Brisket beginner help

Bigbird74 · March 2013

I have trimmed and dry rubbed a packer brisket on my large egg. I start by getting temp to 250ish and throw it on about 10 at night. I have burnt two now but still can salvage some chop out of the point. Also I set the pacesetter legs up and put a pan of apple juice and Worcester. I monitored closely before going to sleep then woke up about 3:30am an it was already burnt. That means it was only cooking about 5 hours and the end of the flat was dry and charred.

Any recommendations?

The Cen-Tex Smoker · March 2013

It's not charred. It supposed to look like a meteorite. Unless your dome thermo is way off, you are pulling it way too early. A big packer should take 15-20 hours at that temp. If you put it on at 10pm, don't even open the dome or look at the temp until the morning. I don't even put my maverick in (if I do at all) until the next morning

Here is what mine look like when I pull them off:

cbr0011 · May 2013

Cen-Tex Smoker- When you do a brisket are you monitoring the temp of the dome or the temp of the grate?

The Cen-Tex Smoker · May 2013

Sometimes neither. It's not that important if you are between 225 and 275 (or 300 even)

I don't hawk temps much anymore. The more you measure, the longer it seems to take. Get your egg locked in at 250-275 dome, grab a beer, play with the dog, kids, wife (depending on where you are in life) and check on it in 12 hours to see where you are.

tazcrash · May 2013

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

Sometimes neither. It's not that important if you are between 225 and 275 (or 300 even) I don't hawk temps much anymore. The more you measure, the longer it seems to take. Get your egg locked in at 250-275 dome, grab a beer, play with the dog, kids, wife (depending on where you are in life) and check on it in 12 hours to see where you are.

I like this sentiment, but don't have the testicular fortitude to put it into practice.

:-SS

@BigBird if the flat was tough, and dry, chances are it was still undercooked. you don't get that goodness until the meat is close to 200. Forget rare\medium\well with brisket.

out of curiosity, have you calibrated your dome?