First brisket done and dry

[cmwr]

The more I look at the pic, the more it looks like you just got hold of a really lousy brisket.

Yea the more I learn about brisket and the more I think about it, there was zero marbling in this brisket. Probably because it was all cut out. Now that I know the marbling affects the juiciness I would say that A lousy chunk of meat was the biggest problem. Might as well smoked a breakfast steak.

 

[Red Valley BBQ]

I wrap my briskets in foil at 155* and add about a cup of some sort of moisture. Usually Stubb's Beef Marinade or Jack Daniels Steakhouse Marinade (thinned with a little water).

Have you ever though about injecting your brisket? I know there are some that think injecting a piece of meat is the work of the devil, but if you get a chunk of meat with very little marbling, injecting with a liquid containing phosphates will help retain moisture.

 

[cmwr]

I wrap my briskets in foil at 155* and add about a cup of some sort of moisture. Usually Stubb's Beef Marinade or Jack Daniels Steakhouse Marinade (thinned with a little water).

Have you ever though about injecting your brisket? I know there are some that think injecting a piece of meat is the work of the devil, but if you get a chunk of meat with very little marbling, injecting with a liquid containing phosphates will help retain moisture.

Yea I have read about that. I inject my birds but wasn't sure if I should do a brisket. Do you inject every brisket you do or just ones with poor marbling? You would have to read my original post that i linked to in my opening post to understand what I was smoking. It was a chunk of a brisket that some butcher massacred and wrapped and called a brisket. It was a practice run for a full size choice packer I am doing next weekend. I really think most my troubles were that the chunk of brisket was a very bad cut.

 

[Red Valley BBQ]

Because I do competitions, I inject nearly every brisket...unless I am cooking one for chili or burritos, etc.

I did see your original post. How long was it in your freezer? It looks as though it wasn't wrapped real well. If it was in your freezer for a prolonged period of time with out being properly wrapped it may have become essentially freeze-dried and that would have affected your moisture level as well. As a rule, I only buy briskets in cryo-vac. I also let them age in the cryo-vac for 42-45 days from the kill date, it helps with flavor and tenderness.

 

[cmwr]

Because I do competitions, I inject nearly every brisket...unless I am cooking one for chili or burritos, etc.

I did see your original post. How long was it in your freezer? It looks as though it wasn't wrapped real well. If it was in your freezer for a prolonged period of time with out being properly wrapped it may have become essentially freeze-dried and that would have affected your moisture level as well. As a rule, I only buy briskets in cryo-vac. I also let them age in the cryo-vac for 42-45 days from the kill date, it helps with flavor and tenderness.

LOL well we are not sure if this is from 2012 or 2013.

 

[K80Shooter]

Wrapped to soon & didn't cook it long enough

This

 

[Red Valley BBQ]

LOL well we are not sure if this is from 2012 or 2013.

Well there you go. So I'm guessing it really wasn't anything that you did wrong...it was because of a freeze-dried piece of meat.