Not happy with my oven roasted brisket (again)

[paneraica]

Usually I place the flat in a small amount of water in the bottom of a covered roasting pan.

This time. I placed on a low rack just barely above the water

temp at 300 and 3 hours for a 2.8 pound flat. 1/2 out covered in foil

Rub was 2x tsp's of black pepper, kosher salt. 1 tsp of garlic powder, onion and paprika. Level with the edge of the spoon, so not heavy handed

Was dry and potatoes were very peppery (again on the potatoes)

Thinking for the next time. 2.5 hours at 300 and 1/2 rest. 1.5 tsp of pepper/salt and 2/3rd tsp of the others

Never seem to have any problems with my rib roasts

Will it cook at 2.5 hours? Shop sells cleaned flats which is cheaper than buying a whole brisket as I don't like the fatty part, so a waste of money

Thanks

DON

 

[BigW.]

Do you have a smoker/grill of some type other than your oven? Did you use a thermometer to check temp or just use time to decide if it was done?

Maybe this thread will help:

BRISKET FLAT, MY WAY

It's no secret that a lot of folks have a problem smoking a small well trimmed brisket flat. I to had my struggles for a while, but a couple of years ago I found this method and have been using it ever since. So I would like to share my method with all of you. If you already are successful...

www.smokingmeatforums.com

 

[paneraica]

Do you have a smoker/grill of some type other than your oven? Did you use a thermometer to check temp or just use time to decide if it was done?

Maybe this thread will help:

BRISKET FLAT, MY WAY

It's no secret that a lot of folks have a problem smoking a small well trimmed brisket flat. I to had my struggles for a while, but a couple of years ago I found this method and have been using it ever since. So I would like to share my method with all of you. If you already are successful...

www.smokingmeatforums.com

When I took it out. Temp was 180 and then wrapped up in foil

Had an in ground BBQ, but got torn out for some house work. Also. Down a flight of stairs in the sunlight, so never bothered to replace it.

Figured the water would keep it moist in a sealed roasting pan

Maybe try his way for next time and roast potatoes in the mix

Thanks

DON

 

[jcam222]

When I took it out. Temp was 180 and then wrapped up in foil

Had an in ground BBQ, but got torn out for some house work. Also. Down a flight of stairs in the sunlight, so never bothered to replace it.

Figured the water would keep it moist in a sealed roasting pan

Maybe try his way for next time and roast potatoes in the mix

Thanks

DON. Brisket taken to 180 will always be tough as a shoe. Try taking it to 205 AND probe to make sure it's tender.

It was undercooked. Brisket only taken to 180 will always be tough as a shoe. Try taking it to 205 AND probe to make sure it's tender.

 

[thirdeye]

Well, a 2-1/2 pound brisket is pretty small, so all the "rules of thumb" sort of get tossed out the window. Part of the cook will involve a wrapped or covered step, so you were right on that. You just didn't cook it long enough.

It should come to no surprise that many people cook brisket flats in the oven, or braise them, or use a slow-cooker or table top roaster with excellent results. About 15 years ago an online friend "Pitmaster T" posted his Grandmother's recipe for brisket as an example for barbecue cooks of how easy it is to obtain an "acceptable tenderness" on a brisket, when using a wrapped step. Back in the day when flats were much more reasonable in price, I would cook one this way for sandwiches to take to work. Anyway, here is the recipe.

Start with a 5# brisket flat. Season it with Celery salt and Pepper. Season it not so much as a rub for BBQ but liberally none-the-less. Now lay that brisket fat up on a double-sheet of foil and seal the edges tight. No liquid inside…. Just the brisket and put it in a 275 degree oven. Come back to it in 4 to 4-1/2 hours. (It's okay to take a peek and probe with a toothpick), but seal it back up and rest on the counter for 1-hour. Now just before your resting period is done, fire up your broiler, drain the fat and juices for gravy later open the foil and broil that fat cap ‘til its crispy. Now when that’s done let it rest 15 and get out your knife, probe .

 

[Hijack73]

Well, a 2-1/2 pound brisket is pretty small, so all the "rules of thumb" sort of get tossed out the window. Part of the cook will involve a wrapped or covered step, so you were right on that. You just didn't cook it long enough.

It should come to no surprise that many people cook brisket flats in the oven, or braise them, or use a slow-cooker or table top roaster with excellent results. About 15 years ago an online friend "Pitmaster T" posted his Grandmother's recipe for brisket as an example for barbecue cooks of how easy it is to obtain an "acceptable tenderness" on a brisket, when using a wrapped step. Back in the day when flats were much more reasonable in price, I would cook one this way for sandwiches to take to work. Anyway, here is the recipe.

Start with a 5# brisket flat. Season it with Celery salt and Pepper. Season it not so much as a rub for BBQ but liberally none-the-less. Now lay that brisket fat up on a double-sheet of foil and seal the edges tight. No liquid inside…. Just the brisket and put it in a 275 degree oven. Come back to it in 4 to 4-1/2 hours. (It's okay to take a peek and probe with a toothpick), but seal it back up and rest on the counter for 1-hour. Now just before your resting period is done, fire up your broiler, drain the fat and juices for gravy later open the foil and broil that fat cap ‘til its crispy. Now when that’s done let it rest 15 and get out your knife, probe .

When brisket was a buck a lb and chuck was 3 bucks a lb, I made all of my pot roasts, stew beef, and ground beef out of brisket.

Old school brisket pot roast is killer. I'd often just cut a slab for a roast that included the point and the flat under the under the point, trim out the deckle and let her rip at 350.


OP - you really need at least choice for that application and a little fat cap. Otherwise it's like a chunk of top round and those make the worst pot roasts this side of eye of round.

 

[SmokinEdge]

No tough piece of meat with lots of connective tissue that’s worked a lot like brisket should ever be cooked to time or temp. The meat is done when it’s done. Time and temp are guides that we use to know when we are getting close. So when internal temperature reaches 200F start probing all over. There should be little to no resistance like pushing the probe into a new jar of peanut butter in and out, if not let it go higher, usually somewhere in the 203-205F internal range it’s soft and probes good but I’ve had a few that needed 210F to relax.

An over cooked brisket will be soft and mushy a undercooked brisket is almost always dry and tough.

 

[paneraica]

Well, a 2-1/2 pound brisket is pretty small, so all the "rules of thumb" sort of get tossed out the window. Part of the cook will involve a wrapped or covered step, so you were right on that. You just didn't cook it long enough.

It should come to no surprise that many people cook brisket flats in the oven, or braise them, or use a slow-cooker or table top roaster with excellent results. About 15 years ago an online friend "Pitmaster T" posted his Grandmother's recipe for brisket as an example for barbecue cooks of how easy it is to obtain an "acceptable tenderness" on a brisket, when using a wrapped step. Back in the day when flats were much more reasonable in price, I would cook one this way for sandwiches to take to work. Anyway, here is the recipe.

Start with a 5# brisket flat. Season it with Celery salt and Pepper. Season it not so much as a rub for BBQ but liberally none-the-less. Now lay that brisket fat up on a double-sheet of foil and seal the edges tight. No liquid inside…. Just the brisket and put it in a 275 degree oven. Come back to it in 4 to 4-1/2 hours. (It's okay to take a peek and probe with a toothpick), but seal it back up and rest on the counter for 1-hour. Now just before your resting period is done, fire up your broiler, drain the fat and juices for gravy later open the foil and broil that fat cap ‘til its crispy. Now when that’s done let it rest 15 and get out your knife, probe .

Problem is. I also do the roasted potatoes in the roasting pan with juices from the roast and added water, so wrapped foil method won't work

This is the problem with trying to Google a simple recipe. Everybody has a different answer.

The current method was based off the 1 h and 15 m per pound, so figured 3 hours for 2.8 pounds

Previous was 350 at 3.5 hours resting in water a 1/4", but I managed to buy a 15 pound one for $35.00

When I bought this one. Prices for whole was $65. At that price. I'm buying 4 fat striploin steaks which I prefer over roast beef as I don't eat the fatty part, so a waste

Store sells cleaned flats, so I buy what they have available

Next one - 300 for 4 hours?


Thanks

 

[paneraica]

No tough piece of meat with lots of connective tissue that’s worked a lot like brisket should ever be cooked to time or temp. The meat is done when it’s done. Time and temp are guides that we use to know when we are getting close. So when internal temperature reaches 200F start probing all over. There should be little to no resistance like pushing the probe into a new jar of peanut butter in and out, if not let it go higher, usually somewhere in the 203-205F internal range it’s soft and probes good but I’ve had a few that needed 210F to relax.

An over cooked brisket will be soft and mushy a undercooked brisket is almost always dry and tough.

When I pushed the probe in. No resistance. Went in nice and easy, so I figured based on what I've read that meat continues to cook when wrapped up, so I didn't want to overcook it

 

[DougE]

If you only took the flat to 180°F I'd expect it was tough.

 

[JLeonard]

SmokinAl method will work in the oven also. And you can roast those taters in the soup that the brisket is resting in. Bet they will be mighty good. Take to 200 degrees and start probing. once it hits that easy to probe state let it rest an hour. Our local Kroger sells brisket flats and I’ve done several this way. Always perfect!

Jim

 

[schlotz]

Here is Al's well known brisket recipe for the oven. Brisket Flat My Way

 

[paneraica]

Here is Al's well known brisket recipe for the oven. Brisket Flat My Way

That was posted above, but no mention of an oven temp. One I helped my mother with before she passed. Was in at 350.

Good or bad temp?

Also. My thermometer only goes to 190, so I guess I need a new one

Anyone recommend something within a reasonable price that you trust?

Under $30.00 as I do a brisket once per year

Thanks

 

[noboundaries]

Brisket ain't steak. Dry is undercooked. An overcooked flat will crumble.

Every piece of meat is different because every bovine is different. You can oven-roast a brisket anywhere from 225°F to 400°F. Temp = clock. Low temp = long click. High temp = fast clock. It's ready to rest when it probes tender.

Wrapping helps speed thing up due to steam.

Oops. Gotta go. Be back later.

 

[schlotz]

That was posted above, but no mention of an oven temp. One I helped my mother with before she passed. Was in at 350.

Good or bad temp?

Also. My thermometer only goes to 190, so I guess I need a new one

Anyone recommend something within a reasonable price that you trust?

Under $30.00 as I do a brisket once per year

Thanks

Yup Al mentioned the temp in the link I sent you, it was 250º. Re: new thermometer, they are a valuable tool to have and should be one that has been certified and definitely should be able to register above 190º. My personal choice is to use one from ThermoWorks but they may not meet your criteria.

 

[thirdeye]

Old school brisket pot roast is killer. I'd often just cut a slab for a roast that included the point and the flat under the under the point, trim out the deckle and let her rip at 350.

One of my favorite brisket meals is called Rice & Gravy but it always includes a side meat, and brisket pot roast works great.

The current method was based off the 1 h and 15 m per pound, so figured 3 hours for 2.8 pounds

This is an example of a 'rule of thumb' that won't apply since you started with a 2.8 # brisket and were cooking at normal barbecue pit temps. Sometimes wrapping earlier helps. Other times a higher pit temp, and a wrap helps too. Sadly, with the price of hamburger so high, you can afford to buy a small brisket on sale, trim the heavy fat, grind it and make an excellent meatloaf.

Below is a photo of a brisket flat I did as a test cook for a competition. For me, this is about the smallest flat that I'll cook and I did this one hot and fast. It has been cut down to 7" wide and the weight is in the 4 to 4-1/2 pound range. This was injected and cooked on a drum at 300°. At 2-1/2 hours I wrapped it with some beefy AuJus. At 4 hours the internal was 199° but it probed 'tight'. At 5 hours the internal was 203° and probed tender.

 

[paneraica]

Thanks for the info. Need to find a new thermometer and try again in 6 months on the next one

Leftovers of this one will go into a hot roast beef sandwich covered with gravy and fries

Found this one. Got good reviews and nice and simple

Thermoworks Thermopop

 

[Retired Spook]

Julia Child has a great oven brisket recipe...

I've cooked it and it is killer.

 

[Fueling Around]

I recently bought 3 ThermoPop but haven't tried one out.
I usually use a ThermoPen from Wally World.

Brisket needs some fat to help cook the meat even if you drain it away when done.
Brisket isn't pot roast for a Sunday dinner cook. The taters will be mush long before the meat is cooked to tender.

 

[Retired Spook]

I never put potatoes in pot roast - I'm an onions, mushrooms, carrots and a glass of Chianti pot-roast guy!

Now I am craving pot roast...