Help Me Improve My Next Brisket!

Team TVWBB,

After several successful pork shoulders and one (somewhat) successful baby back rib cook on my 18" WSM, I decided to try my hand at brisket. Turned out pretty good. Tender, and the bark was great. Tasted good. But it was a little dry. The first few bites I had when I was carving were fantastic, but somehow it all seemed to dry out by the time it was served shortly thereafter. It wasn't bad, and no one complained--but I can't help thinking it should be better.

So...I'm looking for a little advice. Below I'm going to describe my procedure and then list some variables that I'm considering changing. I'd love to hear from folks who think that one (or more) of my listed variables would make a significant difference, or if anyone has any other ideas.

First, the cook itself: I started with a seven pound choice flat. I trimmed it pretty aggressively, removing probably about a pound of fat--I was trying to emulate what I read in Aaron Franklin's book. I know his method isn't the only way to achieve a great result, but I enjoyed the book and thought I'd follow his advice and see where it took me. The rub was salt and pepper. Wood was a mix of oak and cherry. Put the brisket on fat-side down, although there wasn't much fat left. My target temperature was 275 (again, following Franklin's advice), and I kept it in the neighborhood of 250-275 the entire time using my BBQ Guru. The bark set a bit later then I expected temperature wise, but looked good after four hours when the meat was at 169. At that point I started spritzing with a Worcestershire sauce and water mix. But I only got two spritzes in before it left the stall at the five hour mark; I then wrapped it in butcher paper when the meat was at 175. My goal was to pull at 203, but I ended up pulling at 197 at the nine hour mark after the meat went into a second stall; it has been holding close to 197 for about hour and a half. I then wrapped in foil and waited an hour before carving.

Next, here are some ideas I have for possible improvement:

Leave More Fat? I was aiming for 1/4 inch, but that was tough--probably was a bit less than that. Could definitely see mostly meat on the bottom.

Wrap Sooner? Advice seems mixed on when to wrap. My goal (which I executed) was to wrap when the meat was leaving the stall. But I know many seem to wrap sooner, for example at 150 or whenever the bark sets. Do folks think it would be moister if I wrapped sooner?

Rest Longer? I figured an hour would be enough--I've had good luck resting my pork shoulders for an hour. Does brisket need longer?

Target a Different Pit Temp? Does anyone think 275 is too decisively too high? I started out thinking I'd go 225 all day, all the way, for everything. But most people/recipes seem to suggest that as long as you keep it under 275 you'll be fine. I've bumped up my pork shoulders to a higher temp the past two cooks and had no ill-effects. Is brisket more sensitive to higher heat?

Target a Different Final Temp? Should I have just held out until I hit the 203 I was aiming for? Or should I have pulled earlier?

Inject? Seems to be mixed opinions out there on this. I'd be interested in hearing about the reasoning/methods of those in the pro-injection camp.

Different Meat? Does bigger necessarily mean juicer? How about doing a point instead of a flat? Do I need to find and pay for a prime cut? Do a whole brisket? I'm not crazy about going for a bigger, whole brisket. I've got plenty of leftovers as it is. But the butcher shop I bought from would sell me a point.

As always, thanks for listening and thanks for your advice in advance!

I think you are on the right track. A couple of things stand out. Don't cook to a certain internal temp. You need to go by feel. The probe test is a good method. A longer rest could help a lot. If you slice a brisket all at once try to keep it together to keep it from drying out after you slice. You clearly have thought this out. Good luck!

Ok, so I've had a chance to sit down at a computer and read this. Another thing I noticed from the cook part is that you also need to make sure that you let the brisket vent before you wrap in foil and put in the cooler, so that you stop the cooking process. Let it drop down to 170 or sit in the open for about 30 to 45 minutes. Then wrap in foil and put in a cooler with towels, or whatever.

Leave More Fat?
You can. A 1/4 inch to 1/8 inch is what's suggested. That little bit of fat sort of supplements what's absent from lean flat meat and contributes to a more succulent mouthfeel. Some people want to cut it off. That's fine.

Wrap Sooner?
I think you are on to something with this. I would wait until your bark is formed but it did seem like you wrapped late.

Rest Longer?
I think it would help with your meat appearing to dry out as you slice it.

Different Pit Temp?
Maybe. This is probably the most controversial. I've gotten probably my best results cooking lower, but there are so many factors that come into play that I can't say this was the one thing. I'd keep doing what you are doing or experiment.

Different finishing temp
I discussed this. Go with the probe test. The probe should go into the flat like room temperature butter. Try comparing it to the point which is usually tender first.

Inject
I'm against this, but you could inject with phosphates to retain more fluid.

Different Meat
I like to cook whole packers. I think it helps and the point is the best part. I haven't had the best luck with either alone. Going with prime is always a plus. I think that's a big part of Franklin's success. He was doing that early on.

I'm sorta surprised nobody else said this....

Practice.

Practice.

Practice.

It only gets better.

Having said that... Personally, it took me a long time to understand that a long rest is a good thing, at least for me. I plan on at least 2, 4 is not out of the question. This weekend, I'm shooting for pulling the brisket out of the smoker at 2:00 PM for dinner at 6:00 PM. With a decent cooler, your brisket will still be plenty warm.

I leave more of a fat cap on. I'll also admit to being a bit of a heretic here, I'm not on a Weber, I don't have to worry about flare-ups or other problems with grease drippings. I can easily trim the cap at service. I will take that knob of hard fat off, and I do prefer full packer briskets.

I prefer a longer, lower, smoke, but I'm also set up for a fully automated control that many aren't.

I've never injected a brisket, but I've also only been smoking for a few years.

JKalchik said:

I'm sorta surprised nobody else said this....

Practice.

Practice.

Practice.

It only gets better.

Having said that... Personally, it took me a long time to understand that a long rest is a good thing, at least for me. I plan on at least 2, 4 is not out of the question. This weekend, I'm shooting for pulling the brisket out of the smoker at 2:00 PM for dinner at 6:00 PM. With a decent cooler, your brisket will still be plenty warm.

I leave more of a fat cap on. I'll also admit to being a bit of a heretic here, I'm not on a Weber, I don't have to worry about flare-ups or other problems with grease drippings. I can easily trim the cap at service. I will take that knob of hard fat off, and I do prefer full packer briskets.

I prefer a longer, lower, smoke, but I'm also set up for a fully automated control that many aren't.

I've never injected a brisket, but I've also only been smoking for a few years.

Click to expand...

One of the approaches that Franklin among others made popular was this idea of trimming the brisket ahead of time. A more old school approach that I still see in my neck of the woods is that they don't trim the brisket at all and they scrape the fat cap off right before serving which basically removes all the flavor and seasoning from one side of the brisket. The point meat just gets turned into chop for sandwiches. Of course you have to cater to your customers. Some customers will flat out not pay for fat. If you going to scrape it off, I think the better move is to cut it off in advance and get more seasoning on the meat. Personally, I much prefer some fatcap there. Although, I also would much rather eat from the fatty side of the brisket.

Some great advice above.
I have smoked flats a few times with limited success. Because it's just me and the wife I didn't see any sense in doing a full packer. But just for color and fun on smoke day two years ago I did my first full packer using the guidance from the forum masters here, it came out perfect. Although my wife and I ate off that beast for a good six months. So I did a second one this last smoke day, again perfect results. Another six months of mouth watering leftovers.
My point to this is from my limited experience I think a full packer gives a better product than just the flat.
Considering what they charge for flats vs. a full packer it doesn't cost that much more for the full packer.
No more flats for me, Smoke Day = Packer Day

I think you are getting great advice from all of the guys here.

Leave More Fat? I don't trim the fat much as I like fat. But bringing it down some can't hurt.

Wrap Sooner? Yeah.

Rest Longer? Just like Dustin said. I wait for hours. Let's go back one sec. Once you determine it is tender and done, pull it from the pit. Cut open the foil and wait for it to come down to 170 before holding for more time (in igloo) or slicing. If you begin slicing too early, it's going to dry out and lose much of its moisture. It's the same with steaks. Just think of brisket as a really big steak. One trick. When you cool down (aka vent) and you see steam (water vapor) come off the brisket, spray it down with some water. The brisket is losing water as it cools. Replace that water. You should see it reabsorb the water. If it doesn't soak in any more water, you've added enough.

Different Pit Temp? Your temp is fine. You could have gone even higher. I tend to stay lower at 250 but that's just the way I like it.

Different finishing temp - probe test is the way to go. Sounds like you could have gone longer.

Inject - it is up to you. It is a personal choice.

Different Meat - I like packers, just like JKalchik. Briskets take so long to cook that I think a packer just has more of a chance to turn out better if you give it more mass. Also, the more marbling, the better.

I think you are doing great!!!

My advice, don’t worry too much, use the above advice one or two pieces at a time and do three or four making some notes while you go, the more you do the more confident you will become.
I had some long distance hand holding from the good folks here on my first attempts at both butts and brisket.
Brisket is kind of intimidating both by size and price, I’ve only done full packers and the last one was the best, I think. The first wasn’t bad but, the last one, I went super simple, salt and pepper, 250-275, overnight, remove, wrap, rest, cocktail, then carve!

Once again, thanks to everyone here for providing me with advice.

Assimilating what I've learned here, the next time I will definitely (1) wrap sooner (probably as soon as the bark sets and (2) rest longer.

Regarding the resting, I'll also be sure to monitor the temp and let it drop to 170 or so before I wrap--spraying a bit along the way while it's steaming (probably with a Worcestershire sauce and water mix). That's a significant change for me, and one I'm going to adopt for my pork shoulders as well. Typically, whenever smoking or grilling, I race to get my meat under foil to rest ASAP. But after reviewing the comments and thinking it over, it seems like that's counterproductive.

As for the fat...I'll probably experiment with leaving a bit more. But I'm not sure which way I'll end up settling. My bark was great this time, top and bottom--the salt and pepper really came through. I'm not sure I want to give that up by leaving on more fat. Still, if it makes the meat moister...I'll have to think about that and experiment.

Doneness? I have to confess I'm a metrics guy--It's gonna be hard for me to target "feel" and not a number. But I'll give it a shot with the "probe test" method folks have described, while still keeping a nervous eye on my temperature.

I'm going to stay away from injection--doesn't seem like that's a core requirement. As for pit temp, I'll probably dial it back a bit and use 250. That's a median temp between all the suggestions I've gotten and recipes I've read; plus, it gives a buffer on either side to still be in a good zone.

As for choice of meat, we'll...that's where I'm most conflicted. A full packer (if I can find it) is WAY more than I need. But the consensus seems to be that they make the best product, so I'm going to give it a shot. To that end, I have a few more questions for the field...

(1) What's the smallest size packer that you can reasonably expect to find and get good results from? And how much fat will it loose during the average trim?

(2) How do people recommend prepping and storing leftovers? I'd hate to end up with one meal of a perfect product and then months of sub-par leftovers. Rich--given that you have good experience living of a packer from six months, I'd love to hear your strategy and any lessons learned.

(3) What's the best strategy to fit a packer on an 18" WSM? I've heard of people flipping the ends up over the handles, putting a glass bowl underneath, laying it across a rib rack...any key "do's" or "don'ts" here?

I've seen good results from packers in the 11 to 13lb range, which for me is very small.

I slice the flat and cube the point. Leave some fat on if you can. Then add some au jus but not too much. Then I freeze portions in sandwich size bags. Brisket freezes well and it's super tasty with starches. My guilty pleasure is frozen brisket with instant spicy ramen.

With a small brisket, you're not going to need to worry about fitting it. But if you do, I put mine between the handles and prop up the sagging portions of the brisket with block(s) of hickory underneath. This ensures that any pooling liquid that develops as it cooks runs off the brisket. This helps with proper crust formation. You can lift the brisket in this manner by quite a bit. 15 to 20 degree angles is acceptable. I've got a 15lb brisket in a 14 inch wsm with no problems. The brisket will relax its shape after you foil. Anything underneath is fine but glass worries me a bit. As wood is normal, I'd prefer that but it's up to you. Best of luck and enjoy. Remember, the yield on brisket is low so it's not that much after you're done, particularly if you did a good job.

If you're not comfortable with a chunk of raw wood in direct contact with your brisket, just wrap it in aluminum foil. I found a nice rectangular chunk of apple wood that I wrap with foil and use as Donna describes. It leaves a spot on the underside of the brisket that does not brown, but I don't care.

I like 12-13 lb briskets in the 18.5" WSM and just shoehorn them between the handles.

I like to slice just the brisket I'm going to eat immediately, then I cut what's left into a few large pieces that I freeze and vacuum seal with a FoodSaver. Later I will defrost in the bag, then reheat in the bag in boiling water, then slice. *Almost* as good as the original.