Rolled Brisket on Weber Kettle

[Remo]

Hi Everyone

I just got done smoking my first brisket on a Weber Kettle and it turned out dry. Was hoping someone could give me some advice so next time it's much better. Here in Australia, the supermarkets mostly sell briskets that are rolled into cylinder shapes and strung up, so they are a different shape to the briskets most people talk about on this forum ( I used to be a butcher so I've strung a million of these things).

I used a my new TP20 for the first time and monitored it closely. Kept the kettle in the 275 range.

I used a water pan, the snake method, briquettes, two chunks of hickory and one cherry.

Once I set up, I went to karate and asked the wife to keep an eye on it. When I came back she said the thermo was beeping. The TP20 read 319 so I panicked and reduced the temp back down to the 275 range. It was only over 300 for about 20 minutes to half an hour.

I wrapped the brisket in foil about the 4 hour mark. It looked pretty moist so I didn't baste much. I turned the brisket at one point. I pulled the meat out at 204 and wrapped with a towel and put in an cooler for a few hours. Carved it and it was dry.

It was an experiment so I'm not too pissed. I bought the two rolled briskets cheap, they were reduced to $12 each and weighed about 1.5 kgs.

Any advice on what I can do better next time? Do you think it was dry because of that temp spike? Dry brisket sucks.

Cheers

 

[DanMcG]

I curious as to why you didn't roll it out flat, not that it would cure the dryness problem.
How was the fat content, was it well marbled?

 

[Remo]

I curious as to why you didn't roll it out flat, not that it would cure the dryness problem.
How was the fat content, was it well marbled?

I didn't want to roll it out because I know from when I used to roll briskets, they're usually stuffed with a lot of brisket offcuts between the flat and point to make an even cylinder shape. So you'd likely get a bit of waste.

It wasn't too fatty, about quarter of an inch on the top. Not much marbling.

 

[SmokinEdge]

As mentioned, fat content?
1.5gk is about 3 pounds, guessing. Pretty small, and I assume was the flat, not tip?
What was the temp prior to wrapping in foil at 4 hour mark? The 200ish temp zone is something you hit, not maintain. If held for any length past 30 minutes at 200+, you rendered the meat of natural juice, IMO.

 

[Remo]

At the 4 hour mark when I wrapped the cooker temp was about 275. The internal temp was about 165/170.

This is how the supermarkets sell brisket in Australia. They've started selling whole unrolled brisket. I like to grab the rolled ones when they are cheap and stick them in the freezer. I smoked two of these together, each one weighing 3 pounds. The fat was even across the top, about 1/4 inch.

I'll do a lot of these rolled briskets in the future because they're mostly what's available at my local shops. So I want to learn how to make then juicy!

 

[Remo]

As mentioned, fat content?
1.5gk is about 3 pounds, guessing. Pretty small, and I assume was the flat, not tip?
What was the temp prior to wrapping in foil at 4 hour mark? The 200ish temp zone is something you hit, not maintain. If held for any length past 30 minutes at 200+, you rendered the meat of natural juice, IMO.

At the 4 hour mark when I wrapped the cooker temp was about 275. The internal temp was about 165/170.

This is how the supermarkets sell brisket in Australia. They've started selling whole unrolled brisket. I like to grab the rolled ones when they are cheap and stick them in the freezer. I smoked two of these together, each one weighing 3 pounds. The fat was even across the top, about 1/4 inch.

I'll do a lot of these rolled briskets in the future because they're mostly what's available at my local shops. So I want to learn how to make then juicy!


This is how briskets are usually sold here in Australia. Do other countries sell them this way?

 

[SmokinAl]

I have never seen a brisket rolled up like that, but I don't think that alone would make it dry. I think the problem is there is no marbling in the meat. It is just too lean. It may be a good candidate for a SV circulator, then a sear. Or smoke it to an IT of 150 then SV it for 24 hours at 155. I have been very successful doing this with pastrami made from a flat.
Al