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First Post, First Brisket

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meatman1
meatman1 Posts: 5
in EggHead Forum
Have been an active reader for the past few months, but this is my first post. Got an egg for Christmas and I have been hooked ever since. For the first month or two I had it I was using the egg about 5 out of 7 nights a week for mostly just grill cooks. I've smoked a few butts and I believe they came out pretty well.

Anyway, brisket. I had done a brisket about 2 years back in an electric smoker. Wasn't great, wasn't horrible. I went Saturday and picked up a 10# packer from GFS. Trimmed the hard fat off and put a rub on Saturday evening. Up at 5AM and brisket on at 6:30AM Sunday. Not sure if the following is normal... 10:30 the IT was 164, 11:30 IT was 161, 12:30 IT was 159, 1:30 IT was 157, 3:30 IT was 155. Sat at 155 for about 30 minutes then started to take off. 5:00 IT was up to 181. Dome temp sat spot on at 225 the entire cook (why I love the thing). I cranked it up to 250 at 4:30 and wrapped in foil. I was not pressed for time, but our guests were. Tried to turn the egg up to 300 at 5:30 but I was about out of charcoal and it didn't want to budge. So, oven it went at 300. by 6:30 I was at IT of 197 and I could only let it rest for about a half hour. IT was 200 prior to slicing.

Wish I could have just let it sit at 225 the entire time, no wrap, and just wait it out. Is a 9 degree drop common? 

Anyway, I felt it turned out fairly well for my first attempt. It was not dry at all, but it wasn't extremely tender like I was dreaming of. Everyone else thought it was great and couldn't have turned out better. 

Every single cook is a learning experience.

Also, as a side note, I felt it shrunk a good amount. Normal?

MBGE

36" Blackstone Griddle

Ft. Myers, FL
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  • bikesAndBBQ
    bikesAndBBQ Posts: 284
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    At 225, everything you stated is normal and expected. At any temp, the brisket will shrink a good amount. My only word of caution would be to avoid cranking the temp high at the end for briskets. That can lead to them drying out. Briskets really benefit with stable temps. Just my opinion. If you want to speed up the cook, run the egg a little higher at 250-275.  Anyways, the brisket looks fine to me. 
    Pittsburgh, PA. LBGE
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  • lousubcap
    lousubcap Posts: 32,378
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    Welcome aboard and continue to enjoy the journey.  Above all, have fun.
    For your first brisket, that turned out great.  Way to get after it. Congrats.
    I would offer a couple of observations:  
    Most BGE's have a natural sweet spot somewhere in the 240-270*F range.  Cooking in that range gives you a bigger fire with less chance of it going out during the cook.  It also will cut down on the cook time although the friggin cow drives the cook.  
    Regarding what you saw in the stall, yes that is not an uncommon event.  Also the shrinkage is normal.  
    Lump load- you can load it right up high into the fire ring to eliminate any chance of running out of fuel during a cook.  Your fuel load about doubles from the top of the fire-box to the top of the ring.  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.
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  • Theophan
    Theophan Posts: 2,654
    edited April 2018
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    I heartily agree on raising the cooking temp.  There is no advantage to temps below 250°, I really think the smoke and smoke flavor might actually be better at 250° and above, and obviously it cuts down on how long it takes to cook a brisket.  I think Aaron Franklin smokes his briskets at around 275°.

    I'm not a brisket expert, but I'm guessing your brisket wasn't as tender as you'd hoped because it wasn't quite done, yet.  Internal temps are only a rough guide with brisket and pork butts -- the way to tell whether it's done or not is whether it probes tender.

    And I haven't wrapped briskets, but there's no shame in doing so -- Aaron Franklin does, after all, and he sure knows more about brisket than I do!  :)
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  • SSQUAL612
    SSQUAL612 Posts: 1,186
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    Also, as a side note, I felt it shrunk a good amount. Normal?

    Yes...it’s normal.
    Tyler, TX   XL BGE 2016, KJ Classic 2019,  MES, 18.5 WSM,  Akorn Jr,  36"&17" Black Stone, Adj Rig, Woo, Grill Grates, SS Smokeware Cap, KAB,  FB 300, Thermapen 
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  • pasoegg
    pasoegg Posts: 447
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    nice swing at it...If there were no leftovers - the cook was a hit!

    "it is never too early to drink, but it may be too early to be seen drinking"

    Winston-Salem, NC

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  • logchief
    logchief Posts: 1,415
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    Welcome to the circus.  Nice work, must have been pretty tasty.
    LBGE - I like the hot stuff.  The big dry San Joaquin Valley, Clovis, CA 
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