Second attempt.
Pre-trim: 18.8lb prime from Costco.
Post: 15.3lb.
Smoker: MBE 40”
Seasoning: mustard binder, hard 8 bbq (outta Dallas). Basically salt, pepper, garlic.
Wood: Post oak
Went into smoker at 6pm at 225. Taking recommendations from the posts I’ve read , I’ll let it go until 165 AND the bark is set. Then wrap in butcher paper and back in until probe tender. Open the paper for like 20 min, and then rewrap and place in cooler for 5 hour rest.
Hi there and welcome!
Good plan . Also your temp is good . If you need to bump it do 250 tops . I’m saying 250 without knowing if yours run hot or cold . I advise not to set it to 275 because you might run the risk of tripping the high limit switch . One reason I wanted to know what smoker you were using . That makes a difference in temps and other things .
I got to lay down for a couple hours and my husband came and told me that it was at 171 and then all of a sudden it dropped back down to 170. I assume it hit the stall. At this point I went down to just pull it out and the bark is set pretty nicely except for some liquid in certain parts and I wrapped it and it’s in the oven
Possible issue? It looks like I had set the smoker timer for like 18 hours thinking it would be done before that. The brisket was prob on the grill with the heat turned off for 30-60 min. It was 160 when we removed it from the smoker and wrapped it. Temp is going back up now on the oven. Is this going to cause me issues?
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Hi there and welcome!
Good catch on the MES turning off after 18 hours.
The brisket Internal Temp (IT) going from 171F down to 160F while you were transferring should not be an issue.
You set your oven to the right cooking temp and let it go until the brisket probes tender all over.
I think it was briefly mentioned but deserves to be mentioned again. The temp probe that goes into the brisket should go into the thickest and centermost part of the FLAT muscle. Never the Point muscle.
The Flat is what takes the longest to get tender, the point will get tender way before and will be fine as it waits for the Flat to come up to temp.
The brisket is done when it is tender all over and the temp probe will tell you when to check for tenderness. I don't bother checking until about 200F IT of the flat. A prime grade brisket will get tender before choice and select grades. That has been my personal experience with prime briskets.
Check for tenderness by stabbing all over (especially the center thickest part of the flat) with something like a wooden kabob skewer or even a thermometer temp probe. When it goes in with no resistance it is tender and therefore done.
Final, note. I also do the 275F smoker temp because the brisket doesn't care what temp you are smoking at as long as you aren't burning it. The MES thermometer is always wrong and majority of the time the smoker is lower than what the MES thermometer is lying to you about hahaha.
You seem to be doing pretty well. Keep it up! Enjoy your Hard Eight style brisket, I love that place :D