First brisket on my Brazos offset was not a success.

[Bald-Headed John]

I did my first brisket on a new Old Country Brazos (offset smoker) and something went very wrong. I’ve done briskets on a Weber Bullet and a Green Egg, so I thought I knew what I was doing. I did my first brisket on my new Brazos and it came out terrible. I've always cooked them at 250 to 275 degrees and then wrapped them in butcher paper during the stall. I’ll cook them to 200 – 205 internal temp., and then rest for a couple hours. While this has always worked fine on my Bullet and Green Egg, this brisket came out overcooked and the bark was dry and very tough. There is a removable tuning plate that I cooked over which concentrates the heat lower in the smoker. I don’t think that could account for the difference but it’s all I can come up with. This may be a Brazos specific question, but does anyone have any Idea what I might have done wrong? I’m stumped!

 

[Robert]

One SWAG is that the thermo was off or not measuring the exact temp where the brisket was. Suggest a cheap oven thermometer to place on the cooking grate to get you a fairly close indication of what the temp is where the brisket is in the cooker. Also can do a biscuit test to help determine the hot and cold spot in the cooker.

 

[Bald-Headed John]

Thanks for the tips but I think I have those 2 covered. I did the biscuit test and found the hot spots were near the stack and at the other end near the fire box. I kept the brisket between the 2 spots and had 2 temp probes on the grate, a Meater plus above the brisket and the thermometer on the lid all reading approx. the same. I do see a lot of people remove the deflector that points the smoke from the fire box down on a Brazos. I am a little concerned doing that. Once it's removed it would have to be welded back if I change my mind.

 

[Itsdone]

Did you monitor the carry over? When resting for a few hours or more, its always best undershoot the IT temp. Ive seen people panic because their brisket stalls around 185F so they bump smoker temps up and while it helps get it to target temp, that extra temp can overshoot carry over especially when holding for hours. My point is, your IT could have went from 205 IT to 215-220 IT due to carry over.
/.02

 

[Bald-Headed John]

I did not monitor the temp when resting so it may have gone above 205. In the past I've done the same thing and they came out exceptional. I am wondering if I need to cut back on cooking temps. with the offset.

 

[scp]

My question...was it dry and crumbly or dry and tough? 1st is overcooked and 2nd is under cooked. I am not an expert but something I learned after ruining about 4 briskets.

I might add there is always a learning curve with a new smoker.

 

[Bald-Headed John]

It was definitely overcooked. There were some decent internal parts of the point where all the fat was rendered but most of the bark turned very tough and the flat was dry. I didn't use sugar in the rub so it wasn't caramelizing. You are right about the learning curve with a new smoker. Maybe the temps. I used in my green egg wont work on a pit. I guess I'll dial it back a bit on my next brisket.

 

[KB BBQ]

An offset should have more air flow than the WSM or green egg, that might explain the dry bark. The over cooking part, assuming the temp reading is accurate, it may have just been that particular brisket with bad MoJo. I'd try another one.

 

[Headgear]

I recently got my first stick burner and experienced the same thing. Luckily I was doing spare ribs, not a brisket. I asked about it and it was suggested that the thick steel, (1/4" or more) causes there to be a radiant factor in the cook chamber as well as the fact that they draw so well that the two can cause more drying and faster cooking. I went from 275 to 250 degree pit temps, wrapped a little sooner, and made sure to spritz a little more. In addition to that, I started closing down the exhaust vent (chimney), little by little which slowed the draft. That made a big difference. A lot of guys think that you have to leave it wide open and control temps with the FB damper. I found that a combination worked much better.

I do agree that on longer holds, taking it out at around 195ish and watching the over-run temps is a good idea. If I am only going to let it rest for two hours, I will leave it wrapped, but leave it sit on the counter. With longer hold times, you can get away with holding it in a cooler with towels. You just have to see what works best. I'm probably preaching to the choir, but take notes as you go. Good luck.

 

[Hlzr]

I recently got my first stick burner and experienced the same thing. Luckily I was doing spare ribs, not a brisket. I asked about it and it was suggested that the thick steel, (1/4" or more) causes there to be a radiant factor in the cook chamber as well as the fact that they draw so well that the two can cause more drying and faster cooking. I went from 275 to 250 degree pit temps, wrapped a little sooner, and made sure to spritz a little more. In addition to that, I started closing down the exhaust vent (chimney), little by little which slowed the draft. That made a big difference. A lot of guys think that you have to leave it wide open and control temps with the FB damper. I found that a combination worked much better.

Switched from a BX25 to a WH 1975 this past summer and I agree with this completely. The volume of hot air drawn across the meat can dry it out. I put all of the above into practice. I'd also suggest a water pan to add some moisture to the cook chamber.

 

[1MoreFord]

I'm going to repeat the advice in post #6.
Dry and tough is undercooked.
Dry and crumbly is overcooked.
I haven't seen you mention crumbly.
Did you ever probe test it.
Have you tested your therms in boiling water and ice water?

 

[Bald-Headed John]

The bark was dry and very tough but this brisket was definitely not under cooked. The thickest part of the point was not bad internally with all the fat being rendered, but most of the flat internally was dry. I poked it enough times to be confident the minimum internal temp was 205 when it came off the smoker. My experience has been that under-cooked will be drier and tough on the inside, but not bark which was my problem. I think I may have exceed the crumbly bark stage and gone into the shoe leather stage.

 

[Callahan-que]

Try cooking till it's probe tender and not to a certain temperature. I find bamboo skewers make good probes.

 

[blackdogbbq21]

How long did it take to finish? I think the tuning plate was your issue. My first offset had one and with the plate in the radiant heat from the plate would cause result exactly like you are describing. If the plate was in it sat just a few inches from the meat. I would also notice a brisket would finish way too quickly for the temperature i would be cooking at.

If it was me for my next cook i would try to remove the plate and see what happens. Maybe even try to cook at a lower temp. 250-275 can be an intense heat still in a smaller cooking chamber.

 

[Bald-Headed John]

Thanks for that info Paul, It was a 15# brisket and it cooked for 11 hrs. I'll try it without the tuning plate next time. I was cooking directly over the plate and it makes sense that a heavy chunk of steel below the meat could cause that. Hearing you had a similar experience makes me think that is the most likely cause. I've done enough briskets that I'm pretty sure I had the basics covered. Unfortunately, I probably wont get another weekend with nice weather until spring to give it another try.

 

[Bald-Headed John]

One thing I should have mentioned is that it was under 40° for the entire cook. On my Green Egg, outdoor temp. has very little effect on cooking. With my new offset, I'm sure I burnt a lot more logs than I would in the summer. Maybe that extra fuel burning could have caused the tuning plate to get hotter than normal. I'm also seeing a lot of references to removing the tuning plates on a Brazos after searching specifically for those words.

 

[shares]

The old saying - it's the cook, not the cooker.
Re evaluate your brisket cook. The most important skill you have as a BBQ cook is knowing when it's done. You should be able to cook a brisket to perfection on any cooker when you master that single most important skill.

I don't mean to be a D, but that is the best advise you will get right there.

 

[Bald-Headed John]

Actually, the best advice was from blackdogbbq21 when he mentioned he had the same results cooking over the tuning plate. It's not a case of knowing when the brisket is done, The inside is edible in the flat and the point was tender and juicy. The problem was the bark was overcooked by the time the inside was done. I'm going to bet that either removing the tuning plate or not cooking directly over it will solve my problem.

 

[bonz50]

The old saying - it's the cook, not the cooker.
Re evaluate your brisket cook. The most important skill you have as a BBQ cook is knowing when it's done. You should be able to cook a brisket to perfection on any cooker when you master that single most important skill.

I don't mean to be a D, but that is the best advise you will get right there.

generally I would agree, but.... if you dont know how the cooker works and making adjustments or taking into account the monitoring procedures can be different. personally I would have done a few cooks of pork butts (cheaper) first to get used to how my procedure needs to change compared to my old cooker. I know there was a significant process change between my WSM and my OKJ offset and it took some botched cooks to figure it out properly. Brisket seems like a pretty tough cook for a first cook on a new smoker, for me anyway as I've only done a few briskets and only one was what I consider successful. just my .02

 

[marvda1]

When I had a Brazos, I had a convection plate and went to smaller splits of wood to control that temp. Because of the Brazos' smaller cooking chamber size, it pumps a lot of heat directly into the chamber.