Brisket & Butt Cook


 
I yanked around 8:30am. It's wrapped in 2 layers of foil sitting in a cooler. It seemed pretty tender in most parts. We'll see fingers crossed it doesn't stink.

Here's a picture of it after it came off the cooker.

 
Looks great. Hope you enjoy it. With some leftovers, assuming there are some, try brisket and eggs for breakfast. A good thing IMO
 
Well, not great news. The flat was totally dried out. I sliced around noon, about 3 hours after I pulled. The flat was awful. Totally inedible. It went right in the trash. The point on the other hand was excellent. I was able to cut that away and chop it up. So I guess it wasn't a total loss.

Brisket continues to torture me. I have yet to make a juicy one and this is my 4th or 5th try. They never feel tender at 185 so I always leave it on and it always gets dried out. Today's was one of the worst ones I've ever cooked. Very disappointed.

I think today's problem was my cooker temperature was too high. I was showing a lid temp of just over 250 but a grate temp of over 270, and this was on the upper grate where the butt was not the lower where the brisket sat (it was probably even hotter down there). When I woke up at 6am and saw the butt was at 181 I knew I was in trouble. It should not have been that high. I missed the window to foil the brisket which likely would have helped with moisture.

Doing two different cuts of meat at once was a mistake too. I'm just not ready for that yet. If I was just doing the brisket I would have done it on the top grate where I am more comfortable managing temps.

I'm not giving up, but I'm really discouraged.
 
Sorry to hear yours didn't turn out. Had that happen a few times myself. Couple of things I found that works is:

Flat up, foil around 160 (flat down), and min temp of 250. The higher the temp the less time it has to dry out IMO.

I also pull when just starting to feel tender so it will finish in the foil (if doing 250 or less)

The last one was HH and it turned out very good.

Luck to ya
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Brisket is still my biggest challenge too. I've gotten much better but it's not 'automatic' to me like ribs and butt are.

I think you're mistake may have been during the hold.

From your posts, I think the flat was done at 5:25 when you found the thin end "very very tender" and at the mid-section at "196º".

When you finally pulled it at 6:56 and foiled it, did you add liquid? Did you 'tent it' for several minutes (to bleed off heat reducing the bounce) before foiling?
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by TravisH:
Brisket is still my biggest challenge too. I've gotten much better but it's not 'automatic' to me like ribs and butt are.

I think you're mistake may have been during the hold.

From your posts, I think the flat was done at 5:25 when you found the thin end "very very tender" and at the mid-section at "196º".

When you finally pulled it at 6:56 and foiled it, did you add liquid? Did you 'tent it' for several minutes (to bleed off heat reducing the bounce) before foiling? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I did not add any liquid and did not tent. Was not aware of that tip. What "bounce" are you referring too? I still think it was too late to save it.

When you guys do L&S what is your lid temp and grate temp? My WSM tends to run hotter at the grate than the lid. I think I should have been targeting 225-250 at the grate which would have been 200-225 at the lid. Cooking at the higher temp I slept through the foil window. By the time I got up, I think I'd past the point of no return and the flat was ruined.
 
Bounce is when the meat keeps cooking after you've removed it. Bounce is more pronounced with higher cook temps. I feel adding a few spoons of liquid, either drippings or juice or cola, helps.

If your brisket is just about perfect, you want to let it cool a bit before foiling to bleed off excess temps.


I used to do briskets at 225~250 at the grate but now use 250~275 and I like results better, not perfected yet, but better. But I don't foil during the cook.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by TravisH:

I used to do briskets at 225~250 at the grate but now use 250~275 and I like results better, not perfected yet, but better. But I don't foil during the cook. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

So if you are cooking at 250-275, how long are you generally cooking for? 1 hour per lb or less? And you aren't foiling? Boy, I just can't see that given my experience. Foiling with liquid seems mandatory. There just isn't as much fat in the flat side how does it not dry out on you? Are you injecting?
 
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