Brisket Temperature

Kevin04

Well...I've had a 2.5 pound brisket on the egg for about 4 hours and 45 minutes now. I got a brand new digital temperature gauge for christmas and it shows the meat is at 168 degrees.

I have been cooking at an average egg temp of about 235 degrees.

About an hour ago it stepped up to 172 and I thought I had broken the plateau. Now it is back to 168. I checked the coals and there are still plenty in their and they are burning good.

I took my egg up to 250 about 5 minutes ago. The only other "condition" is that a very light (and I mean very light) rain drizzle has started. I king of built a little tin foil tent over the daisy at the top of the egg to protect it but I don't think the rain is a factor as it is a very light drizzle.

Is there anything else I can do? I figured a max of 5 hours for a 2.5 pound brisket. Please help! I've failed at two briskets before this and want to succeed with this one.

Kevin04

One other thing I wanted to mention is my digital thermometer is one of the remote ones which I put the thermometer into the meat and I have the wire running outside of the grill to the base unit. The only reason I wanted to add this is because I don't know if the rain could be cooling the stainless steel wire or something making errors in the results. I could be wrong but just wanted to throw it out there.

Crimsongator

235 dome temp is probably 205-10 grid temp. It will take some extra time to finish at that temp. Bumping the fire up was the right thing to do. It should finish quicker now.

FlaPoolman

I've never seen a brisket that small. Guess you could foil it with liquid to keep from drying out. I've never done one under 8 pounds

Fidel

It's pretty common for a brisket to drop a few degrees as it plateaus.

Being a small flat, I would wrap it in foil with a little broth, beer, or water to finish. It will get to 190 pretty quick once you foil it.

Begin checking it for tenderness at 185 buy inserting a fork and giving a gentle twist. You'll know when it gets tender.

The rain will not affect the egg.

Your brisket is taking longer than you expected because a 235 dome temp is more like 210-215 at the grid level. Most people smoke meats at around 250* dome temp. This will get you closer to the 1.5-2 hours per pound you expected.

Kevin04

Are you saying I need to foil it with broth and leave it on the egg?

Or do I need to foil it with broth and put it in the warm ice chest?

Fidel

It's not done. Foil and put it back on until it gets tender - somewhere between 185 and 200*. All briskets are different.

When it gets tender pull it and rest it at least 30 minutes before slicing. An hour is better if you can wait that long.

Kevin04

Ok gotcha! I'm gonna go foil it up now.

Thanks for the help

Fidel

Pre-heat any liquid you add. Just nuke it so you don't stall the cooking of the brisket.

Kevin04

Well, I just got back in from adding the liquid and saw your message. I jumped the gun to soon. I guess there is nothing I can do about it now or should I empty the broth I just put out there and add new nuked broth?

Kevin04

The biggest brisket I have found was 4.5 pounds at that was at a grocery store down the street (Publix). I had read on the forums and was trying to get a "non-flat" or whatever you call it and he told me he isn't able to get them. I tried cooking the 4.5 brisket last week and failed miserably :ohmy:

So I went to the store earlier today and wanted to get a smaller one just to work with and get better before dropping more money and failing on a bigger one again

I am going to have to research how to find the bigger briskets.

Fidel

Nah, you'll be fine. Your temps will possibly drop a little due to the liquid.

At this point you can bump the egg temp a little if you are in a hurry.

Kevin04

Ya it dropped about 15 degrees. No problem. I think I'm going late into the night with this one but I refuse to fail this time. (I am 0/2 on briskets right now this being the third) :laugh: . I appreciate your help and hopefully I can pull it off.

Thanks again!

The good news is I through some wings on earlier which turned out spectacular and that was dinner. I'm hoping to have this for tomorrow.

Fidel

Wal-Mart, Sam's, and Costco usually carry whole packer cut briskets.

Where do you live?

Fidel

Whatever you do don't slice the brisket until you are ready to serve it. Brisket dries out quickly once sliced. If it dries out you can either simmer in a little thinned out BBQ sauce or you can chop it and mix in BBQ sauce for BBQ beef sandwiches. Worst case you can freeze it and chop it for use in chili.

Kevin04

Cumming, GA.

I will check those out this weekend. There are plenty of all of those around.

Thanks for the tip.

Fidel

Lot's of eggers over there. I'm in Buford.

I believe the BJ's over there carries them as well. There are also a couple good butcher shops in Cumming.

When choosing a packer brisket in cryovac find one that has a flat of near uniform thickness and try to bend it in half. I like briskets that will nearly fold in two.

Kevin04

If I want to have it tomorrow do you think it will maintain it's flavor and juices if I just wrap it up and put it in the fridge?

Or do you think I should cut my losses and eat a little midnight snack tonight and save the rest for something else?

Kevin04

Yep the BJ's is a couple of miles up the road from me. I will definitely go there tomorrow. Thanks for the tip on choosing the brisket.

Fidel

I'd rest it for an hour then put it in the fridge until tomorrow.

Cut off a hunk tonight for a little snack to see what you think. It will likely be its best tonight.

I would reheat it either in a crock pot or keep it wrapped in foil and put it on a baking sheet in the oven at 275 or so until warm.

Kevin04

Sounds good!

Thanks for all the help again! I am starting to get a better hold on all of this and I see some light at the end of the tunnel. Hopefully I can try a bigger brisket this weekend with success. I am very new to the grilling/smoking world as you can tell. My family just used to throw things in the oven LOL. My wife's dad is a bbq master and his good cooking got me hooked and I am trying to get up to par.

Thanks again!

Fidel

Glad to help - I hope it comes out tasty and tender.

Anytime you need help just shout.

Slotmercenary

Kevin,
keep it simple. i seen at the last post that your folks "just threw it in the oven" guess what, the egg is just that. once the smoke is done it is "just an oven"
practice make perfect. if it take a half dozen briskets until you get it done then you at least got half a dozen hunks of meat to make beans or soup or chili from.
don't over think it just egg it!

Kevin04

Fidel! You are a savior!!!

I just took the brisket off and it looks amazing. I just put it in the warm ice box wrapped and I will wait an hour like you said. I did unwrap it real quick so I could show some pics. Thanks again!!! Hopefully I can wait an hour.