It just won't get done!!!

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Dakaty

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I put my 5.5 pound brisket on at 10:00 this morning and here it is 6:30 PM and the internal temperature is only 163 degrees. (8.5 hours!!) It was "hung up" at 150 for over an hour. Will it ever get done
? I've been running my pit at 225 - 235 degrees all day. I am using a Maverick ET 73 for temperature monitoring.

What is the problem? :frown:
 
It's just stuck, or at least it was. They are all different. You just have to keep on keeping on. It sounds like it is moving now, and if so it will most likely move fast, as small as it is. What is your target temp?
 
Dakaty said:
I put my 5.5 pound brisket on at 10:00 this morning and here it is 6:30 PM and the internal temperature is only 163 degrees. (8.5 hours!!) It was "hung up" at 150 for over an hour. Will it ever get done
? I've been running my pit at 225 - 235 degrees all day. I am using a Maverick ET 73 for temperature monitoring.

What is the problem? :frown:
Click to expand...

Assuming your pit and meat temps are accurate and you want to "get it going":
Foil it or kick up the heat.
Brisket cooks just fine at a lot higher temp, if needed.

That has been a long time for such a small cut.

TIM
 
Well, fine.

8:00 and 170 degrees!!

10 hours on a 5.5 pounder.... so far.

And the worst part is - I'm runnin out of beer.

Looks like it will be around 10:00. At least we'll all be hungry!!
 
Nope - haven't wrapped it as it looks real good. Will wrapping it significantly speed up the process? I have read that foiling is sometimes referred to as the "Texas Crutch". What's with that??

I had to cut a piece of it off to feed kids and some "drop in" relatives (they always seem to be in the neighborhood when I'm smoking). The brisket tastes really good, but is tough.
icon9.gif


Looks like a late nighter on a Sunday....
 
Use the Tx crutch. Works well for me. I think you could call it the (insert your state name here) crutch.

BTW, have you checked your thermometer in boiling water? Also, where is the thermometer in relation to the meat? In my bandera, the temp from the bottom to the top can very by 20 degrees or more(depending on meat load).

How often are you opening the pit? From what i have read, each time you open the door, you add 10 to 15 minutes to your cook time.
 
I've found that smaller cuts weem to take disproportionately longer per pound than larger cuts. Foiling it as Bill (or should we call you Milton :-D ) suggested will speed things up. Its already past the point where it will take on any more smoke flavor, and your bark shouldn't suffer much from foiling.
 
There are two reasons to use the crutch. Firstly it does speed up the cooking process and second it keeps the brisket from drying out. I have been known to let my brisket rest 5 hours in a cooler and it comes out as juicy as you can imagine. Go to the top of the Q-Talk forum and open the first thread (the roadmap thread) and look for Dr. BBQ's method for doing brisket. You will be glad you did. Ignore those so many hours per pound gestimates. The brisket is ready when it is ready but ya gotta make sure you more more beer onhand next time. Never know when a brother may stop by to give you a hand.
 
The Brisket I cooked at the weekend stuck at 160 for hours, I didn't foil, I never use the stuff (I might experiment with the next one), If I'm feeling impatient I just crank the heat up to 275 and hold it there for about a hour to an hour and a half and it will raise the internal temp. (I cook at 235-255)

You've got to be careful and spray if you doing this (if you dont foil) as the Bark can get crispy! But I like it like that as there is hardly any sugay in my rub so it doesnt get bitter.
 
Your food stalling at a certain temperature (usually in the 150 - 160*f range) is acutely a good thing. That's the temperature range where the connective tissue is breaking-down. You are putting additional energy in, but instead of the temperature going up, the energy is being used for collagen break-down. I do not foil during cooking. I will wrap in heavy duty plastic wrap for cooler time.
 
Different animals, different cooks. I did some short ribs this weekend that took longer than the briskets and everything else I cooked. The meat was tender and all, but not all the connective tissue broke down close to the bones-- after many, many hours. Last ones I did were done in about 5 and were falling apart. Go figure.......
 
That's why BBQ is art and not a science. If it was a science, say chemistry, everyone could do it well by following the directions. As an art, even with the directions, you need practice and skill.
 
I finally gave up at 1:00 AM with the internal temp at 183.

Of course, no one was awake to enjoy it. (Thank god I was not cooking for a dinner party as the meat was only about 7 hours later than I had planned!! :eek: ) I was so tired I just cut of a few slices to taste, then wrapped it in foil and put it in the fridge!!

As best I can recall, it was pretty dang good (I had to switch to scotch about 8:00 because of the beer depletion:icon_smil). It was actually tender, juicy and had a hell of a smoke ring. Surprising, after 13 freekin hours of smoking, unfoiled, it had a nice bark, not too smokey or tough. I did spray occaisionally with apple juice the last 5 hours.

When I took it off the pit, I at first thought someone had stolen 1/2 of it. That 5.5 pounder shrunk up and looked like a rib eye steak instead of a brisket. Heck, I ain't cookin no more small briskets.

I will check out the accuracy of the pit probe on the ET 73 by testing in boiling water. The food probe is right on as verified by my Taylor instant read thermo.

Next time I am going to cook at a higher temp (close to 245) and I will foil when the bark looks good or at around an internal temp of 160.
 
To get a range on your thermo stick in a glass fillled with crushed ice and water. Should read 32*
 
It sounds like you had good results, but that it took longer than you anticipated. With large cuts of meat that require long cook-times I always start the night before I'm planning on serving. I can always hold my meat (no comments from the peanut gallery) much easier than I can speed-up cooking time.

In regards to when your brisket is done, internal temp is a good guideline, but the fork/probe test is probably better. A brisket is done when a fork/probe slides in and out against the grain of the meat with very little resistance. You will also notice on a fully cooked brisket that it is floppy, where an undercooked brisket is stiff.

If you are going to foil any meat while cooking, why not move it to an oven where you can better control the temperature (that's what I do when I've completely blown the cooking time and need to speed things up). Sounds like you had good results unfoiled and using an apple juice spray. If it's for time reasons, just give yourself more time.

Loosing half a brisket's weight as a result of trimming and cooking is not unusual.
 
Briskets and pork butts are 2 things I make sure there is plenty of time available for. Either start them overnight or be prepared to stay up late. Or throw it in the oven at 200* and let it finish itself while you sleep.
 
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