Small Briskret Is On - Q View

[illini40]

Good morning!

I'm doing a smaller brisket today - wish me luck. I wanted to try my hand at brisket, so we'll see how it turns out.

I have a 4.5lb brisket. Seems to be on the thicker side of things for a small cut. Unfortunately, the fat cap is not fully intact - had a couple of sections shaved off.

I went with a light base layer of Killer Hogs the BBQ Rub, and then a top layer of Killer Hogs AP rub. I do not have any specific beef or brisket rubs, so we'll see how this turns out. No injection.

Brisket went on the Traeger about an hour ago - a little before 8:00 AM.

I'm running at 225* and burning cherry Traeger pellets.

I've been reading a lot of the recent posts around these smaller briskets. My plan is to wrap in foil, with some beef broth, fairly early - maybe before an IT of 160*. Hope is that we have a decent bark at that point.

I'll keep you posted.

 

[BigBill115]

How do you like the killer hogs rub ? I watch a lot of his videos. I love the color his rub has to it, but was wondering if the taste was worth the $$. The brisket looks great thanks for the pictures!

 

[illini40]

How do you like the killer hogs rub ? I watch a lot of his videos. I love the color his rub has to it, but was wondering if the taste was worth the $$. The brisket looks great thanks for the pictures!

Thanks! I like the Killer Hogs stuff - especially the AP Rub. I feel like it is great for beef.

I, too, really enjoy his YouTube videos. That's why I first tried them. I don't have a lot of experience to compare Killer Hogs to other retail rubs. So it is tough for me to compare. I will pay for convience, so it works for me.

 

[illini40]

2 hours in:

Any suggestions or comments as this progresses would be great! Let me know if it looks like I'm missing the boat on something.

 

[chilerelleno]

I'm in, looking good so far.

 

[SmokinAl]

Looks good so far!
Al

 

[illini40]

IT of around 130*, with the ThermaPop, after a little over 3 hours on the smoker. I have the iGrill2 now hooked up. it is showing 135*.

 

[dcecil]

Lookin good so far ,

 

[illini40]

A little over four hours in. I did crank the Traeger up to 250*. I noticed that the temp at the grate by the brisket was about 15-20* cooler than the temp on the Traeger.

IT of 148*.

 

[dcecil]

Cruzin right through,

 

[illini40]

After about 5 hours and 45 minutes, the IT hit 160*. I've got it in a foil pan and covered. I added about one cup of low sodium beef broth.

I've realized it is not going to get the deep dark bark, but I want to get it foiled with some moisture now.

 

[illini40]

After right at about 8 hours, the brisket is off the Traeger and just went into a cooler to rest for about an hour.

IT ended at 206*. It felt tender done at this point.

I did get a little ansty towards the end and cranked up the heat to run around 260-270* on the grate to speed things up. It did stall some around the 160* IT point.

Fingers crossed. It has surprisingly gone as expected.

 

[dcecil]

That’s going to be delicious, can’t wait to see that thing sliced up

 

[illini40]

It turned out pretty darn good! I was pleased for my first real brisket attempt, and a smaller trimmed one at that.

It was tender and juicy. Good smoke ring, and good flavor. Towards the middle thicker parts, I do think it was a little drier. Any thoughts? Did I need to go longer?

Please let me know any suggestions or corrections that you see with the cook. I'm wanting to learn.

Recap:
- 4.5lb trimmed brisket
- Killer Hogs BBQ Rub + Killer Hogs AP Rub
- No injection
- A little more than 8 hours on the Traeger
- Rested in a cooler for a little over an hour
- Put in foil pan with about one cup beef broth and covered at IT of 160*
- Pulled off at IT of 206*

 

[dcecil]

Great job, that turned out awesome. How long did you let it rest for

 

[illini40]

Great job, that turned out awesome. How long did you let it rest for

Thanks. It rested in the cooler for about an hour and fifteen minutes. Too long? Not long enough?

Before going in the cooler, I did open the foil and let some heat out. Maybe 5 minutes or so.

 

[mike5051]

Were the slices pull apart tender? If not, it needed a little longer cook, but then you risk over cooking the thinner part of the flat. I think you did great!

Mike

 

[illini40]

Were the slices pull apart tender? If not, it needed a little longer cook, but then you risk over cooking the thinner part of the flat. I think you did great!

Mike

Honestly, I don't really remember. I know they had a little resistance but did seem to pull apart rather easily.

 

[oldsmokerdude]

That looks amazing. I say you did pretty darn good. I've cooked a couple briskets now in my pellet pooper and while they've been okay, maybe even good, still not quite what I'm looking for. I've been using Pit Boss pellets and am thinking they just don't give enough smoke flavor for me so am switching to Lumber Jack pellets.

How do you like the Traeger pellets? I've seen mixed reviews on them.

 

[tallbm]

It turned out pretty darn good! I was pleased for my first real brisket attempt, and a smaller trimmed one at that.

It was tender and juicy. Good smoke ring, and good flavor. Towards the middle thicker parts, I do think it was a little drier. Any thoughts? Did I need to go longer?

Please let me know any suggestions or corrections that you see with the cook. I'm wanting to learn.

Recap:
- 4.5lb trimmed brisket
- Killer Hogs BBQ Rub + Killer Hogs AP Rub
- No injection
- A little more than 8 hours on the Traeger
- Rested in a cooler for a little over an hour
- Put in foil pan with about one cup beef broth and covered at IT of 160*
- Pulled off at IT of 206*

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That is a very nice job on your first brisket flat!

If the thicker parts were dry and a little more dense/tough it just needed to go longer.

What you will learn with a brisket is that probing one is not as simple or forgiving as other cuts of meat.
The key is to probe the thickest part of the flat towards the center most part of the flat. Yes that is a somewhat odd description but you can't go to far to one side or to far away from the center of the flat so take the best of both worlds.

I personally run 3 probes in the flat of the brisket and they do CRAZY things during the cook but settle down towards the end. Of the 3 probes I run I usually get 1 placed correctly. I've had one read 212F, the other read 208F, and the final one read 203F when the entire thing finally probed tender and was ready to pull.
Had I used only 1 probe I may have had an inaccurate reading due to placement. I think this is one of the reasons why people have briskets that are tender at different temps... the probe placement is not forgiving!

I believe that wrapping the flat was a great call and it is what I would do with a brisket flat since it is the problem child of the brisket cut lol. Just keep at it and you will get it down in a couple more smokes. Best of luck!