Brisket advice (1st cook was too long)

smokeybreeze

I've been following the BGE forum and TNW site for advice on cookin' my first beef brisket.

It was a 7.63 pound Choice cut with a thin layer of fat on the top. Properly flopped when held and a well equipped cut.

I have read that 250 dome temp for 45 min to 1 hour per pound should be expected.

Welllll, (and as Steve Martin used to say) Excuuuse Meeee!

I got up at 6:30 this morning to get my Large BGE to temp figuring a dinner time of 5:00 pm.

When the dome temp got to 225 about 7:30am (I wasn't shooting for quick but a slow rise to cooking temp), I put the brisket I marinated overnight in the fridge, still at fridge temps on the egg. This was an indirect cook (platesetter with legs up).

7:30am to 3:00pm (7 1/2 hours) at 200-225 dome temp and my IT was siting at 200. Oops, that's *not* what I expected. So I foiled `er up, toweled `er up and placed all that into a SteriLite container to keep without adding to the bark.

At this point I was convinced that this brisket was going to be well done :(

Other than the crisp bark even after siting in a foil and towel wrapped enclave for 2 hours, the internal meat was excellent and very juicy, but it was not a presentable piece of meat - the bark was too thick and crisp even after the handling mentioned above.

My recommendations would be 200-225 dome temp for 30 minutes per pound and check IT at least an hour prior to expected done-ness with another 15 minutes per pound of lee-way.

Just saying, the brisket advice was way outside my experience/expected outcome which is extremely rare for this forum.

THA

You never mentioned what the internal temp of the meat was. Do not cook to time, cook to internal temperature. Time only gives a wag as to approximately how many beers or other favorite beverage you will need to have on hand til cook is finished.

THA

Sorry, you did mention IT. Had to read it again. What was wrong with meat, too tough?

stike

I read that a couple times, but I still ain't unnerstandin' it.
What was the issue?

stike

Thx. Thought it was just me. :laugh:

THA

Guess he was unhappy with it's presentation

Little Steven

What did you marinate it with? Brisket doesn't have to fo to 200 neccessarily, it is ready when a fork (or some other sharp object) twists easily in the flat.

Steve

smokeybreeze

That's the issue, I didn't go with my gut instincts of ~4-5 hours @ 225 and went with a general consensus.

End result, this was my first over-cook on the BGE - it was way, way over done.

Shoe leather comes to mind. I've learned my lesson. I need to go with my instinct over general consensus if I have an instinct. When I don't have an instinct, this forum provides a great educational experience.

Enjoy, and Cheers