1st Brisket FAILED, what went wrong?


 
T

Tom (Gunner)

TVWBB Super Fan
Hello All,

I hope everyones smoke day was more successful then mine! We had fun but I failed miserably on my first brisket. Hoping you guys can let me know what I did wrong. I know my first mistake was paying over 6 bucks a pound for a 5 LB flat! Won't do that again...So the flat did have a pretty good fat cap, so I rubbed down the brisket the night before and let it sit for 24 hours. Got the WSM ready and off we went....

Started with a full ring of charcoal with 2 buried chunks of cherry, dumped 20 lit on the ring and put 2 chunks of mesquite on top. Put the WSM back together then got the brisket on...(no water in the pan just foiled)
BG


I was shooting for a temp of 250-275 but had a hard time keeping it stable for some reason. I was fighting it and was between 250-300 grate temp. It was pretty rainy out..

Once the brisket hit 160 (about 3 hours) I pulled it and foiled it and threw it back on. I checked it every half hour or so till probe tender which ended up being about 3 1/2 hours more then pulled it off...it looked pretty good so I was excited..
async



We still had an hour left till the rest of or food was ready so I thought I would wrap it up and let it rest, I dumped the juices out of the foil, then wrapped up the brisket in foil, wrapped that in a towel then put it in a small cooler.

An hour later pulled the brisket out and sliced it...
BG


I was so bummed...it was totally dry and you can see the lack of a smoke ring. We tried to eat it with BBQ sauce but that didn't even help! Any suggestions on what went wrong? Should I not have dumped all the juices out of the foil before I wrapped it to rest? Did I let it rest too long? Should I not have wrapped it in foil and a towel then let it sit so long?

Also, any suggestions on what to do with the leftovers?? It's so dry!! Any suggestions or tips would be much appreciated!!
 
Sorry it didn't work out like you wanted, Tom. Sometimes it's just not a great cut of meat... Did you perhaps poke it so much that the juices drained? Personally, I would have left the juices during the rest time, as you suggested. May not have mattered.

I'm starting a 17+ pound packer today, so I'll be watching for any suggestions others have for you.

Rich
 
It happens Tom. I'll be honest I never do flats. Some people swear by them but most of the time the ones I find around here are so small and stripped of their fat it just doesn't appeal to me. I just do packers.

I would have left the juices in but it wouldn't have helped out. I have never done a rub on a brisket (or anything for that matter) more than an hour or two before the cook. It's possible that the rub being on that long drew out to much moisture which caused it to dry out when you cooked it. Don't get down! Pick yourself back up and do it again!
 
Personally, I'd skip the mesquite but, regardless, put the wood on before you add the lit. My preference: cut the chunks smaller first - like into 5 or 6 pieces for a fist-sized chunk. Strew them across the unlit, add the lit when it's ready, assemble and add the meat.

If the brisket was probe tender when you pulled it, it may have simply overcooked during resting especially if you were in fact cooking ~300 grate. (I do not trust temps taken at the grate myself).

If brisket hits probe tender during cooking I don't recommend tightly wrapping it, nor does it need to rest long. Open the foil (leave the juices alone unless there is a lot (common with packers, not with flats; in that case only remove some), tent with foil, rest 20-30 min. If you must hold the brisket for service, open the foil, tent, allow to sit 7-10 min or so, then wrap and hold. This decreases some heat, helpful in avoiding too much residual cooking.
 
As usual, Kevin -- thank you. "If you must hold the brisket for service, open the foil, tent, allow to sit 7-10 min or so, then wrap and hold. This decreases some heat, helpful in avoiding too much residual cooking."

Rich
 
Tom, I've done 3 flats and haven't hit a home run yet. After the first I almost gave up but decided that I had good flavor so I best keep trying till I get it right. I still haven't hit it but you will and so will I.
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Originally posted by K Kruger:
Personally, I'd skip the mesquite but, regardless, put the wood on before you add the lit. My preference: cut the chunks smaller first - like into 5 or 6 pieces for a fist-sized chunk. Strew them across the unlit, add the lit when it's ready, assemble and add the meat.

If the brisket was probe tender when you pulled it, it may have simply overcooked during resting especially if you were in fact cooking ~300 grate. (I do not trust temps taken at the grate myself).

If brisket hits probe tender during cooking I don't recommend tightly wrapping it, nor does it need to rest long. Open the foil (leave the juices alone unless there is a lot (common with packers, not with flats; in that case only remove some), tent with foil, rest 20-30 min. If you must hold the brisket for service, open the foil, tent, allow to sit 7-10 min or so, then wrap and hold. This decreases some heat, helpful in avoiding too much residual cooking.
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Excellent advice...thank you Kevin!
 
Sorry your flat did not turn out the way you would have liked, it happens to all of us at one time or another Tom, don't be to hard on yourself.
Its sounds the flat was just terribly overcooked, nothing wrong using mesquite wood, mesquite wood is best for beef, Tom when your brisket flat hit 160 it was basically done, all you needed was to finish cooking to tender. 3.5 more hrs wrapped in foil is a long time for a flat imo. I mostly cook packers and the most i can remember being wrapped in foil is about 1.5-2 hrs max. Better luck next time Tom.
 
Originally posted by Noe:
Sorry your flat did not turn out the way you would have liked, it happens to all of us at one time or another Tom, don't be to hard on yourself.
Its sounds the flat was just terribly overcooked, nothing wrong using mesquite wood, mesquite wood is best for beef, Tom when your brisket flat hit 160 it was basically done, all you needed was to finish cooking to tender. 3.5 more hrs wrapped in foil is a long time for a flat imo. I mostly cook packers and the most i can remember being wrapped in foil is about 1.5-2 hrs max. Better luck next time Tom.
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Thanks Noe! I might not know the feel of "probe tender" yet either. From what I understand the probe should be able to slide in like butter and that is what I waited for. I checked every half hour while it was foiled and when it slid in super easy and effortlessly I pulled it off. I am thinking wrapping it in foil and a towel for an hour kept it cooking and that is why it was super dry? Oh well, you live and you learn..thank goodness I like BBQ'ing so much, I just might have to try again. Darn it all! Thanks for your input!
 
Tom if you try again which i know you will, try and cook a whole packer brisket, from experience 10-12lb brisket cook best imho. If you need more cook 2 or 3 10-12lb packers.
 
Tom
Sorry it didn't pan out after all that effort and expense. Just cooked my first brisket too, so I'm no expert. All I can say is that I made quite a few mistakes but I was working with a 13lb and it seemed to be a bit more forgiving. I'm sure you'll do great next time, especially with all the good advice offered on this site.
 
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