Brisket Emergency - Help!


 
S

S. Dover

TVWBB Fan
Got a brisket in the WSM. I noticed my meat temp had only gone up 1 degreee the first hour. I checked and the probe was unplugged from the transmitter. I plugged it back and the meat temp read 150+. No way - not in the first hour. So I moved the probe in the meat. Same result. Checked calibaration on another probe and plugged it in. Same result 150+. What's the deal. I know the meat is not at that temp. What could it be? Could it be probe placement?

HELP!

Ole Smokey
 
Maybe try boiling some water and checking to see what temperature your probe reads. Naturally, if at sea level, it should be about 212 degrees.
 
been there - done that. Thought it might be the batteries so I used the new probe on the trasmitter that was reading high. Everything was ok.

I have removed the probe from the brisket for now. Will check the temp again in a couple of hours. In the meantime, I will be scratching my cold head
icon_confused.gif
 
So how's it going?

One thing to remember is temperature of the brisket is just a guideline, the real test is how it feels. An instant read thermo is really all you need. When is glides throught the flat, almost difficult to tell whether its fat or meat, you're there. Knowing temperature throughout the cook is really only good for satisfing curiosities, but isn't necessary for producing outstanding brisket.

Cooker temperature is much more important, but even after awhile and many cooks you'll be able to ballpark guess if its ok by placing your hand on the lid...although I could never cook with that much confidence in my 'hand thermo', some do.

Let us know how it went.
 
I love my electronic thermometers as much as anyone else, but I'm also glad to have a low-tech dial-type instant read thermometer (actually, 3 since you can never buy one of anything at Sam's) available in case I begin to doubt the readings I'm getting. A good quality analog meat thermometer (that you have tested for accuracy) should be in your "tool kit".
 
If you are cooking a flat, I've found my temps to get to 150 very quickly - in less than 2 hours definitely. Then I usually hit a long plateau - like 5-6 hours.

So... if you were around 250 or even more for any of your early smoke, then it's very possible that your temps are reading correctly.

Anyhow, this is all after the fact. How did it turn out?

- Adam
 
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