Traeger Pellet Grill (Smoking a Brisket)

[TRUchef]

Hello All,

I recently purchased a Traeger Pellet Grill and smoked two Briskets (10 and 10.5#). The bark came out nice and I passed the pull or pull apart test however I felt I ran into some issues that I needed help with.

1. Though on the flat it passed the test, I thought it could have been more moist/juicy.

2. Though the Brisket was good it didn't have much of a smokey flavor, how do I fix this? I had the brisket on 225 for 13-14 hours, mesquite wood.....it was a 10.5# brisket FYI I pulled it with an IT of 199 or 200.

3. Also for pellet grills, should I do fat cap up or down. In my previous MES, I did fat cap up(following Aaron Franklin's Logic) but an issue I run into with fat cap up is the meat is sitting on the grate for that length of time, tends to be tough and/or roast beef like: meaning long strand of meat(i usually cut it off but would like to find a better way).

I did recently see on a video that Aaron Franklin with fat cap up, put a piece of aluminum foil up under the flat, has anyone tried this, wonder what the exact logic was behind that.

But any help/advice/suggestions are appreciated.

Thanks in Advance

 

[gmc2003]

Hello All,

I recently purchased a Traeger Pellet Grill and smoked two Briskets (10 and 10.5#). The bark came out nice and I passed the pull or pull apart test however I felt I ran into some issues that I needed help with.

1. Though on the flat it passed the test, I thought it could have been more moist/juicy.

2. Though the Brisket was good it didn't have much of a smokey flavor, how do I fix this? I had the brisket on 225 for 13-14 hours, mesquite wood.....it was a 10.5# brisket FYI I pulled it with an IT of 199 or 200.

3. Also for pellet grills, should I do fat cap up or down. In my previous MES, I did fat cap up(following Aaron Franklin's Logic) but an issue I run into with fat cap up is the meat is sitting on the grate for that length of time, tends to be tough and/or roast beef like: meaning long strand of meat(i usually cut it off but would like to find a better way).

I did recently see on a video that Aaron Franklin with fat cap up, put a piece of aluminum foil up under the flat, has anyone tried this, wonder what the exact logic was behind that.

But any help/advice/suggestions are appreciated.

Thanks in Advance

I'm not a pellet pooper, but I'll give it a go.

1. When you say tough was it crumbly or chewy? Crumbly is a sign of overcooking and chewy is undercooked.

2. Smokey flavor is subject to someones personal taste. If your finding that your not getting the desired smokiness in your brisket then you may want to supplement the smoke with an AMNPS or AMNPTs. Pellet smokers rely on the pellets for heat as well as smokey flavor, and sometimes the flavor suffers.

3. I would do fat cap down since your heat source is on the bottom. It will protect the meat from the heat.

4. I'm not sure which Franklin video your talking about, but I believe he uses a stick burner. So he would have the fat cap up to help self baste the brisket. the foil is probably there to help keep the juice in contact with the meat as well as shield it from the heat.

Someone who uses a pellet pooper will chime in soon. As there are quite a few on site, with a ton of experience. Also search out BDSkelly he has a pellet smoker who is well known for smoking briskets.

Chris

 

[bregent]

I prefer fat up on my pellet grill which has pretty even heat distribution top and bottom. Some pellet grills have lots of radiant heat on the bottom so I might go fat down on those. With fat up, the melting fat does drip down the sides and across the bottom, keeping the surface from drying out too much. The high airflow in pellet grills can tend to dry out the surface of the meat.

What brand of pellets did you use? I'd stay away from Traeger as they don't produce much smoke flavor. Go with a 100% flavorwood pellet like Lumberjack or Cookin Pellet hickory. If you like mesquite, LumberJack does make a 100% mesquite pellet.

 

[Geebs]

I do fat cap up to let the drippings fall down the meat.

One thing I started doing was injecting a bit of beef broth and it comes out nice and juicy/moist.

I would order the AMNTS, I have the 12-18in oval tube that you can expand to allow more time for smoking. I think it adds more flavor.

As stated above, if you are using treager pellets you may want to try something different, they dont have the best reviews.