Can someone please explain the mechanics of a brisket


 
John Neuser

John Neuser

TVWBB Fan
I intend to do a full brisket for the family on Father's Day. A coupe will of weeks ago I picked up one at Costco to practice. It was a prime grade. Turned out very good given it was my first. Smoked at 250* with cherry wood. As I'm a brisket novice I've been reading and viewing everything I can about the process from selection to trimming to smoking and cooling on this forum, Mr. Google and youtube. So far so good.

My wife and I also get protein products from a small purveyor who sells locally raised meat and caught fish. Every package has the ranchers or fisherman's name on it. I like to support these types of industries.

Anyhow on with the story. We received a small (5.97 #s untrimmed) grass fed brisket in our order last week. As it did not come from a large processing facility ot was not graded, i.e. prime, choice, etc.Tried to smoke it on Friday again at 250. Got to 165* w/o any problems and wrapped in pink paper. From there it went sideways. After 8 hours it only got to 175. Put it down in the oven at 300*. After two more hours it was only 180. Ten hours for a less than six pound hunk of meat. What gives? Gave up and pulled it. Put it back in the oven yesterday with some beef broth. Set for 170*. Left it for five hours. It was really tasty and tender.

Now I'm nervous for FD. So my question is, Does a better grade of meat cook faster then a lesser cut, i.e. prime quicker than choice? Does more connective tissue cause it to cook faster? My brisket for FD is 13# untrimmed. At 250* can any of you give me a ballpark figure for time in the smoker. I'm thinking somewhere between 14 and 16 hours and then into a cooler for another two to three.

Thanks folks. Sorry for the long note.
 
Same boat as Dwain, only full packers~10-12# mostly.
What you are telling me is you have a packer ( point AND flat in one piece?) brisket, don’t over think it.
Starting early is my absolute guideline! Like leaving a three or four hour cushion guideline. My last 11# packer, (not tightly trimmed at all) went on at about 21:00 the night before and I removed it, allowed the temperature to break, foiled, toweled, and dropped into a cooler about 13:30 day of planning on slicing around 17:00 for serious feasting.082EDFDE-01B6-4DB5-A592-1ED91F2E13F2.jpeg
I don’t wrap, spritz or anything but leave the lid on and NOT PEEK!
For some reason, I’m not able to post the sliced picture!
 
My experience is that primes tend to be done at a lower finishing temp than choice. That probably means they cook slightly faster just because of all the inter-muscular fat. But, cow carcasses are graded on the rib primal. So briskets can vary. You might have an exceptional choice or lower marbled prime.

Grass fed is a whole different world. I would think they'd tend to be less marbled and leaner and need more time to get tender.

Also thickness matters more than weight. Just because a brisket is lower weight doesn't mean it's going to have a shorter cook time.

Your time table seems about right to me, though.
 
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