Tough Brisket

aymobley

Hi All:

The other week I tried my first brisket on my minimax.  I bought a small one, probably around 4-5 pounds from Trader Joe’s.  I dry rubbed it and let it sit overnight uncovered in the fridge.  I fired up the grill, brought it up to 250 indirect with apple wood chunks and threw the brisket on.  It cooked for 4 hours.  Internal temp was right, smoke was just right, and the flavor was amazing.  Unfortunately, it turned out tough....not nearly as tender as I would have liked.  So, I brought it in, and finished it covered in foil in the oven until it was super tender.  That, however, dried it out.  So what did I do wrong?  My guess is, I didn’t leave it on the grill long enough.  Any thoughts?  Thanks very much.

The Cen-Tex Smoker

It was underdone. It’s really difficult to get those small ones tender anyway but if yours got tender in the oven, it needed more time on your MM

you said the internal temp was right....what was it?

lousubcap

Must have been a flat and they can be a bit tricky to nail however, the finish-line is when you get the "probes like buttah" in the thickest part of the flat feel, independent of temperature (likely in the low 200's*F).  Sounds like you declared victory too early and then likely the oven cook led to drying out.  
If you need to resort to the oven for a hold then I always put the brisket on a rack sitting above some beef broth, tightly covered in foil. 
Here's a link to a flat cook that has good reviews here:  
http://biggreenegg.com/recipes/brisket-flat/  
BTW- I had to use a version of that when asked to cook a 3.5 lb grass-fed flat last week.  What a friggin rodeo- I managed to get a decent result for about 80% of the beef but way too much effort.
Get your hands on a packer next time and continue to have fun.  FWIW-

aymobley

I think my internal temp was aroun 200.  I will just leave it on the egg much longer next time.  Thanks guys!