Bewildered By brisket

nrudiak

so here's my update from the guy with the 4 lb flat, please no more small jokes. first of all, i am being gauged in upstate NY for my brisket. I paid $3.59 a pound from my favorite butcher and then went to the big chain and saw it for $4.59. The meat cutter had no explanation. I call it gouging! What are you guys paying around the country? I've had my egg a couple of months and have had plenty of "OMG!!" dinners> Ribs, chicken, pork I've been successful with all of them. Here's what happened yesterday. Put some Doc BBQ rub mixed with some rub i got from Fred's Music and BBQ (GREAT PLACE!!) and figured it would take about 6 hours. Pre-heated to about 220 and put the flat on at 2:15pm. Internal temp read 45 degrees. Kept the temp constant at about 220 (dome). Here's my temps:
after 5hr- 151, 6hr- 151, 7hr - 156, 8hr - 159, 9 hr - 167degrees, i shut down at 1:15 sunday morning with the internal at 171 degrees. The wife went to bed PO'd because dinner was late. my son and i took a small taste off the end which was a little dry but not too baf. i wrapped it up in foil, put it in the frig had a nightcap, watched the yankees wrap up again (Take that Tampa Bay.. GO SWISHER & CANO!!!). I checked my brisket this morning and tried to cut into it and it's very hard so i stopped. Can i resurrect this piece of meat and what happened? Should a 4 lb brisket take over 12 hours at 220? Need a little help on this one. I'm hungry!

BBQMaven

It appears you pulled it early... If your dome gauge is correct, at 220 the meat on the grid was cooking at about 190-200... this takes a long time to get it up to 195 (normal pulling time)...

You can put it back on, but know that it is going to be drier than it would have been... I'd be temped to get Egg to 350, keep it wrapped in foil with some beef broth, and cook it till it reaches 195 internal temp... just a thought

Fidel

You are going to pay $3-4 per pound for a trimmed flat in most places. Untrimmed whole (packer) briskets are typically much cheaper per pound, but also much larger and you have quite a bit of waste in the form of fat.

The advice above about the temps are right. Cook at 250 dome and check your thermometer. My guess is your thermo is 10-15 degrees low and you were cooking at 170-180* at the grid level and your brisket couldn't get any higher than it did.

Shiff

In the Lancaster, PA, area I pay between $2.49 and $2.99 for flats at Stauffer's market. These are trimmed well, but they are flats and not as good as a packer brisket for smoking. I try to get one of at least 6 pounds. Once in a great while they have a packer brisket for $1.99/pound but I usually get them at Shady Maple market where they almost always have them. Size ranges from 12 pounds to 17 pounds.

I think the comment from BBQMaven was correct - your temperature was too low. I generally cook my briskets at 225-250 at the grid. I don't remove them until it is tender using the fork test which is generally around 195-200 internal temp. I no longer wrap them in foil because it changes the bark too much. Time is usually around 1 to 1.5 hours/pound.

Read this for lots of useful info:
http://playingwithfireandsmoke.blogspot.com/1996/03/brisket.html

tjv

North TX briskets runs around $2/lb for a choice grade packer, $3-$3.50 for a choice grade flat. Like others have said, check your equipment for accuracy.

Also, if going with a flat, get a bigger one. My flat minimum is 5.5 pounds, closer to 7 pounds is much better. Try to get one with even thickness, if possible. They shrink about 40 percent.

If you want to pay less per pound, you can buy a packer, trim off the point, grind and make great burgers. Or, for less pounds, see if your butcher will sell you just the point, as it has greater amounts of fat.

Brisket dries out fast once sliced, so slice right at serving time. If you refrig it after cooking, it's better to chop than slice it for sammies later.

t

h20egg

I've done one brisket, it was OK, but largest I could find was 5-6 # flat. Yesterday cruising Wallyworld I saw my first packer...actually 2 of them. I was astounded at how large they were, not sure I could fit on my Large BGE! Didn't notice the price per # or for that matter how many # they were, just that they were ~$33 each. Which for the mass looked not bad; I just don't know when I'd have use for that much beef. I'd be hesitant to invite a bunch of folks over and have it be done 6 hours later than planned, or dry and not so good. I do believe there must be an art to getting a small flat done right though, and am hesitant to invest in them. I've definitely mastered pork butts (big deal; set it and ferget it!) but am ready to look for a new challenge.

Hawg Fan

Some would say that brisket is more difficult to cook than a pork butt. I don't see too much difference in the cook, but there's a difference in the meat preparation. I cooked a pork butt and two 7 lb flats this weekend at the same time. Dome temp at 240-250. Pulled at different times, but never adjusted the temp.

A brisket flat usually has most of the fat trimmed, so I look for one that has at least 1/2" of fat still remaining on the bottom. I cook with the fat side down and I've had good success. You if buy a packer, you can separate the flat from the point and leave as much fat as you want. I've never ground the point into hamburger meat, but that's a great idea. I usually separate the point from the flat, cook them both and chop the point for sandwiches. You could always throw the point in the freezer and cook it at a later time.

thirdeye

I got these three, choice angus packers, just the other day for $1.98/lb. I cooked them along with 85 pounds of pork butts, bad thing was....I only had time to eat one sandwich....



Regarding your cook.... since you were cooking so low (220° dome is an actual pit temp of 190° +/-) at hour 6, I would have put it in a foil pouch, fat side up, and put it in a 275° degree oven to finish it off. Should have been ready in another 60 to 90 minutes. It would have looked something like this.