Brisket - OK, What went wrong?

[rebelleader]

The fat is my favorite part. Just trim it down to roughly 1/4 inch. Doesnt need to be perfect.

 

[smoke ninja]

it's easy to burn the edges but still under cook. on cookers that give me that problem I use a piece of aluminum as a heat shield.

getting the fat cap to your desired thickness is important. that's what lubricates the flat slices. its personal preference but you have to have some.

I find injecting can help improve the flat. I've tried several, kosmos makes a good brisket injection, I've just recently used simply marvelous genie's elixir and it did well. didn't seem to add flavor which I liked. the trick is to not over do it. I typically mix half strength or less and dont inject the full amount, it's just for some umph, I do not want to taste it

 

[Shadowdog500]

Next time give the point to the women and the flat to the guys.

The woman may be more picky and the point may have earned a 10 from them.
After a couple beers most guys would rate any part of the brisket a 10, even if you served them the burnt parts you threw out! :heh:

Just keep with it! Your brisket will get better!

I also agree that fat is flavor. I try to trim mine to 1/4”.

 

[Mikhail]

I used to be confused about "where" the temp reading should come from...

But, I've discovered through reading/studying/videos that the best place is the thickest part of the flat right under the flap of the point.

Having said that, I'm just using the temp to "get close" and trying to use the "feel" through the probe. Looking for butter. At all locations on the brisket.

That's why I put it on another 30 minutes - thought the flat was not as "buttery'' and had a little resistance.

I'm talking about probing how it feels, not for temperature. I don't pay much attention to what temperature the brisket is once I have decided to start probing for tender.

 

[pjtexas1]

Here's a few things I do that never get brought up much.

1. I use my therm to tear a small slit in the butcher paper then probe. A knife works better but I don't always have one at the cooker.

2. I set the bark a little harder and wrap in BP with the fat side up. That puts the flat side down and soaking in brisket juice.

3. If you consistently pull early (dry, tough) then maybe don't vent before resting/ holding. That will keep cooking a little longer and fix the issue of pulling early.

4. Holding... active hold helps the flat stay or get a little more juicy. I'm talking 4+ hours. 1-2 hours is resting. I always used my oven on lowest setting until Ninja turned me on to a Turkey roaster. That works just as good but doesn't heat up the whole house. Plus you probably already have one. If not, they are cheap.

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[luke duke]

Yesterday...



Family gave it a 9...



Women gave it an 8... said flavor was great, bark was great, tender, but a little dry. All the women got the 'lean' meat from the flat.



Men gave it a 10... same, except all got their meat from the point. (It was awesome)





So, here's the deal...



Spent about 10 minutes unwrapping the brisket to check if probe ready with hand-held temp probe.



Point and center flat was butter... probe ready.



Temps ranged from 200 to 208, in some spots. But, to be frank, wasn't really all that interested in the temperature. It was close enough.



Rest of flat was a little tight. Probe wasn't as "buttery".



At this point, I thought the brisket was off the heat a little too long with an open wrap. But, decided to wrap it back up and put it on the fire another 30 minutes.



After 30 minutes, at 275 degrees, I just pulled it. Didn't even open it or look at it. Didn't probe it. Just picking it up in the wrap "felt" limp, loose and ready.



Like I said, the point was perfect. The flat was a little dry. Also, some of the edges of the point were actually burnt looking and needed to be trimmed away.



Question?



Undercooked? Then, explain the burnt edges...



30 more minutes?



One other thing... after watching a YouTube video of some dude that says we should cut "all" the fat off, I did. But, he injects. I didn't.



Could that have caused a "dry problem"? Normally, I keep the 1/4" of fat on the fat side.





Just seeking a 10, here. 9 ain't bad. But, more work to be done!



Thoughts?

My diagnosis based on your post is that you’re overthinking things.

 

[Burnt at Both Endz]

Here's a few things I do that never get brought up much.

1. I use my therm to tear a small slit in the butcher paper then probe. A knife works better but I don't always have one at the cooker.

2. I set the bark a little harder and wrap in BP with the fat side up. That puts the flat side down and soaking in brisket juice.

3. If you consistently pull early (dry, tough) then maybe don't vent before resting/ holding. That will keep cooking a little longer and fix the issue of pulling early.

4. Holding... active hold helps the flat stay or get a little more juicy. I'm talking 4+ hours. 1-2 hours is resting. I always used my oven on lowest setting until Ninja turned me on to a Turkey roaster. That works just as good but doesn't heat up the whole house. Plus you probably already have one. If not, they are cheap.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

1. I poke straight through the foil for my probe feeling.

2. I too like to set the bark a little longer, but I do put the fat down...I don't want to loose the flavor of my peppery bark by drenching it in the juices.

3. Cook at higher temps, you get better carry over temp, most think higher temp equals juicer brisket, but they just get more cooking by doing it that way.

4. Amen on the hold


Now what has most experienced brisket cooks say, more than a recipe to cooking brisket. Experience is hard to come by, if you just want to read about it.:shocked:

 

[smoke ninja]

Here's a few things I do that never get brought up much.

1. I use my therm to tear a small slit in the butcher paper then probe. A knife works better but I don't always have one at the cooker.

2. I set the bark a little harder and wrap in BP with the fat side up. That puts the flat side down and soaking in brisket juice.

3. If you consistently pull early (dry, tough) then maybe don't vent before resting/ holding. That will keep cooking a little longer and fix the issue of pulling early.

4. Holding... active hold helps the flat stay or get a little more juicy. I'm talking 4+ hours. 1-2 hours is resting. I always used my oven on lowest setting until Ninja turned me on to a Turkey roaster. That works just as good but doesn't heat up the whole house. Plus you probably already have one. If not, they are cheap.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

I also set my bark hard and wrap flat up. To me the fat side is the money side. If you trim the cap right it becomes the perfect mix of fat and spice. I also dont vent because the temp of the roaster is so low, when I think it's good I just drop the temp. My goal is to catch it before its completely tender and hold to finish.

 

[Happy Hapgood]

Great info here. What changed for me and took brisket to a higher level was when I stopped using Select grade brisket. Only Choice or better to rave reviews on my WSM. Some of the pitmasters here could take the leather off a boot and make it tender. I'm a backyard guy. It really helps.