Brisket - need help

BluegillSmalls · May 2016

Well this was my second brisket attempt and it was Mother's Day. We planned brisket tacos and they were very good (chopped brisket). However, my question is that whenever I do brisket I end up with a 1/4" to 1/8" of crispy bark on the bottom of the brisket, which sucks for slicing and things like that. The brisket is cooked 275-300 dome, legs up with a drip pan (no liquid) in the center. I prepare the brisket with a light rub with olive oil and generously apply meat church holy cow rub. Not sure if anyone else has experienced a hard bark on the bottom? Would it help if I foil or paper? I'm just wanting a good end product to slice good. Thanks in advance.

BluegillSmalls · May 2016

I forgot to add that I was probing the brisket from 195 on up. I pulled when the point was 203.

Foghorn · May 2016

The hard bark in the bottom comes from the fact that the radiant heat off of what is under your brisket exceeds that of the radiant heat off your dome. Do you have some air space between your platesetter/conveggtor and your drip pan? If not, that is the place to start. Others just cook the fat side down and enjoy the bark

westernbbq · May 2016

I had a similar issue when getting super confident with brisket. A drip pan with beer or some other liquid helps underneath and fat side down helps as you want to render it off anyway. For basting, pour drippings in pan over the brisket when cructhing it and youll be golden.

BluegillSmalls · May 2016

@Foghorn @westernbbq thank you both for the comments I'll try adding some liquid next go around and try fat side down.

SmyrnaGA · May 2016

Fat side up or down? I cook mine 250-270 grate level & fat side down w/o drip pan. Pizza stone under the flat & skinny platesetter leg under point, both heavily foiled.

westernbbq · May 2016

SmyrnaGA said:

Fat side up or down? I cook mine 250-270 grate level & fat side down w/o drip pan. Pizza stone under the flat & skinny platesetter leg under point, both heavily foiled.

There are bbq eggsperts who insist on fat side up and some who say fat side down. I used fat side up exclusively since roughly two yrs ago. After reading a tip on this forum (i am pretty sure it was here), i tried fat side down with pork shoulder. Results were phenomenal and waste was minimal. Then i tried fat side down with brisket and results were the same. A lot will say the fat needs to be on top so it can baste the meat while cooking. But all it does is run off and it only bastes the surface. I learned that if you are making something with skin on it, such as a turkey, basting helps keep the skin from splitting, but if you are doing brisket and shoulder, basting is not as important.

So, i am a fat side down bbqer at this point and plan on remaining so for the forseeable future.

smokeyw · May 2016

I agree with fat side down on the BGE. However, there are times when fat side up would be better such as a reverse flow offset stick burner. In that case the main source of heat is coming across the top of the meat instead of under it. That is the determining factor. You want the fat cap between the meat and the main flow of heat. And I agree that the fat basting theory means nothing. The fat to be concerned with is in the meat.

lousubcap · May 2016

Regarding liquid in a drip-pan should you go that route, just remember that the liquid acts as a heat sink (artificially depressing your temperature) til it all evaporates. Then your BGE temp will rise to the "natural" temperature based on your vent settings.

BluegillSmalls · May 2016

Sounds great, thanks for all of the advice! Both brisket attempts were fat side up. The first attempt I used water in the drip pan and the bottom bark wasn't as bad. My platesetter is set with the one leg towards the back of the egg and the drip pan is moved all the way to the front (to act as a heat shield for the brisket), with the grate on top. I guess I envisioned brisket being like beef ribs, easy to slice/serve and melt in your mouth. The point is always tender with all the fat but the flat seems to less than desirable, more like a tough roast, but gets better closer you slice to the point.

Wrapping in butcher paper and or foil has also peaked my interest, has anyone else had good results wrapping briskets on the egg? I know there's a lot of folks saying it's not required. Thanks.

lousubcap · May 2016

Since you ask and not BGE related but a great video of the various differences:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lnRRDSYgdmw
Just more to compound the date base

Killit_and_Grillit · May 2016

I don't wrap mine. I have also listened to this fat side up or down argument and I have come to the conclusion that it is all about preference. The experts will argue about the fat cap melting or the bark being a certain way but I can promise you the guys who are having this quarrel...well, you wouldn't turn down a few slices of theirs no matter which side they put it on.

I found the biggest problem in the egg with a brisket is air flow. It's a big chunk of meat and adding a drip pan will affect it as well. I put liquid in my drip pan and found better results. But at the end of the day I think with brisket you will just go through about $300 worth of meat before you find that sweet spot that you prefer. I quit for a while and worked on pork butts and came back to briskets when I got a little more seasoned with the egg. Any time I wanted to do a brisket I busted out ol Trusty Rusty (my metal smoker).

Charcoal_Addict · May 2016

BluegillSmalls said:

Sounds great, thanks for all of the advice! Both brisket attempts were fat side up. The first attempt I used water in the drip pan and the bottom bark wasn't as bad. My platesetter is set with the one leg towards the back of the egg and the drip pan is moved all the way to the front (to act as a heat shield for the brisket), with the grate on top. I guess I envisioned brisket being like beef ribs, easy to slice/serve and melt in your mouth. The point is always tender with all the fat but the flat seems to less than desirable, more like a tough roast, but gets better closer you slice to the point.

Wrapping in butcher paper and or foil has also peaked my interest, has anyone else had good results wrapping briskets on the egg? I know there's a lot of folks saying it's not required. Thanks.

The Adjustbale Rig is better designed for Briskets than the Platesetter. It manages airflow better than the Platesetter. The Platesetter allows to much direct heat to past the deflector.

The water pan is good idea for keeping the humidity higher on very long cooks.

Try remixng your cook. Aaron Frankiln makes a good point when he says to change one variable at a time to figure out what works. Try another Brisket flat side down. See what impact that has. If that doesn't give you your desired result. Add a butcher paper crutch to be next cook to see what impact it has.

By by changng one variable at a time. You'll eventually find right combination for the perfect brisket. Aaraon Franklin's reason for placing the meat flat side down has to do with the flat. The fat provides a protective layer from the flame to retain more moisture.

CoMoBGE · May 2016

What size brisket are you cooking? A flat or a whole packer? What size egg are you cooking on?

smokeyw · May 2016

I always wrap my brisket in foil at about 160 internal temp. It does sacrifice the crunchy bark but I personally thing bark is overrated and I can take the brisket to another level by wrapping it. It is always super moist and tender. I have to add though that the actual meat has a lot to do with the end product. I cook in competitions and the briskets we use there are always Wagyu. I mostly cook choice at home though.

YukonRon · May 2016

I have found the better the grade of the full packer the better the end result. I have experimented both ways with fat sides, and fat side down seems to work best on my XL, as I still use a plate setter. The point is positioned to the back of the BGE XL, and positioned over the leg, I foil the thin flat end. I use a drip pan but I use no water. I inject beef broth at a 160F IT, then I wrap it in butcher paper. Since I do mostly prime, I start probing at 190F.
I use my own rub and EVOO. The brisket is completely encapsulated with a full layer of rub.
This method has yielded the best and most consistent results for me thus far.
pit temp is 225F dome is 250-260F for the cook.
Aside from all of us telling you what we do, the next best thing we can do is wish you good luck. Very good luck on the direction and method you choose.
If I can be of further help, give me a call.

SmyrnaGA · May 2016

The Adjustbale Rig is better designed for Briskets than the Platesetter. It manages airflow better than the Platesetter. The Platesetter allows to much direct heat to past the deflector.

I will have to disagree. I bought the adjustable rig with the oval stone and not enough heat was getting to the point. The flat was good, but, the point didn't render enough fat vs platesetter leg. I protect the flat with a pizza stone directly on the platesetter to cover the slot between the 2 other legs. This forces the heat and smoke to the point then the flat.

I use the oval stone to bake salmon and other rectangular things.

smokeyw · May 2016

SmyrnaGA said:

The Adjustbale Rig is better designed for Briskets than the Platesetter. It manages airflow better than the Platesetter. The Platesetter allows to much direct heat to past the deflector.

I will have to disagree. I bought the adjustable rig with the oval stone and not enough heat was getting to the point. The flat was good, but, the point didn't render enough fat vs platesetter leg. I protect the flat with a pizza stone directly on the platesetter to cover the slot between the 2 other legs. This forces the heat and smoke to the point then the flat.

I use the oval stone to bake salmon and other rectangular things.

It's not unusual for the point to need more cooking time even after the flat is done. This even happens sometimes in my vertical gravity feed smoker. I will say though that most of the time they are dine about the same time. Even when I use my AR with the oval stone and grate.

Charcoal_Addict · May 2016

I never had a chance to test the Adjustbale Rig. The Big Joe version never materialized. Ceramic Grill store is having issues shipping to Canada right now. There's no Canadian shipping options right now.

The Divide & Conquer is somewhat similar. The lower position for the deflector sits slightly higher than the Adjustble Rig's design. It's hard to compare the two directly.

I was always puzzled by the advantage of the oval stone. Techinically the best rendering of brisket on offset cookers happens with no direct heat source underneath. I never seen why you would want more direct heat on the brisket by having larger gaps on either side of the deflector.

Some of chaps on the BBQ Brethren separate the flat and the point after the flat probes perfectly. They wrap the point in foil or Butcher paper and put it back on the grill to finish.

Each portion the cut is cooked perfectly using this technique. It might seem a hassle to some.

BluegillSmalls · May 2016

UPDATE: Thanks again for everyone's suggestions and comments. Decided to do small 10lb prime brisket I picked up at Costo last night. I followed comments and did the brisket 225-250 grid indirect platesetter feet up, water pan with liquid (moved forward to cover the flat) and fat side down and foiled once I hit the stall at 175. This was the best brisket to date, very moist and tender throughout. I'm thinking this is what brisket should be like. No hard bark/crust on the bottom. Pictures are burnt ends I prepared, still have the flat intact but sliced off a couple pieces and were melt in your mouth tender. I think the foil/wrapping really helped retain moisture along with fat side down. Rubbed with olive oil/holy cow rub and pulled at 195ish. Bonus was the liquid in the foil that I mixed with Stubbs to make a sauce for the burnt ends. Also smoke ring on this one was more noticeable than the rest. Thanks.

Brisket - need help

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