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Help - cooking brisket - need advice quickly!

Hi all:

I'm cooking only my 3rd brisket ever but the first brisket this summer.  I can't remember if past briskets have done this, but I'm feeling very paranoid about the cook so far.

 

Put the brisket on at 4:15 AM.  Temperature was 250 at grill level.  Temperature has fluctuated between 240-250 with very very short spikes at 260.  At 11:30 AM (7 hours later or so), I'm already at 179 degrees!  Doesn't this seem totally abnormal? I seem to have shot right through the stall which allegedly occurs at 260.  Could I be stalling now? The temperature has been between 173-179 for the past 2 hours.  Is this the dreaded stall I hear about so often? I am just afraid that I am messing up this 14 lb packer brisket and drying it to heaven by cooking it so fast.  Is my temp too high?

 

Just looking for reassurance that I am fine or confirmation that I am hosed!

 

Thanks,

 

Kim

Comments

  • nolaegghead
    nolaegghead Posts: 42,102
    Make sure your thermometer is calibrated.  You're in the stall, I wouldn't worry. 
    ______________________________________________
    I love lamp..
  • travisstrick
    travisstrick Posts: 5,002
    Prepare for stall any min. You are just fine.
    Be careful, man! I've got a beverage here.
  • pkaboo1
    pkaboo1 Posts: 115

    I usually run 225-250. My last brisket, 10lbs, stalled twice, 140-145, 4hrs,

    then again at 175-180. Have a beer, you should be fine.

    Snellville,Ga.
  • Kimmykins
    Kimmykins Posts: 12

    Thanks everybody for the input.  We are having guests over for dinner tonight and feeling particularly neurotic and anxious.  Your reassurances are appreciated.

  • TexanOfTheNorth
    TexanOfTheNorth Posts: 3,951
    Firstly, don't worry about your grill temp flucuations; they're not enough to matter.

    Secondly, maybe it was a typo, but the stall usually occurs when the internal temp of the brisket is somewhere in the 170* range, it has nothing to do with the grill temp being 260*.

    Thirdly, like the others have said you're in the stall right now so don't panic.

    Finally, remember to post pics when it's done or none of this ever happened!


    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    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
  • boatbum
    boatbum Posts: 1,273

    I think you are fine.   Stall start is not specific to a temp - you are probably in it right now.

    Once your meat gets up to 195+ then start probing it with a toothpick.   When it feels like sticking a toothpick in a jar of jelly - you are done.   Once you feel it you will know it - and get ready you will feel it in some places of the brisket before the others.

    Cookin in Texas
  • lousubcap
    lousubcap Posts: 32,168
    Couple of things to plan for once you get through the stall-brisket is finished when you can probe the thickest part of the flat with no resistance in or out-and that can occur from around 190*F into the low 200's (flat temp).  The point will run hotter than the flat but don't worrry about how it is cooking-take care of the flat anf the point rides along just fine.  Always slice against the grain and don't slice til ready to eat is it will dry out quite quickly.
    Louisville; Rolling smoke in the neighbourhood. # 38 for the win.  Life is too short for light/lite beer!  Seems I'm livin in a transitional period.
  • Kimmykins
    Kimmykins Posts: 12

    TexanoftheNorth: you called the typo correctly.  I meant to say that I was expecting the stall at 160 degrees, not 260.  Dang, that would be a dry piece of brisket. 

     

    Update: You guys called it.  I am definitely in the stall now.  It's 2:00 PM (2.5 hours later), and my temp got up to 183 or so and now is back down to 179.  So, now that I've reached the stall, I'm now getting anxious about getting out of it in time to rest the meat and have company eating it by 7:00 PM.  Smoking is definitely a wave of anxiety

    [-O<
  • pkaboo1
    pkaboo1 Posts: 115

    Your anxiety is caused by not enough beer.

    You are fine. pix,pix,pix, or like Tex said, it didn't happen.

     

    Snellville,Ga.
  • Little Steven
    Little Steven Posts: 28,817
    Do you have a maverick probe in the meat or are you checking it with a Thermapen style instant read. I guess I'm asking if you are checking the same spot exactly?

    Steve 

    Caledon, ON

     

  • lousubcap
    lousubcap Posts: 32,168
    If you get pushed for time then you can dial up the BGE to around 300*F on the dome to help it along.  And if you really get up against it-google "texas crutch" (the wrapping on the brisket in foil) to finish it off.  You will lose the bark texture if you foil but that may be better than starving guests.  Always a crap shoot with the long cooks.  But the wait will be worth it.  FWIW-
    Louisville; Rolling smoke in the neighbourhood. # 38 for the win.  Life is too short for light/lite beer!  Seems I'm livin in a transitional period.
  • Kimmykins
    Kimmykins Posts: 12

    Ha, PKA... if I didn't have to pick up my kids from a tennis lesson, I'd have been imbibing this afternoon already.

     

    Little Steven: I am using a Maverick Probe and just have it shoved into the fattest part of the flat. I also have an instant read thermometer and probed several spots.  The point is hotter and definitely feeling a bit whoreish, if you know what I mean.  Several spots in the flat are between 180 and 184. 

    Since I have everybody's attention, though... allow me to vent some additional anxieties.... So I am also cooking a butt... It's small and bone-in... maybe around 7-8 pounds.  I cooked it on an extender above the butt and put it on at the same time as the brisket, so it's been on 10.5 hrs at this point.  Temperature probe in several places give me a reading from 193-195.  It feels pretty loose...but I wouldn't say "soft jello" consistency.  Does this seem like an awfully fast cook for a butt? Dome temp thermometer read 275 or so fairly consistently.  Do you guys usually pull around 195?

  • Kimmykins
    Kimmykins Posts: 12
    For clarity, I'm talking about pulling the butt at 195, not the brisket.  Or, do you guys also go by the touch/feel/molester method for butts too? (pun totally intended)
  • TexanOfTheNorth
    TexanOfTheNorth Posts: 3,951
    195* is okay for pulling the butt but, use the probe test on that just like the brisket. You can easily FTC that butt until dinner tonight... don't pull (i.e., shred) the butt until right before you're ready to server it.
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    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
  • lousubcap
    lousubcap Posts: 32,168
    Best finish indicator for the butt is when the bone pulls clean-and it sounds like you are getting close.  Your cook time is in the ball-park given your temp and the fact that temps are hotter when cooking higher in the dome on indirects.  Send SWMBO to get the kids :)
    Louisville; Rolling smoke in the neighbourhood. # 38 for the win.  Life is too short for light/lite beer!  Seems I'm livin in a transitional period.
  • Little Steven
    Little Steven Posts: 28,817
    You don't have to get pulled pork mushy. You just want to be able to pull it easily. That said, won't hurt to go a little longer. I would guess you are right on schedule with the brisket. As others have said you can bump temp or foil if it's not done a couple of hours before serving.

    Steve 

    Caledon, ON

     

  • Kimmykins
    Kimmykins Posts: 12
    Lou: I AM the SWMBO.... It's like Alaska up here in the BGE forum  :D
  • lousubcap
    lousubcap Posts: 32,168

    Now that I have inserted foot in mouth-glad you are enjoying the BGE!

    Louisville; Rolling smoke in the neighbourhood. # 38 for the win.  Life is too short for light/lite beer!  Seems I'm livin in a transitional period.
  • Wolfpack
    Wolfpack Posts: 3,551
    okay then send HWWBO instead :))
    Greensboro, NC
  • boatbum
    boatbum Posts: 1,273
    lousubcap said:

    Now that I have inserted foot in mouth-glad you are enjoying the BGE!

    Sprinkle some Dizzy Pig inside your shoes.   You will still have your foot in your mouth but it will taste better.....    LOL
    Cookin in Texas
  • lousubcap
    lousubcap Posts: 32,168
    I'll just apply straight-no sense wasting on the shoes!
    Louisville; Rolling smoke in the neighbourhood. # 38 for the win.  Life is too short for light/lite beer!  Seems I'm livin in a transitional period.