Brisket Fail, Please help

Martello_Penne · February 2017

I tried my first ever brisket last night using Aaron Frankiln's book as a guide. It was a nearly 11# grasped brisket from Whole Foods, it came trimmed and in the interest of full disclosure I immediately felt that they'd trimmed too much from the fat cap, it was under an inch.

I woke up at 3:30 AM, completely cleaned out the firebox, added large pieces of FOGO Lump and Oak and had a good stabilized fire at 275 by 5AM and put the brisket on. I used a BBQ Guru to maintain an dome temp of 275. There seemed to be a 10 degree discrepancy between the guru and the BGE Dome Thermometer with the dome thermo seemingly running hot.I left the Brisket untouched for 3 straight hours checking the temp to make sure I was good to go every 30-45 minutes. In the third hour the batteries ran out on the guru and when I came out to check the temp it was hovering around 200. I replaced the batteries and was back up to 275 in no time. I decided to give it another hour untouched before I started spritzing every 30-40 minutes.

We expected to wrap the brisket at the six hour mark, but with the "lost hour" I decided to let it ride and given an internal temp of 160 at the six hour mark it felt like we were still in the stall and let it ride to hour seven. at Hour seven the internal was 169/170. We wrapped the brisket in Butcher paper and put it back on.

Two hours later internal temp was still 170, three hours later still 170. we are now at 10 hours without getting anywhere near the 203 internal temp that Aaron Franklin says to pull it at. 11 hours in I pulled it, internal temp still showing 170. I let it rest for an hour and sliced it up. Smoke ring was incredible, and the overall taste was great but it was completely dried out.

Please help, what the hell went wrong?

The Cen-Tex Smoker · February 2017

it wasn't dried out- it was way underdone. I have never seen one stall out that long once wrapped but they are done when they are done. At 170 it will be a piece of leather. What you think of as moisture or "juice" in a finished brisket is actually collagen that melts at a higher internal temp. All the actual "juice" (water/blood) is squeezed out during the stall. If you don't wait for the collagen (195-205-ish) to melt you are going to have a dry-ass brisket.

lkapigian · February 2017

It wasn't done at 170..put it on,leave it alone...if you need to get through a stall, bump the temp...I wrap, but I never open,the egg until 165 ish...never open it again until 200 then probe

ToTheMax · February 2017

First time I made brisket, I was impatient, and pulled it off at about 180F. It tasted like leather.

Next time I made brisket, I waited till ~205F, and it was juicy and good.

I read something here about something something starts to melt above a certain temperature, and yadda yadda yadda, something something don't pull it off too early. Hope that helps

Hntnhrd · February 2017

I am no expert but most briskets will "stall" at that 160 to 170 range. Wrapping should have pushed you thru that so don't know what happened there. The ones I have done have taken 12 to 14 hours to hit 200+ degrees. Brisket is a trial by fire cook. My first one came out like yours. Tasted good but was tough and dry. Next two feel apart but tasted like pot roast. Last few were finally on point.

GaryLange · February 2017

You have to go by internal temp on the brisket not on time. It went into a long stall but you pulled it way to soon. 195-205 is better temp to pull as long as it is soft and easy to probe. Get another one an try again don't give up.

lkapigian · February 2017

Cut it up and make chili

ToTheMax · February 2017

lkapigian said:

Cut it up and make chili

This is a great idea. One of the best chili's I've made was with smoked brisket.

lousubcap · February 2017

Give the search function here or add egghead forum to a google query for brisket cook info. You can easily become overloaded. That above said, here are a few good links to look over:
http://www.amazingribs.com/recipes/beef/texas_brisket.html
http://www.bubbatim.com/Bubba_s_Brisket.php
http://playingwithfireandsmoke.blogspot.com/1996/03/brisket.html

The cow drives the cook and as above, it's all about the feel. Back on the cow for another go.

Martello_Penne · February 2017

Thanks everyone, I was prepared for a stall, and even prepared to doubt myself in the stall but damn if it didn't seem like something had gone wrong at 11 hours. Thanks for the advice, next time I'll ride it out. I should have just sat on it until half-time of the Super Bowl. Everything got better at the half anyway.

It will be going into chili tonight.

SmokeyPitt · February 2017

It does seem like this one took a longer than it should. At 275 I would guesstimate 1 hour per lb so you should have been crossing the finish line after 11 hours, but you did loose an hour.

Keep in mind it will hold in a cooler with towels for 4-5 hours no problem so next time just start early. It makes things much less stressful. My brisket was snugged up in the cooler 2 hours before kick off so I took a nap before my guests arrived

.

YukonRon · February 2017

There will be a lot of advice offered to you, the bottom line, neither you or the BGE, will make any brisket you cook, follow the rules, no matter what Aaron Franklin says.
Pull it from the BGE when there is zero resistance while inserting a probe in the thickest part of the flat. That is when it is done.
I generally cook prime, and have found that temps around 190F to 205F seem to be the sweet spot for doneness. At 190F, that is when I start probing, Cooking choice, I start probing about 195F. Just my rule of thumb, others may/will say different.
I have had my share of chili cooks from brisket, and my share of the best I have ever tasted. This is a cook, only for those with patience. You will have hella fails, and you will have astounding delicious results.
Great write up. Better luck next time. Brisket is worth the learning curve.

Brisket Fail, Please help

Comments

Categories