1st Brisket - Feedback


 
D

Drew Baker

New member
Hello all -

I've smoked many things on my WSM and Kettle/Performer, but hadn't ever done a brisket. Did my first brisket last weekend and came away not knowing how to improve:

Setup:
18.5" Performer Kettle. Used bricks to keep heat indirect.
18lb brisket (large, I know). Don't know that I did the best trimming job, but tried to follow Franklin's youtube video recommendations.
Kept it at 250-300 for about 7-8 hours. Then foiled it and put it back on. Pulled it off at about 204-206 internal. Rested in cooler for 2 hours.

Review and questions:
I could not "slice" the brisket as you typically would. It more "shredded". Assuming I overcooked it? Over foil it? Part of me wondered if I just had a really bad knife, because I had never tried to cut something like a brisket before.
It tasted amazing. Everyone raved - but it ended up being more like a chopped brisket instead of sliced brisket.

Was it on to long? Does not having the right knife also hurt my chance of slicing a nice brisket? Could use some help as it tasted so great we want to do it again!

Thanks!
 
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Some pictures would go a long way, but my guess is that you overcooked it. You should open the foil and let it vent before you put it in the cooler to rest. The best way is to let it cool to 170 then wrap it up and rest it. That will stop the brisket from continuing to cook in the cooler. I don't think you overfoiled in any way. A good roast carving knife would certainly help keep it the slices together more. Also if you do overcook it, you can compensate somewhat by cutting bigger slices.
 
Since you brought up the knife, you weren't by chance using a serrated knife, were you? Ages ago I attended a party where the host had prepared roast turkey and was trying to slice it with a serrated bread knife. It totally mangled every slice. I suggested switching to a regular knife and the slices started coming off just as desired.

If you were using a straight edge, sharp knife, then I'd guess it was overcooked. As pretty much everyone around here will tell you, with brisket and pork butt you want to go by feel, not by temperature. As soon as a probe feels like it's going through warm butter in all spots, you're done. Pull it off the heat. I personally recommend letting it cool on the counter to about 160F, then wrapping/foiling and holding in an insulated container or a barely warm oven until it's been off the smoker for at least an hour, two or three would be better. Others aren't fussy about the temp prior to going into the holding phase. I had a bad result with some pork butt once that convinced me the initial cool down was a good idea. You likely wouldn't have much trouble either way with a single brisket.

Glad to hear your efforts at least tasted good. I reheated the last of the flat from my last brisket last night, warming it in a saucepan with a cup of beef broth. By the time it was warmed through it had mostly fallen into shreds. It was still a huge hit with my visiting nephews who asked if they could take some home with them.
 
If your brisket was moist it was the knife.
If the brisket was dry it was overcooked a bit.
I use an electric knife to slice my brisket, I think an electric knife is a very worthwhile gadget.
 
Lots of questions come to mind not the least of which is:
1-If you had the WSM, why didn’t you use that or, was this more a “Can I make this work?” project?
2- What knife DID you use?
The thing to remember is, if everyone liked it you did just fine!
Learn from this and figure out what to change up next time but, I suggest making no more than two changes at a time and one is even safer. The knife can play a significant role in better slices, I use the longest sharpest piece of cutlery I have for careful slicing until now... my wife is giving me a slicer for Christmas! I know because I ordered it! I have the best wife ever!
Consequently, I’m planning a New Year’s Day brisket feast so I can test the rascal out!!!
 
Usually, shredded means "over." However, like others have said, too tender and a serrated knife will "shred" the meat.

Did you add broth to the foil when you wrapped? If not, add a cup or so along the side of the brisket and wrap.
 
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