Brisket cooked super fast?


 
J

Joe Moree

New member
Hello everyone,
I just purchased my Bullet 22" a month ago and have used several times with nice results on a brisket, pork shoulder,and ribs. The last time I tried a brisket however I had an unusual time with it. I used the minion method and got the smoker going at 8 in the morning, set the temp at 225, and let it cook. I have read here that it takes an 1hr to 1 1/2 hrs per lb to cook a brisket to an internal temp of 185. According to my thermometers however the brisket was at temp by 1pm...only 5 hours of cooking. I placed the thermometers in several sections and it still gave me a reading of 185. I didn't trust this and let it cook for another 5 hours. After pulling the meat and letting it rest it was done but it was flaky and fell apart. Any one have an explanation for the fast cooking time it took. The brisket was 11 lbs by the way.
Thanks
 
Did you check the cooker temp with anything other than the lid thermometer? Very possible it is not reading correctly and you were actually cooking at a much higher temp.
 
The lid thermo is notoriously unreliable, but it sounds like you have had success with brisket before. Was anything different this time? No water in the pan?
 
Last one I cooked I left on the smoker for 9 hours...it turned out pretty nice. It had a good flavor but could have used a bit more moisture. I cooked this one exactly the same, baffling.
 
You gotta use tenderness, not temperature, to determine your doneness. Also cooking for five additional hours at 185 internal is probably a bit of a mis-step.

Use all the information available to you and try not to stick to time or temperature as a rigid guideline as these aspects will vary widely as between pieces of meat.
 
The brisket tasted fine...it was just like pot roast with it falling apart lol. I am planning to try a leg of lamb for my next attempt.
 
My first brisket the flat was overcooked and was falling apart, too. It tasted good, but was better suited for chopped beef sandwiches.

The only thing I can figure is that you had a hotter smoke than you thought. I'd recommend getting a good digital thermometer -- the Maverick ET-732 is accurate and WIRELESS so you can monitor both grill and food temp from inside your house.

You can of course go totally crazy and get an automatic temperature control device...I have the Auber and that baby keeps the temp right where I want it for LONG smokes. I think I paid $140 for it, but it has been worth it because I can just start with a full ring of unlit, add 1/2 chimney of lit, tell the Auber what temp I want to cook at, and it will get to that temp and hold it for up to 18 hours. Even with ribs, the Auber is awesome because I want 225* for 6-7 hours and it is spot on.

JJ
 
Like everyone else say's don't go by temperature go by texture.

I'm assuming this was a packer you cooked, with brisket you can have quite a difference between the thickness of the flat when comparing it to another brisket. You can have a 12 lb brisket with a 1" flat or a 12lb brisket with a 2" flat. They obviously won't take the same amount of time to cook even though they are the same weight.
 
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