Looking for advice after my first brisket attempt

[cduff]

Hello all! I am a BBQ newbie and I just tried my first brisket over the weekend. The point turned out very well, but the flat was much tougher and dry. What I don't know is if it was overcooked or undercooked? Any thoughts based on the following data?

- Brisket was 10.8 pounds. Trimmed it at 10:30 pm and added Salt & Pepper rub

- Returned to fridge for 5 hours

- Removed from fridge at 3:30am. Let sit at room temperature for 1hr, then injected with beef broth. (Since it was my first attempt, I wanted to make every attempt to make sure it did not dry out)

- Placed on cooker at 4:45 am, WSM, bottom rack, fat side down, water in the pan. It was a really cold morning (28°), so for the first stretch I had a hard time getting the WSM temp up even though the vents were wide open (230°-240° - My plan had been 250°)

- Let cook undisturbed for 4 hours.

- Opened lid and checked at 8:45am. From everything I read, it looked ready to wrap (I used butcher paper). Fat was rendering, crust was formed, brisket was brown. Temp of flat was 170, point was 157. It looked very moist… I have seen a lot of videos where people spray because it looks really dried out. Mine did not look like that at all.

- Wrapped, returned to WSM. As the morning warmed up I was able to get the WSM temp warmer… The remainder of the cook was consistently between 240° – 260°.

- Everything went as expected for a while. The stall hit shortly after I wrapped it. I did not take the cover off for 5 more hours until I refilled the water pan at about 1:00 pm. Then at about 2:00 I added more coals through the side door.

- Here were my temperature readings starting with when I wrapped it (Point / Flat):

4 hrs: 157 / 170
5 hrs: 162 / 180
6 hrs: 167 / 176
7 hrs: 168 / 168
8 hrs: 168 / 164
9 hrs: 174 / 170
10 hrs: 181 / 185
11 hrs: 183 / 192
12 hrs: 185 / 202

Finally after 12.5 hours I needed to pull it because rain was coming and it was time to eat anyway, even though the flat felt firm yet.

SO in a nutshell, at 185 the point was very tender, and at 202 the flat was still hard and tough. Do you think it needed to be left on even longer? I didn't expect a smaller brisket like that to need to be on for 14+ hours, but maybe it did? Thanks for any suggestions!

 

[rm41400]

Yes. I would say it still needed a little longer. If your flat is still intact and separated from the point it should re-warm easily wrapped in the oven and should get nice and tender for you.

 

[unreal41683]

Brisket is a tough cook. It very much is a cook it until it's done meat.

The general rules are that if the brisket was dry and tough it's undercooked, and if it's dry and crumbly it's overcooked. The proper cooked amount is a small sweet spot between these two.

Good job on trying it out and best of luck on your next one.

 

[Conlan]

I would wait until you're well into the stall before you wrap. You also could separate the point from the flat before hand and cook them separately. Take notes and after a few cooks you'll know when to add each to the cooker so they'll finish at approximately the same time. And don't forget to rest the meat for at least an hour in a cambro or cooler before serving.

 

[Mikhail]

How did the flat cut? If the slices held together well I'd say it was undercooked. If it crumbled, overcooked.

Did you try probing for tenderness at the thickest part of the flat?

 

[El Ropo]

Always ignore the point, it will take care of its self. Don't worry about temp, check for probe tender in the thickest part of the flat. It sounds to me like your brisket needed another ~hour or so before it gave up the ghost. There is no magic internal temp number to tell when a large hunk of cow is going to be "done". It may be at 190F when cooking at a low temp, or it may be as high as ~215F when cooking at higher temps like 325F.

When monitoring temps in your cooker, you need to be checking at grate level. I have a 22.5" WSM, and the dome thermo is way off from actual readings on the top grate.

I am of the opinion that it's better to learn to cook the meat in a straight up simple fashion before getting fancy with injections and other methods. I've cooked dozens of briskets over the years, and haven't injected one yet. Keep it simple till you can nail the actual cooking process is my motto. The only thing I do for brisket is wet age it in the fridge for 6 weeks or so before cooking. Got a 15lb'er in the back of the fridge ATM, it's 2 weeks into the process.

 

[darita]

Yes...what all others are saying...it was likely undercooked. I let 200 be my guide as to when to start probing, that way I won't overcook it. Once the thickest part of the flat probes like you stuck it into Jello, then it's done.
My tendency and mistake was to try to time out brisket cooks so we could eat at a certain time. That never worked for me. Now I cook overnight so that I've got all morning and afternoon if needed, to get to the Jello stage. I've rested for 6 hours as well. I've had them go up to 215*, so temp cannot be a guide for doneness. I think brisket is a tough cook cuz we're all so impatient. Other than that, it's a simple cook, kinda like pork butt is.
I"m just a backyard cook, but experts here will tell you how it done.

 

[JS-TX]

On one hand 12 hours sounds like a long time as I've never had one take that long before.. and I've cooked several similar to your method (butcher paper) but on the other hand IT temp wise, it sounds like it may have needed more time. Honestly I never use a meat probe in my brisket.. go by look and feel and temp of my cooker to figure out when it's ready etc.. It's possible you were cooking lower than you think were. I don't trust most stock thermometers, for whatever reason my stock thermometer is very inaccurate the first few hours of the cook.. later on it matches the thermometer I drilled in a little above grate level. So I basically never pay attention to the stock therm.

 

[SmittyJonz]

I’d get a New pit thermometer........... only 230-240* - What charcoal did you run.? And if Not getting to temp - leave life for a few minutes.

 

[mbt]

do you have some pics?

 

[BGEChicago]

Always ignore the point, it will take care of its self. Don't worry about temp, check for probe tender in the thickest part of the flat. It sounds to me like your brisket needed another ~hour or so before it gave up the ghost. There is no magic internal temp number to tell when a large hunk of cow is going to be "done". It may be at 190F when cooking at a low temp, or it may be as high as ~215F when cooking at higher temps like 325F.

When monitoring temps in your cooker, you need to be checking at grate level. I have a 22.5" WSM, and the dome thermo is way off from actual readings on the top grate.

I am of the opinion that it's better to learn to cook the meat in a straight up simple fashion before getting fancy with injections and other methods. I've cooked dozens of briskets over the years, and haven't injected one yet. Keep it simple till you can nail the actual cooking process is my motto. The only thing I do for brisket is wet age it in the fridge for 6 weeks or so before cooking. Got a 15lb'er in the back of the fridge ATM, it's 2 weeks into the process.

This guy speaks the truth...... Don't worry or overthink it, I can tell you I was like you starting out.. IMHO brisket is one of the most forgiving cooks out there. It is so fatty that your really have to intentionally work really hard to dry it out.. Now I don't know what your cooking it on, but I cook on a BGE, I put a 22 Lbs brisket on at 9:00 P.M. and don't even bother looking at it until 11:00 A.M. the next day. kudos to you for just S + P for seasoning, that's all I have ever used.... Ignore the temperature, or at the very least use it for an indicator.... when my brisket hits 200 + I start probing.... if it doesn't probe like butter, it doesn't come off.... Remember, even the mistakes taste good

Thanks,
Greg

 

[Happy Hapgood]

Rule #1 in BBQ: It's done when it's done.
Rule #2 in BBQ: It's done when it's done.

 

[cduff]

Thanks for the great advice everyone! To answer some questions...

- I was going by the grate level temp (or very close). I have a WSM and I was using the built in opening on the side, and had the brisket on the lower rack.

- I did think I was giving myself plenty of extra time... It was 10.8 pounds, I put it on 14 hours before we planned to eat. Since it was my first attempt all I could do is guess... so my guess was that it would take 11-12 hours which would leave 2-3 hours to let it sit.

I was prepared to wait it out for a little longer, but more rain came than I'd expected so just decided to pull it. As it was, I took it off after about 12.5 hours and let it sit for 1.25 hrs in a cooler before slicing.

- Somewhere I read to start probing once the temp reaches 195, so that is what I did. The flat was tough every time I tried. It was the very end of the flat (away from the point) that was toughest. As I got closer to the point it did get better, but even the juiciest part of the flat (closest to the point) was still significantly drier than the point.

- I would say it was more tough than crumbly, so I'll assume it was under cooked.

The picture is of the first few slices (toughest part) of the flat.

 

[West River BBQ]

Ignoring the point, most briskets are nearly the same thickness despite their weight. The difference of 1/4 inch or so is negligible. Hence, the cooking times won't vary much. The goal is to break down the collagen, which takes time. Sounds like you're on the right track. Keep trying and you'll hit that OMG! flavor pretty soon.

 

[JS-TX]

You may have been very close in your timing.. not all briskets are created equal, every now and then it comes out to be a dry piece of meat that takes forever to render to something decent.. not good but just ok. Quality and marbling plays a big role too. Don't give up!