Burnt brisket bottom

ghome

I am a brand new egghead. I got a BGE just before Christmas and after reading for about a week, decided to smoke a brisket for New Years. I followed the directions in the book that came with the BGE. I had indirect heat and a drip pan below the grill. The brisket sat right on the grill. 11 hours at 250 and it was great. The taste was wonderful and it was falling apart tender. Except for the very bottom. It had about 1/8 inch of burnt that was so tough you could hardly cut it with a knife.
Question: Should I have foil under the brisket to keep the bottom from burning?

Thank you in advance.

Shiff

I've never had that happen.

How big a brisket was it? Was it a flat or a packer cut?

Have you calibrated your thermometer to make sure it didn't cause your problem? Stick it in some boiling water and then adjust it using the nut on the back so it reads correctly.

What did you use to make your cook indirect? Was it a plate setter or some other device?

Two great sources of brisket cooking information are:

http://playingwithfireandsmoke.blogspot.com/1996/03/brisket.html

and

http://bubbatim.com/Bubba_s_Brisket.php

EggSimon

have ya cooked it fat side down ?

c tredwell

Fat side down protects the meat from high temps...I learned this the hard way- :pinch:

TheDirtyBurger

Yeah I always cook my brisket fat side down for this very reason. Some do it the other way around and that is cool, but I know this way works for me. I will generally remove the fat after the cook and it helps my slicing.

Brisket is one of those things I still need to improve on. The more I practice the more I get to eat so it is fine by me!

ghome

Thanks for all the good advice. The brisket was a ten LB flat. I cooked fat side up and used the plate setter for indirect heat. Next time I will try it fat side down. Any other sugestions? I found a rub in a cook book. It was a little spicy. Lots of cayanne pepper. What do you like to use?

Shiff

My wife doesn't like too much heat on the meat I cook, so I've developed my own rub mixture. I generally modify it a little each time I mix up some. Right now the ingredients are:

2 Tbsp Raw Sugar
2 Tbsp Coarse Salt
1 Tbsp Garlic Powder
1 tsp coarse ground pepper
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground mustard
1 tsp ground celery seed

TheDirtyBurger

I like mine simple if I make it myself. Otherwise I will use Plowboys Bovine Bold or one of the DP beef rubs

If I make it myself I go 1/2 Kosher salt and 1/2 Cracked Pepper or I will do 1/3 KS 1/3 BP 1/3 Turbinado sugar. Sometimes I will add a touch of cayenne to spice it up just a tad.

Again brisket is still something I have yet to master.