2nd Brisket, still struggling

Plano_JJ · January 2013

Did another brisket yesterday. Turned out ok not great. Did not slice til 11PM last night. Not what I had in mind. Really struggling with keeping the Egg at the correct temp. Dont know if the 35 degrees outside and 20 mph North wind had anything to do with it but I sure struggled with it for almost 12 hrs when it shouldnt have taken that long for a 6lb flat. Kept having to adjust the temp and finally got it stabilized at 250 for about the last 2 hrs. At one point half the fire went out. How the hell does that happen?! Didnt start cooking right until I got the full fire lit again and the coals evenly spread out. It also stalled for more than an hour at 154 int. temp. What's the secret on keeping an egg lit between 220-225, it seems like mine doesnt respond well at temps below 250. This brisket deal is really aggravating. Gonna keep after it until I get it right. Going to try again when I'm not freezing my a$$ off. No pics due to frustration of wanting to get done.

jimreed777 · January 2013

cyber Q

Griffin · January 2013

Bummer you didn't get the results you wanted and to struggle. Seems like most Eggs like 250 and trying to go lower will just result in the fire going out on you. Nothing wrong with running at 250, most times my dome temp is around 275 when doing low and slows (while the grate probe is around 250). Works for me anyway.

The Cen-Tex Smoker · January 2013

Forget 225. That is old school thinking for bbq. I cook at 275-300 and I'm cooking the best Briskets I've ever done. Your egg really prefers to settle in at 260 and above. Now I can hold 225 any time I want but I couldn't when I was new. Trust me on this and go at least 260-275 and don't worry if it wanders 20 degrees either way. Not only will your fire be more stable, your brisket will be better.

There is no way you can leave a 6lb piece of meat over heat for 12 hours and have good results. 225 is too low- especially for brisket flats. 275 for 1-1.25 hrs per Lb And you are eating right.

Eggcelsior · January 2013

After reading tips from Cen-Tex and travisstrick, I have tried to keep my temps at 250-275 for brisket and found it very easy to keep it locked in. I once played with a 220 temp for a brisket and it was a huge PITA as it takes a ton of babying. That was my only sleepless night with my egg.

FanOfFanboys · January 2013

I 2nd going around 275. Super easy to keep stable. And try the Travis brisket method. I did modified version and my 1st one was great

rustypotts · January 2013

When you guys say,"250", are you talking grid or dome?

daveyray72 · January 2013

For Brisket or Butts, 260-275 is perfectly fine. When I do low/slow on my egg, I let the egg decide where it wants to settle in and go with it. For any low/slow, you should have a temp probe in the meat as you are going to cook to a temp, and not a time. I like to bring my briskets to about 160, foil, and then bring them up to 195-200 as a finished internal temp. Let rest in the foil for AT LEAST 30 minutes after you pull off the egg. When you open the foil, you will have a great base for some wonderful au-jus.

Eggcelsior · January 2013

rustypotts said:

When you guys say,"250", are you talking grid or dome?

Typically, a temp stated without a qualifier is always the dome temp. This is how I interpret it and how I have seen it mentioned before.

"250" - dome

"I cooked it @ 250 grid" - grid(sorry for the Capt Obvious part)

Plano_JJ · January 2013

Thanks everyone, these comments make me feel better. My Egg has no trouble at 250 and above, it really locks in well around 300. When I do baby backs, that needle wont budge off 300 for hours. Also, I have decided that for the next one I will try the foil. I know it makes all the difference for my ribs. Woohoo got some new confidence now, LOL. Even after all this, the brisket is not half bad, a little dry but manageable. I dont, however, care for the mesquite smoke. The one I did last week with apple and cherry had a far better smoke flavor. Live and learn. Thats the good thing about the Egg, "most" times you can eat what you screw up. Thanks again, I knew I would get set straight here.

Reeyahps · January 2013

I was surprised to read the comments about the egg's preferred temp. In the short time I've had mine (about three months), I have found it harder to keep it stable in the 300-400 range and easier to keep it stable 215-250 range. I did "turbo" ribs, "turbo" pork butt, and "Travis-style" brisket--each time struggling to keep the temp around 300. I did a couple of low and slow butts and one low and slow set of ribs that all seemed MUCH easier to me. That included one 16-hour 7.5 pound butt where I only touched the vents at hour 15 because I needed to speed up the cook before guests arrived. I'm not doubting the experience of those who posted. I'm just noting that I didn't realize that my newbie experience was atypical until reading some of the comments here. I had even concocted a theory that it was easier to keep an egg at ~225 since that was near the lower limit.

gerhardk · January 2013

I guess I am old school, I bought the egg specifically because it is able to hold low temperatures for long periods. When I do ribs, shoulder or brisket I stabilize for dome of 225º to 250º then add the plate setter and meat. The temperature will drop substantially but I just ignore it and within an hour or so everything will be settled near my desired temperature. In my opinion the OP never had the temperature stabilized and was continually hunting for his target which just kept eluding him because his adjustments will always be 20 minutes late so the temperature will be overshot and then undershot, possibly even kill the fire. You have to learn to stabilize the temperature! The hardest part part in low and slow is to resist the temptation to fix a too low temperature after you add the meat.

Gerhard

The Cen-Tex Smoker · January 2013

Plano_JJ said:

Thanks everyone, these comments make me feel better. My Egg has no trouble at 250 and above, it really locks in well around 300. When I do baby backs, that needle wont budge off 300 for hours. Also, I have decided that for the next one I will try the foil. I know it makes all the difference for my ribs. Woohoo got some new confidence now, LOL. Even after all this, the brisket is not half bad, a little dry but manageable. I dont, however, care for the mesquite smoke. The one I did last week with apple and cherry had a far better smoke flavor. Live and learn. Thats the good thing about the Egg, "most" times you can eat what you screw up. Thanks again, I knew I would get set straight here.

use oak. You will be happy.

Dave in Florida · January 2013

I see you were doing a flat. They are really tough to do, easy to dry out in my opinion doing them at low temp. Here is how I did a flat that turned out really good. http://eggheadforum.com/discussion/1141803/i-might-be-catching-on-to-this-cooking-brisket-flats#latest

I have had some flats come out like WOW...I got to remember how I did that. And then some are what the heck did I do wrong???

Good luck and stay after it.

MaskedMarvel · January 2013

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

Forget 225. That is old school thinking for bbq. I cook at 275-300 and I'm cooking the best Briskets I've ever done. Your egg really prefers to settle in at 260 and above. Now I can hold 225 any time I want but I couldn't when I was new. Trust me on this and go at least 260-275 and don't worry if it wanders 20 degrees either way. Not only will your fire be more stable, your brisket will be better. There is no way you can leave a 6lb piece of meat over heat for 12 hours and have good results. 225 is too low- especially for brisket flats. 275 for 1-1.25 hrs per Lb And you are eating right.

I deeply respect CT, so please don''t take this the wrong way...

I run briskets at 225* and am much happier with those results than at higher temps...

..BUT! I also only use whole packers, ~16lbs.. I'd never do a low and slow on a small flat, as you have indicated.

Everyone here has their own method for Texas Brisket - I've found mine. Hopefully, one day, I'll get to sample yours..

The Cen-Tex Smoker · January 2013

MaskedMarvel said:

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

Forget 225. That is old school thinking for bbq. I cook at 275-300 and I'm cooking the best Briskets I've ever done. Your egg really prefers to settle in at 260 and above. Now I can hold 225 any time I want but I couldn't when I was new. Trust me on this and go at least 260-275 and don't worry if it wanders 20 degrees either way. Not only will your fire be more stable, your brisket will be better. There is no way you can leave a 6lb piece of meat over heat for 12 hours and have good results. 225 is too low- especially for brisket flats. 275 for 1-1.25 hrs per Lb And you are eating right.

I deeply respect CT, so please don''t take this the wrong way...

I run briskets at 225* and am much happier with those results than at higher temps...

..BUT! I also only use whole packers, ~16lbs.. I'd never do a low and slow on a small flat, as you have indicated.

Everyone here has their own method for Texas Brisket - I've found mine. Hopefully, one day, I'll get to sample yours..

No worries at all MM. I have done easily over a hundred at 225 and just switched to higher temps this year. I push newer brisket cooks this way because it's easier (not necessarily better). The egg is more stable, the stall is shorter, the cook is faster. I know what awesome 225 brisket is and you're right, it's incredible when done right. I'm just trying to get people to the easiest place to get good results.For me, I can do them either way but I have gotten more "this is the best ever" comments since I bumped up the temps and increased the hold time after the cook. Daddy likes compliments so I do them that way now

The Cen-Tex Smoker · January 2013

MaskedMarvel said:

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

Forget 225. That is old school thinking for bbq. I cook at 275-300 and I'm cooking the best Briskets I've ever done. Your egg really prefers to settle in at 260 and above. Now I can hold 225 any time I want but I couldn't when I was new. Trust me on this and go at least 260-275 and don't worry if it wanders 20 degrees either way. Not only will your fire be more stable, your brisket will be better. There is no way you can leave a 6lb piece of meat over heat for 12 hours and have good results. 225 is too low- especially for brisket flats. 275 for 1-1.25 hrs per Lb And you are eating right.

I deeply respect CT, so please don''t take this the wrong way...

I run briskets at 225* and am much happier with those results than at higher temps...

..BUT! I also only use whole packers, ~16lbs.. I'd never do a low and slow on a small flat, as you have indicated.

Everyone here has their own method for Texas Brisket - I've found mine. Hopefully, one day, I'll get to sample yours..

Also- I think a packer can stand a 20+ hour cook way better than a small flat can handle a 12+ hour cook.

friscoag · January 2013

Plano - Hey bud, read this website. I did a lot of briskets on my BGE and I wasn't very happy with them until I started doing them pretty similar to this guy.

I've done one competition and got 1st in Brisket...It came out fantastic.

A few things I do that I really like:
1) I inject using a beef flavoring injection
2) Depending on if you use the platesetter or a different kind of heat deflector, I foil the two ends of the grid in order to make sure the whole brisket is not getting direct heat. (I also suggest doing a whole brisket from sams/costco rather than just the flat, much more difficult)
3) Fat side DOWN - I always did fat side up until I tried it on the egg. I will never do fat side up again on the Egg.
4) Grid level temp at 275

I really like Pecan Wood but you can't get it at the grocery stores, you'll have to go to BBQ Galore, or a place like that.

Good Luck!

Brisket Info

Plano_JJ · January 2013

friscoag said:

Plano - Hey bud, read this website. I did a lot of briskets on my BGE and I wasn't very happy with them until I started doing them pretty similar to this guy.

I've done one competition and got 1st in Brisket...It came out fantastic.

A few things I do that I really like:
1) I inject using a beef flavoring injection
2) Depending on if you use the platesetter or a different kind of heat deflector, I foil the two ends of the grid in order to make sure the whole brisket is not getting direct heat. (I also suggest doing a whole brisket from sams/costco rather than just the flat, much more difficult)
3) Fat side DOWN - I always did fat side up until I tried it on the egg. I will never do fat side up again on the Egg.
4) Grid level temp at 275

I really like Pecan Wood but you can't get it at the grocery stores, you'll have to go to BBQ Galore, or a place like that.

Good Luck!

Brisket Info

Thanks for the info. I discovered that site yesterday, lots to read and process. I use my platesetter. So what size brisket do you normally get? Sam's has some fine meat. So what is your thermo on the egg reading when your grid is at 275? Dont know if your familiar with them or not but Hirsch's meats at Alma/Parker sells any kind of wood you could imagine. Its all loose, 1.99lb. You just put what you want in a bag and weigh it. I have used Pecan on other things and it worked well. Thanks again. This thread turned out to be wealth of information.

friscoag · January 2013

I've heard about Hirsch but I haven't been there. Didn't know about the wood. I'll have to check that out. My wife is the school nurse at Williams High in Plano. There is a nice meat market in Frisco that I like to go to. Matador Meat and Wine. I got my Prime Grade Brisket for the competition from there. Great place, good people.

I have the CyberQ Wifi so it controls my temp to right at 275, but really I don't know if my dome temp gauge is off a little in a good way, but it nearly always reads within 5 degrees of my actual grid temp.

I typically buy the choice grade at Costco and it normally is somewhere around $30 for a good size brisket, 13lb range maybe. I just go through them and see which one I can bend the most and that's my guy.

Oh and I see your an LSU fan, we are going to the A&M game in Baton Rouge this upcoming year, can't wait!

Plano_JJ · January 2013

Its a good place but the meat is pricey. Its worth it to go for the wood selection. I found Sams Angus to be just as good. Small world my wife is a nurse as well down at Baylor Surgicare. Matador, is that the place behind 5 Guys on Preston? If it is, my 6 yr old daughter about jumped out the truck last time we went by there going to Yogurtee. She said "Dad! theres a Green Egg in that place!"

Thanks for the info. Yes, LSU since birth, born and raised in Baton Rouge, went to LSU but didnt finish there. Ya'll got a great team, us not so much. You will have a ball. If you have never been tailgating down there, hit me up before you go and I will point you in the right direction and tell you how to get fed and well lubricated. LSU fans love to feed people.

JRWhitee · January 2013

I use the Friscoag/Bubba Tims as well. Fantastic! This was last Super Bowl, doing another one this Super Bowl.

friscoag · January 2013

man JR that looks good

The Cen-Tex Smoker · January 2013

I think that brisket is going bad. It has yellow stuff all over it.

)

Eggcelsior · January 2013

Mickey has been peeing on more than just metal.

Solson005 · January 2013

Here is my method of cooking Flats which are easier to find around me and much cheaper. I use a BBQ Guru so I don't have any tips to keep it low. Hope it helps.

Flat out Tasty

2nd Brisket, still struggling

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