Brisket questions

dford8583

I am cooking my 4th brisket on an xl. I set up my egg genius.  it is a 16.5 lb usda prime brisket and probably lost approximately 3 lbs after trimming. 

I put the brisket on at 10:30 PM and a temp of 225F. I wrapped at 6 hours exactly. During that 6 hours the probe which I put in the thickest part of the flat climbed to 164F but dropped down to like 155F.  I found that odd. But bark looked ok and I was good wrapping it at that point.  Wrapped it in butcher paper and placed proble in same location. I put it back on the egg and plugged to probe back in. It was showing about 144F which I didn’t see as odd being that I pulled the brisket and could see why it would lose some temp while off the egg. So I assumed it was already in the stall but it was basically in the stall in the 140s for another 3 hours.   

I had dinner commitment for 5:30 PM. I eventually bumped it up to 250 to help speed it up. 

I ended up pulling it when The temp probe was at like 177 ish because I wanted it to rest the hour before I he’d to serve it. 

I did probe it in several spots at it feels like butter.  

It is just strange to me that it stalled through the 140s. Any one see this before? I question the accuracy of the probes and grid probe but have tested them in boiling water. Attached is a photo of the cook and here is a link to the cook data. 

Check out my cook with @FlameBossSmokes

https://p.fb-bge.com/cooks/1907156

Anyone have any thoughts on any of this? 

loco_engr

so how was it when pulled at 177?

lousubcap

All I can offer is " The friggin cow drives the cook."  I will send you a PM with some brisket info to do with as you wish.  
BTW- welcome aboard and enjoy the journey.  Above all, have fun.  

Foghorn

Follow the word from @lousubcap.  

I usually start the cook just like you did - at 10 or 11 PM at a low temp.  Then in the morning I bump up the temp to 250 or 275 or whatever I'll need to hit the time target.

dford8583

@loco_engr, it actually turned out great.  It was the best of the 4 so far.  I actually temped several locations and it was upwards of 192F.  I am just getting confused because I expected the results to be not so great. Still think I could have gone longer for better results though. Also I wish it had a smokier taste. But overall it turned out good. 

dford8583

@lousubcap, thank you! I will check it out.  The last 2 have really been throwing off my thoughts lol. Both stalled around the 140s. This one turned out much better than the last. I guess I just got to do more briskets overall

dford8583

@Foghorn, thanks for the input! I have much to learn. I will have to do these more often. I want to master the brisket 

nolaegghead

Did you have the tip of the probe in the center of the thickest part of the roast?

I find a single probe is just fine for looking at temperature trends (going up, stalling, going down, etc) but to get a good picture of what's going on, occasionally probe it in multiple spots and depths with a quick read.

In fact, I don't remember the last time I left a probe in something I was smoking.   Point is, you will learn to judge doneness better by using all your senses if you don't rely on it.  Fat in the drip pan, sound, smell, visual queues, etc.