Full Packer Brisket Problems

I have done a few Briskets in the past and they have turned out good, not "Oh my gosh this is amazing" just good. So I had a 16lb Brisket in my freezer and decided today was the day to try another. After it had thawed I trimmed it up, added salt and freshly ground pepper and let it sit while I got my 18.5" WSM ready to go. Once the WSM was holding at 250 with a full water bowl I put the brisket on with a temperature probed inserted into the flat where the point starts. With a start time of 11:00 pm, I put on a movie and away we go. The temp of the brisket climbed steadily and in the first 2 hours it was up to 147. After falling asleep and waking up at 4:30 am the brisket was now at 153 figuring it had stalled I took it off the smoker and quickly wrapped it in butcher paper and back on it went. By 7:00 am the brisket was at 173 and I did a little happy dance because everything was on schedule. This is where the BBQ gods slapped me for a premature celebration. Between 7:00 am and 12:30 pm I maintained a pit temp between 225 and 250 and the temp of the brisket dropped from 173 to 161. This is where I started to panic. I checked the forum and internet to see what I did wrong and how do I fix it. The best i could find or think of was my butcher paper was not tight enough. So I took the brisket off opened it up did the probe test re wrapped and back on it went without the temp probe. For the probe test my thermapen put the temp around 158 and pressure was needed for the probe to go through the flat. Left it for another 2-3 hours and probed again and got the same results. This is where the panic intensifies and I am pacing around not sure what to do. The Brisket is now wrapped in foil, temperature probe re-inserted, in a 250 oven and the temperature is up to 171. I am on my knees in front of the oven praying to the BBQ gods asking for forgiveness and a edible piece of brisket.

I am at a loss as to what went wrong or if I panicked for no reason. Is it possible to wrap to early? Was my wrap to loose the first time? Any help, advice or forehead slapping knowledge is greatly appreciated.

My guess is you hit the stall and it caused the drop you saw. Either that at your probe temp is malfunctioning and the pits not really 225.

If it's too loose it generally cooks more like an unwrapped brisket. That is a pretty big drop though. I would wonder about thermometer placement. After I wrap I'll sometimes accidentally move the probe and get a completely different reading. I'm thinking you panicked for no reason. You'll probably wind up ok once it's all over.

What was the final result?

The temperature can actually drop during the stall. I usually wait til it's pushed through the stall before I wrap, and I've never run into that. Maybe next time wait til it's thru the stall befor wrapping. It'll also help develop a better bark.

On top of all that, you'll worry less about the internal temp and learn to go by sight/feel and it's a lot less stressful in my opinion.

I'm not sure about other temp gear, but the iGrill2 connects to your iPhone/iPad and records the temp of the probes during the cook. It's great for overnight cooks since you can sleep peacefully and when you wake up, you can look at a line graph of the pit temp and meat temp while you were in Lala land. You can see if there were any spikes or dips during the night and you can see how steadily the meat temp climbed. Your temp of 153 sounds a little low for the stall, although it can vary. Perhaps it wasn't yet in the stall when you wrapped it and then hit the stall/dip in the 170 range. I always do briskets and butts overnight. The iGrill is an excellent tool that takes a lot of the guesswork out.

Jeff

This is why I only do High Heat Brisket. Done in 5 hours. Perfect every time. No panic attacks. ...for “Oh my gosh this is amazing” Brisket.

Is it done yet?

So the brisket finished around 5:00 pm. The Temp had reached 200 and a probe test slide through the brisket easily. I cut the point off for burnt ends and let the flat rest for about an hour. When it was sliced to serve the part of the flat that was not under the point was juicy and pulled apart with ease the other half of the flat was still juicy but I would say under done. A little more effort was required to break apart. The point I was able to slice into to cubes easily and I added some BBQ sauce and put back in the oven to caramelize. I still need a little work on my Burnt Ends process. Over all it was a good brisket, the guest we had over all enjoyed it and said it was delicious.

I am still looking for that WOW brisket and will try another before the summers end. One thing I will change is to start a lot earlier and if it has to rest for 4 hours and we eat early so be it.

Thanks All

Personally, a 4 hour rest in a good insulated picnic cooler is not a problem. I've done that on a few occasions, with good to great success. Once you put it in the cooler, don't open it up, walk away until time to slice & serve.

JKalchik said:

Personally, a 4 hour rest in a good insulated picnic cooler is not a problem. I've done that on a few occasions, with good to great success. Once you put it in the cooler, don't open it up, walk away until time to slice & serve.

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That is what I need to work on for my next try build a minimum of 4 hour rest into my estimate and learn to just walk away for the WSM.

JKalchik said:

Personally, a 4 hour rest in a good insulated picnic cooler is not a problem. I've done that on a few occasions, with good to great success. Once you put it in the cooler, don't open it up, walk away until time to slice & serve.

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This is probably the best advice I’ve gotten here about most “large cook” products. The long “foiled, towel wrapped, cooler placed and ignored for a few hours” has proven best method I have ever done. It’s so nice to have the “big” item for dinner simply ready and waiting while you do all the rest of necessary arrangements and set up (read, beverage testing).
I try to do that but, it has been known to backfire.
Doggone it, now I really want a brisket!

Dustin Dorsey said:

If it's too loose it generally cooks more like an unwrapped brisket. That is a pretty big drop though. I would wonder about thermometer placement. After I wrap I'll sometimes accidentally move the probe and get a completely different reading. I'm thinking you panicked for no reason. You'll probably wind up ok once it's all over.

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I definitely think my wrap was too loose. It was a struggle to get the wrap to stay tight as I tried to get two layers on. Does anybody use tape to assist in keeping the wrap tight? The brisket did turn out OK to GOOD.

Personally, I would not use tape in a smoker, I don't know if the adhesive is safe to use at an elevated temp. I use high heat rubber gloves when I wrap, tear off a sheet of butcher paper, lay it over the brisket, and tuck the edges & ends underneath. A lot of contact, probably looser than some people like/want. Works for me.

I shoot for a 2 to 4 hour rest on brisket. Anything over an hour seems to be at least okay, beyond 4 hours depends on how well insulated your cooler is.

It took me a long time before it set in that, if you're going to wrap, do it at the END of the stall, e.g., 175-180-ish, puddles on top of brisket go away.

Why the drop in temperature is the fact that fat is being rendered and the liquid lowers the internal temp. The larger the piece of meat the longer the rendering process. At least that what I have learned and believe.

That is a great move for having the BBQ ready on time.
1hr is long enough but knowing you have an add'l 3 hrs of wiggle room really takes the stress off of trying to time your brisket or even worse, taking it off too soon.