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Brisket...please tell me where I went wrong

So..attempted my first brisket yesterday. i bought  5 lb flat. When I saw it, I was surprised how thin a fat layer it had on it. Some parts had none at all.
Did my dry rub, and injected beef broth.
Stabilized the Egg at 260 and place brisket on grill over plate setter. Put my Maverick in the meat.
I noticed within an hour or so it was up over 160 degrees, and plateau at 172. Sat there for about 45 mins, and then put in a pyrex dish with beef broth and foil. Back on the egg until internal was 205 ( about 1.5 hrs).
Took it off to do FTC and noticed it wasn't very soft. Not feeling tender, but did FTC anyway.
After 2 hrs I took it out to trim. It was solid as a rock! Tastey, but solid.
Where did i screw up??
Help please!!
Ninety feet between bases is perhaps as close as man has ever come to perfection." -- Red Smith

Comments

  • ShadowNick
    ShadowNick Posts: 533
    May have needed to go a bit higher in internal temp.  You know its done when a skewer or temp probe slides in and out like butter.  With low and slows target temps are just suggestions, every piece of meat is different and may be done at different temps
    Pentwater, MI
  • I'm no expert, but I wouldn't pull the brisket during the plateau.  You want to keep it in that stall range for as long as is possible while the connective tissues all turn to collagen.  Rather than going strictly by temp, I start using a probe to check the "doneness" around 185-190.  Once the probe slides in and out as if the brisket were butter - and not a second before - I pull the brisket (this is where you would separate the point if you were doing a packer with burnt ends) and FTC the flat.  That's when you can add the beef broth, if you want (although I don't).

    I also wonder if a smaller flat with less fat might require a lower cook temp, too, but I think interrupting the stall is probably the culprit here - not enough collagen conversion time makes for *firm* meat, to say the least.

    [Northern] Virginia is for [meat] lovers.
  • fishlessman
    fishlessman Posts: 32,659
    sounds like it cooked way to fast, did you check your dome gage in boiling water to see if its reading right, maybe the meat probe was in a spot giving a false reading as maybe in a fat pocket. i wouldnt have taken it off the egg until it was fork tender, it sounds like it needed more cooking time
    fukahwee maine

    you can lead a fish to water but you can not make him drink it
  • I don't cook them that way but sounds like you did everything right to me for that kind of cook. I think the culprit was the 5 lb trimmed out flat. You didn't mention what grade it was? I can say your window to get a 5lb trimmed select grade flat to behave is very narrow. If you find it, there are about 50 people on here who would love to know where.


    Keepin' It Weird in The ATX FBTX
  • pirates21
    pirates21 Posts: 74
    I feel so stupid that I picked such a tough brisket to start with. The butcher said it was Canada AAA which is supposedly like USDA choice, but I doubt it really was. Next time I will go whole brisket and get it from Costco. I hear they have some nice briskets.
    Thanks to all who answered. I am still open to more answers!!


    Ninety feet between bases is perhaps as close as man has ever come to perfection." -- Red Smith
  • Cowdogs
    Cowdogs Posts: 491
    I don't cook them that way but sounds like you did everything right to me for that kind of cook. I think the culprit was the 5 lb trimmed out flat. You didn't mention what grade it was? I can say your window to get a 5lb trimmed select grade flat to behave is very narrow. If you find it, there are about 50 people on here who would love to know where.


    x2 ... Your biggest mistake was probably made at the grocery store.  
  • pirates21 said:
    I feel so stupid that I picked such a tough brisket to start with. The butcher said it was Canada AAA which is supposedly like USDA choice, but I doubt it really was. Next time I will go whole brisket and get it from Costco. I hear they have some nice briskets.
    Thanks to all who answered. I am still open to more answers!!


    If you are going to take brisket fails personally, you are going to be a sad dude :))

    Don't sweat it, I had to cook dozens of them before they were even edible. briskets really take a long time for most people to get consistently right. Flats are way harder than packers and trimmed flats???? forget it.You learned something so move forward and go at it again. You'll get it.


    Keepin' It Weird in The ATX FBTX
  • pirates21
    pirates21 Posts: 74
    I will hold my head high then. Thanks!! Did some killer salmon, so I feel better now. Until the next brisket...
    Ninety feet between bases is perhaps as close as man has ever come to perfection." -- Red Smith
  • GlennM
    GlennM Posts: 1,358
    I am in Canada (Cambridge, ont ) and haven't found a brisket at Costco. I look every time I'm there. I picked one up at the local butcher last weekend. Was a brisket with point an weighed about 8 lbs. Came out great, sandwiches for lunch!
    In the bush just East of Cambridge,Ontario 
  • Charlie tuna
    Charlie tuna Posts: 2,191
    I did a brisket yesterday about the same size as your's, and i am just learning brisket so i kept an eye on the temperatures.  As stated above, something is wrong with the first hour temperature readings which points to your cooking too hot.  I would do a calibration check on your stat.  I started mine and it was 42 degrees, at the end of the first hour it was 58 degrees, your's was 160 degrees???  I was trying to maintain 225, but my egg was running 250.  My total time was nine hours. 
  • pirates21
    pirates21 Posts: 74
    Charlie,
    I my dome temp was about 290, grill was 260. Not sure why temp rose so high so quickly. AI think I will just try a packer next time.
    Ninety feet between bases is perhaps as close as man has ever come to perfection." -- Red Smith
  • Charlie tuna
    Charlie tuna Posts: 2,191
    Well, i was shooting for a grid temperature of 225, but my egg can't hold it there and floated up around 250 to 260 most of the cook so we were about the same, if your temperature was correct??  My grid temperature is read off my DigiQ.  I pulled it at an internal of 205 degrees.  It came out very tender.  I thought a packer was even harder to cook?
  • Chubbs
    Chubbs Posts: 6,929

    For me packers are a little harder because the flat and point cook at slightly different speeds. I usually have to pull it, remove the point, then put flat back on until fork tender. Then back inside to slice the point up for burnt ends. I wish you could buy the point only! I prefer pulled pork over just a flat anyday of the week. But burnt ends are hard to beat....

     

    pirates21, if you cut the flat with the grain instead of across the grain, it can lead to a tougher end product. Just a thought.  

    Columbia, SC --- LBGE 2011 -- MINI BGE 2013
  • pirates21
    pirates21 Posts: 74
    It was cut propery, but I think my first clue it wasn't going well, was when I took it off and pulled out the thermo, there was a lot of resistance. I took it out because it read 205, but I guess it wasn't ready even though it was grey inside?
    Ninety feet between bases is perhaps as close as man has ever come to perfection." -- Red Smith
  • TexanOfTheNorth
    TexanOfTheNorth Posts: 3,951
    GlennM said:
    I am in Canada (Cambridge, ont ) and haven't found a brisket at Costco. I look every time I'm there. I picked one up at the local butcher last weekend. Was a brisket with point an weighed about 8 lbs. Came out great, sandwiches for lunch!
    @GleenM, I was just at Costco this weekend and they had some flats. I tapped on the window and asked one of the butchers about a packer and they brought one out for me to look at. They'd probably have them at your Costco if you asked.
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Well, "spa-Peggy" is kind of like spaghetti. I'm not sure what Peggy does different, if anything. But it's the one dish she's kind of made her own.
    ____________________
    Aurora, Ontario, Canada