Brisket 1st Time: fell apart, but was dry

[Evan Q]

What went wrong? Here's what I did:

Trimmed extra fat
Added mustard and rub
Smoked for 2 hours in electric bradley smoker
Put in oven at 225, monitored internal temperature
It was cooking too quickly so I moved the temperature down to 205 for the rest of the time
Cooked till 195 and then foiled for 2 hours

Other notes: no tin foil, no spritzing, when I cut the meat it was literally falling to pieces but was overall dry

Thanks for any tips.

 

[Gil Matar]

What kind of brisket was it? Full packer, or just the flat? And how many pounds?

 

[Dave/G]

Cooked too long

 

[Evan Q]

Around nine pounds. It was a double.

 

[Bob Sample]

How did you hold it for 2hrs after wrapping? Did you let it sit a bit before you foiled or wrap straight from the oven?

 

[Evan Q]

How did you hold it for 2hrs after wrapping? Did you let it sit a bit before you foiled or wrap straight from the oven?

Straight from the oven into heavy duty tin foil, and then put into a cooler

 

[Dave/G]

Straight from the oven into heavy duty tin foil, and then put into a cooler

Where it continued to cook BTW. what's this about cooking too quickly in a 225 oven?

 

[Gil Matar]

Some people put beef stock in when they foil their briskets. I spritz with apple juice and espresso periodically.

 

[Gary S]

Cooked too long

I think Dave is right. I'm not sure why you thought it was cooking too fast at 225? You can cook too slow and wind up drying things out. My guess is had you foiled it around 160 and kept in foil until probe tender I think it would have turned out better.

 

[Paul H]

Gary is right. It's not necessarily the time of the smoke but whether it's probe tender. Time is just a guide.

 

[Frank H]

Gary is right. It's not necessarily the time of the smoke but whether it's probe tender. Time is just a guide.

It just amazes me to think you could cook a 9 pound brisket in 2hours.....all my BBQ life I've heard that people smoke briskets and butts for 18 - 20 hours and longer. It's hard to know how to plan a cook!

 

[Gary S]

It just amazes me to think you could cook a 9 pound brisket in 2hours.....

Frank, I don't think he thought it would cook in two hours. I read his post to say he exposed it to smoke for two hours then moved it into the oven. The electic smoker is probably all he had to apply the smoke.