have a rec teq and run FP's regularly without issue. Flats on the other hand are bit of a PITA IMO.

I run FPs at 275 start to finish. I dont mess with wrapping, spritzing or any of that.

And welcome to SMF

 

[luvcatchingbass]

Lots of good questions above looking to help. I've done briskets in a variety of cookers and methods from kettle to small cheap offset, cheap electric cabinet and pellet, season and onto smoker 30min later, overnight dry brine, inject, 12-24hr marinade. The times I have ended up with a dryer than preferred are normally directly related to the quality of brisket I purchased.

 

[Sunseekr5]

Agreed, some pictures also might help, what did the trim/cut of meat look like? How long? What was the final temp, was it tender or falling apart? Ect..

Even though this may not be relevant, something else to keep in mind I was taught a while back is the wrap doesn't come at any specific temp unless thats "your technique" and preference, it should be done in the stall and the meat will hit that temp and just sit there for a while... wrap after its in the stall might be 168*, might be 175* etc...

Good luck and keep at it, I just got a recteq in September and so far, it's been great, slight leaning curve but I've produced some good work with it, brisket included...

Sorry but I do not have any photos. I do, however, have a few more pieces of information: I did wrap the brisket in butcher paper at 165*. I did test it for doneness at 204* with a digital thermometer. I let the meat rest for about 2 hours in a cooler while still wrapped in the butcher paper and surrounded by towels. I did not inject or baste the brisket. Hope this helps.

 

[Coreymacc]

Sorry but I do not have any photos. I do, however, have a few more pieces of information: I did wrap the brisket in butcher paper at 165*. I did test it for doneness at 204* with a digital thermometer. I let the meat rest for about 2 hours in a cooler while still wrapped in the butcher paper and surrounded by towels. I did not inject or baste the brisket. Hope this helps.

Do you happen to know the temp of the brisket after the 2 hour rest?

Corey

 

[SmokinEdge]

Sorry but I do not have any photos. I do, however, have a few more pieces of information: I did wrap the brisket in butcher paper at 165*. I did test it for doneness at 204* with a digital thermometer. I let the meat rest for about 2 hours in a cooler while still wrapped in the butcher paper and surrounded by towels. I did not inject or baste the brisket. Hope this helps.

The real question is, was it probe tender? Cooking to a final IT only is a huge mistake on brisket. When the hand held probe goes in the feel should be soft, like pushing into a peanut butter jar. There are scientific reasons why.

 

[sandyut]

The real question is, was it probe tender? Cooking to a final IT only is a huge mistake on brisket. When the hand held probe goes in the feel should be soft, like pushing into a peanut butter jar. There are scientific reasons why.

This and...was is a full packer or a flat.

 

[Sunseekr5]

Do you happen to know the temp of the brisket after the 2 hour rest?

Corey

I did not check the temp after the rest, sorry.

 

[Sunseekr5]

This and...was is a full packer or a flat.

I did check the texture and the thermometer went in like soft butter. I believe that the cut was a full packer.