Smoking a brisket flat at high heat

[tallbm]

Briskets can be difficult at times :)

I'm betting your flat could have gone to a higher temp until it became tender.

Just remember briskets are done when they are tender and they are tender when you can stab all over and it goes in like butter, especially in the flat which is the problem child of the 2 brisket muscles.

I bet if you throw in a crockpot or covered pan in the oven, add some BBQ sauce and simmer it then you will get all the tenderness and juiciness you can want and have amazing brisket! :)

 

[jeremymillrood]

Briskets can be difficult at times :)

I'm betting your flat could have gone to a higher temp until it became tender.

Just remember briskets are done when they are tender and they are tender when you can stab all over and it goes in like butter, especially in the flat which is the problem child of the 2 brisket muscles.

I bet if you throw in a crockpot or covered pan in the oven, add some BBQ sauce and simmer it then you will get all the tenderness and juiciness you can want and have amazing brisket! :)

You know, it's funny you mention it, but I was kind of thinking the same thing about bringing the flat up to a higher temp, but I was hesitant for fear of drying it out..

I could tell when I probed with the thermometer that there was still some resistance on the flat, the point it slid through just like butter..

 

[tallbm]

You know, it's funny you mention it, but I was kind of thinking the same thing about bringing the flat up to a higher temp, but I was hesitant for fear of drying it out..

I could tell when I probed with the thermometer that there was still some resistance on the flat, the point it slid through just like butter..

Yeah the POINT will rarely give you any problems. It's the FLAT that is the pain in the butt. Best place to temp probe is in the thickest yet center most part of the FLAT and just remember that temp tells you when to check for tenderness. Stab ALL OVER and when it goes in like butter all over then its tender and ready.
On Choice and under I don't even check until my lowest probe is 200F. With Prime briskets I check at 198F.

That will solve you dry and tough problems, I'm sure of it :)

 

[chilerelleno]

STOP!
Stop smoking to a specific temp, cook till it's probe tender.
Even cooking to temp, your 190° isn't cutting it, try more like 204° if you're going to cook to a temp.
And for Hot-n-Fast smoking, the bigger the brisket the better the results.
Your latest brisket at 16.5lbs was in the 15lb + range that I recommend for Hot-n-Fast.
And are you double wrapping? Multiple layers will help with moisture retention and braising during the latter portion of the cook.

 

[jeremymillrood]

STOP!
Stop smoking to a specific temp, cook till it's probe tender.
Even cooking to temp, your 190° isn't cutting it, try more like 204° if you're going to cook to a temp.
And for Hot-n-Fast smoking, the bigger the brisket the better the results.
Your latest brisket at 16.5lbs was in the 15lb + range that I recommend for Hot-n-Fast.
And are you double wrapping? Multiple layers will help with moisture retention and braising during the latter portion of the cook.

I'm sure you're right..going to give it another try..slightly smaller brisket this time and not pay so much attention to the temp as opposed to the feel.

 

[jeremymillrood]

What's up guys? Took the opportunity over the long holiday weekend to smoke another brisket. started with a smallish packer, this was a 8.27 lb choice that I trimmed down to about 7 lbs.. I was a little nervous thinking it might be too small for a high heat but that was not the case..

After trimming, I seasoned with a basic dalmatian rub and added lowery's seasoned salt for a a little extra flavor, wrapped and let it sit over night..

Plan was to have dinner at 5, so I got the smoker lit at 11:00 and the meat was on by 11:30..

Used kingsford competition charcoal, filled charcoal chamber, made a hole, added 5 chunks of apple/oak, then topped with a 3/4 chimney of lit coals.

Pan is foiled, to keep the drippings from burning and brisket is sitting on a couple chunks of wood to keep the liquid from pooling.

Throughout the cooking process I kept the temps consistent between 340 and 375, monitored with my inkbird and was looking for 170 degrees at the flat before wrapping..Also sprayed with water every 30 to 45 minutes and this made a huge difference in the quality of the bark. In addition, I rotated the grate 90 degrees every time I sprayed..

You can see in the pic above that the door is crack, I kept that way for the duration of the smoke and the lower vents were between halfway and quarter open..
Temps hit 170 at about 2:45 PM, so I was feeling good about my timing and the brisket was looking nice..

Wrapped in pink butcher paper and put in a foil pan for the remainder of the cook..This time I was taking it up to 200...It stalled out for about a 1/2 an hour before the temps started moving back up and by 4:22 she hit 200, using my probe I checked for the right feel at the flat and it was going in like butter..pulled it off and cut open the paper to let it rest..It sat like this for about 45 minutes..

Sorry, no pics of the meat, I will say this was probably my best yet. Really nice bark, and good smoke penetration, the flat was done perfectly and the point was almost gone before we sat down to eat..Feel like I'm finally getting the hang of it.

 

[tallbm]

What's up guys? Took the opportunity over the long holiday weekend to smoke another brisket. started with a smallish packer, this was a 8.27 lb choice that I trimmed down to about 7 lbs.. I was a little nervous thinking it might be too small for a high heat but that was not the case..
View attachment 643040

After trimming, I seasoned with a basic dalmatian rub and added lowery's seasoned salt for a a little extra flavor, wrapped and let it sit over night..

Plan was to have dinner at 5, so I got the smoker lit at 11:00 and the meat was on by 11:30..

Used kingsford competition charcoal, filled charcoal chamber, made a hole, added 5 chunks of apple/oak, then topped with a 3/4 chimney of lit coals.

View attachment 643041

Pan is foiled, to keep the drippings from burning and brisket is sitting on a couple chunks of wood to keep the liquid from pooling.
View attachment 643042
Throughout the cooking process I kept the temps consistent between 340 and 375, monitored with my inkbird and was looking for 170 degrees at the flat before wrapping..Also sprayed with water every 30 to 45 minutes and this made a huge difference in the quality of the bark. In addition, I rotated the grate 90 degrees every time I sprayed..

You can see in the pic above that the door is crack, I kept that way for the duration of the smoke and the lower vents were between halfway and quarter open..
Temps hit 170 at about 2:45 PM, so I was feeling good about my timing and the brisket was looking nice..

View attachment 643044

Wrapped in pink butcher paper and put in a foil pan for the remainder of the cook..This time I was taking it up to 200...It stalled out for about a 1/2 an hour before the temps started moving back up and by 4:22 she hit 200, using my probe I checked for the right feel at the flat and it was going in like butter..pulled it off and cut open the paper to let it rest..It sat like this for about 45 minutes..

View attachment 643045

Sorry, no pics of the meat, I will say this was probably my best yet. Really nice bark, and good smoke penetration, the flat was done perfectly and the point was almost gone before we sat down to eat..Feel like I'm finally getting the hang of it.

Great work! Yeah sounds like you are getting the hang of it. Just keep at it with those fundamentals and you will nail it 99% of the time (1% dissatisfaction we can blame on lesser cows hahaha ).

 

[kelbro]

Looks great!

$8.99/lb for a Choice brisket flat... where do you live? That's crazy since we are paying that for Prime right now.

 

[jeremymillrood]

Looks great!

$8.99/lb for a Choice brisket flat... where do you live? That's crazy since we are paying that for Prime right now.

Thanks. I'm in north Florida. Where are you getting prime for that price??

 

[kelbro]

Thanks. I'm in north Florida. Where are you getting prime for that price??

Sam's Club. Just paid $3.34/lb for a Choice packer at WalMart last Saturday. I think my sister said $1.99/lb for Choice in Texas. These prices are all over the place.

 

[kelbro]

Just checked. Even better priced this week! Winston-Salem, NC

But they are charging even more per pound for a flat???

 

[jeremymillrood]

That's a huge price difference. This was more of an impulse buy, maybe it was more expensive because it was a "competition" brisket, whatever the heck that means, but still, double the price??.went back to see what I paid for the last one I made it was also a choice from BJ's, $4.49. guess I'll be going back there..

 

[chilerelleno]

I'm happy to hear you nailed that Packer.

 

[jeremymillrood]

Ok guys, bought a 16lber for this weekend. Went all over town before finding a butcher shop that had some in stock..Planning a high heat smoke this weekend. Stay tuned!!

 

[912smoker]

Ok guys, bought a 16lber for this weekend. Went all over town before finding a butcher shop that had some in stock..Planning a high heat smoke this weekend. Stay tuned!!

In for the show !

Keith

 

[chilerelleno]

Ok guys, bought a 16lber for this weekend. Went all over town before finding a butcher shop that had some in stock..Planning a high heat smoke this weekend. Stay tuned!!

Link us here when it happens.

 

[tbern]

Will be watching too!

 

[jeremymillrood]

Feels like a lot of pressure with everyone watching...hah..

Been reading around where some folks are bringing the finishing temp up to 210 on their briskets. Now the ones I've seen doing this are the traditional low and slow..Not sure whether that would be too high for a high heat cook, but I'm willing to give it a shot..The theory is that is causes more of the collagen (or something like that) in the meat to melt down and should make it even more moist..

Thoughts?

 

[tallbm]

Feels like a lot of pressure with everyone watching...hah..

Been reading around where some folks are bringing the finishing temp up to 210 on their briskets. Now the ones I've seen doing this are the traditional low and slow..Not sure whether that would be too high for a high heat cook, but I'm willing to give it a shot..The theory is that is causes more of the collagen (or something like that) in the meat to melt down and should make it even more moist..

Thoughts?

The real indicator of being done is tenderness/feel.
The Internal Temp (IT) is just a guide.

I don't think those people are lying when they see a reading of 210F, but I also know it is a bajillion times harder to get proper temp probe placement into a brisket to show the truest most accurate reading.

I personally feel these 210F+ "doneness" readings are a product of not nailing probe placement. I know this because I use 3 temp probes aiming for the best spot on the brisket flat and I can usually get 1 of the 3 placed well. I did a whole write up on this and here is an image of it to show you a ton of probes aiming for a good spot in a brisket showing DRASTICALLY different temp readings and only 1 getting it correct.

Here's the post: https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t...u-properly-placed-your-brisket-probes.294810/

So after all that rambling, check for tenderness when the temp probe is around 200F.
You do so by stabbing all over with something like a kabob skewer or a temp probe and it should go in with no resistance ALL OVER.
If it doesn't let the temp raise another couple degrees and try again. Pull when it is tender.

Go by tenderness and you can't go wrong. The IT of the meat can and often does trick you :) I hope this info helps :)

 

[jeremymillrood]

The real indicator of being done is tenderness/feel.
The Internal Temp (IT) is just a guide.

I don't think those people are lying when they see a reading of 210F, but I also know it is a bajillion times harder to get proper temp probe placement into a brisket to show the truest most accurate reading.

I personally feel these 210F+ "doneness" readings are a product of not nailing probe placement. I know this because I use 3 temp probes aiming for the best spot on the brisket flat and I can usually get 1 of the 3 placed well. I did a whole write up on this and here is an image of it to show you a ton of probes aiming for a good spot in a brisket showing DRASTICALLY different temp readings and only 1 getting it correct.
View attachment 644381
Here's the post: https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t...u-properly-placed-your-brisket-probes.294810/

So after all that rambling, check for tenderness when the temp probe is around 200F.
You do so by stabbing all over with something like a kabob skewer or a temp probe and it should go in with no resistance ALL OVER.
If it doesn't let the temp raise another couple degrees and try again. Pull when it is tender.

Go by tenderness and you can't go wrong. The IT of the meat can and often does trick you :) I hope this info helps :)

Thanks tallbm , that is absolutely helpful..I used the pervious 200 degree temp to start probing the meat for tenderness, but the tip about using multiple probes isn't one I had considered..my inkbird has 4 probes, so I'll do 3 in various parts of the flat..I know the feel I'm looking for based on probing that last brisket, but I'm sure I can make it better..