Common reasons for dry brisket???


 
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Steve G.

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Every now and then, my briskets come out perfect. But most of the time it seems lately, they are dry. Very tender, but dry.

I cook them fatside down. WSM temp is between 225 and 245 the entire cook. I foil the meat at about 160* and cook until low to mid 190s. I double wrap and put them in a dry cooler for at least 1 hr but usually closer to 2hrs before slicing.

What could be the problem? Am I letting it cook TOO long?
 
Hmmm. Could be the meat (select vs choice?). Do you spray 'em with apple juice, or mop 'em at all? (not sure whether this helps, but i do it).

What size briskets? How big a fat cap do you leave on 'em?

I cook at those temps or lower, and don't take my brisket internal temp that high, but I'm an oddball in that regard.
 
Steve, I do the same thing as you...however, after trading some posts with Jim Minion, I will try it differently next time.

He said instead of foiling at 160 and then finsihing to 190...don't foil it and take it to 190, then, take it off the WSM, wrap it in HD foil and flip it so the fat cap is facing up when you put it in the cooler to rest.

He said he gets a consistently good brisket this way...I will take his advise for sure!!!
 
Honstly, I don't know if they are selects or choice. I buy a bunch when they put them on sale during the summer at the grocery store. They are usually at least 10lbs and have a pretty good fat cap on them. I don't usually trim them at all unless the fat cap is really uneven from one side to the next.

I do not mop or spray at all.
 
Steve, are you cooking flats or whole briskets? I think it is a whole lot easier to dry out flats. Listen to what Greg says that Jim says.
 
I cook the whole brisket, but I focus on the flat for temps because that is the part we like best for the meal...the point just gets shredded for baked potatoes later in the week.
 
I have only done 2 briskets on the WSM, and they were both just as you said, tender but dry. I did spray mine during the cook, did not foil it until I placed it in the "cooler" to rest. I'm not sure if it was choince or select, other than to say it was from Wallmart. I think the next one, I will pull off earlier.
 
I have heard of and seen experts cook brisket differnt ways, But I have always had good results when I cook them fatside up.Leave about 1/4 inch
 
Hello Steve,

I followed Jim Minion's advice back about 3 weeks ago and it came out amazing. Tender and moist. That was despite the fact I took it all the way up to 200 before I pulled it.

Another tip Jim gave me was to leave most of the fat intact. All I do anymore is take the hard fat out of the point section.

Check out the "burnt ends" posts for the point. My guests gobbled 'em down.
 
I've starting doing my briskets fat side down for the entire cook as well, following Professor Minion's advice, and have been very pleased. Even better results on selects, as I usually do CABs. Another benefit to that seems to be a prettier smoke ring, for some reason. Not to mention that fact that trimming doesn't take near as long.
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Keri C, smokin' on Tulsa Time
 
Steve
Moisture in a brisket comes from the internal fat and connective tissue as it breaks down. Danny G proved that with a study he did years ago by tracking internal temps in a brisket during the entire cook. What we saw was a brisket goes into the stall (aprox 160 internal) the connective tissue is broken down and the moisture release can cause a drop in the internal temp of the brisket resulting in the stall. You can rush the process by foiling at 160 but if you are going to do that I believe you are going to want pull it off the heat before it reaches 190, maybe as low as 180. If you wrapped early and take over 190 plus the heat load in the brisket will take your resting internal temp above 200 maybe as high as 205 plus.
Once the internal goes over 200 it starts drying out, also part of the cook is to allow the brisket rest for at least two hours, 4 is better. I do not double wrap in foil, the resting temp climb may get close to 200 but normally won't go over 200.

Dry brisket is the function of not breaking down the connective tissue enough or over cooking. Im this case case I believe your problem is the internal gets too high.

One thing to keep in mind is the bark on a brisket (which is important to a great brisket) is much better if you don't foil till you reach 190 internal.
Hope this helps.
Jim
 
Does the fat side down trick work in other smokers like offset firebox types? Ive always done fat-side up in my WSM but would the same trick (fat-side down) work in an offset since the heat is coming from the side and not down below?
 
I followed Jim's advice and my flat turned out "perfect" according to the bride, son and a couple of neighbors. The only place that I had to vary was to foil about 180 for scheduling reasons and then pulled it at 187. Re-foiled it and let it rest fat cap up for 2 1/2 hours.
 
Russ
What size is the offset? Is it tuned?
On bigger offsets that tuned I would still ccok fat down because you are getting radient heat from the tuning plates and I wouldn't be near the firebox.
On a smaller unit that is untuned I normall will use a water pan to get the heat down the horizonal so I would flip the brisket every so often. It depends on the offset.

Vernon isn't it great when a plan comes together.

Jim
 
Sorry for my ignorance but what does tuned mean? It has 1296sq in of cooking space on 2 racks. I always fill the bottom of the chamber with water, as it has a ball valve for easy clean-up and draining. It does have a big steel round shaped flap on the firebox side that directs the smoke downwards as it comes out of the firebox. Would that mean it's tuned? Would I be better with fat up or down?

Thanks!
 
Thanks for the insight everyone. I cooked a relatively small one this weekend (8 lbs) and cooked it fatside down until 190, then I pulled it and foiled it and wrapped it in towels and placed it in a dry cooler for about 2 hours...maybe 2 1/2. It turned out much better than the last few I cooked. It was still a 'little' dry on the section of the fat that is not under the point. The section of the flat under the point was perfect. It was all pretty darn good though. The fat coverage over the point was not very significant and there was actually a 1 by 2 inch section at the very tip that the fat was cut out completely by the butcher...that piece was useless. But other than that it was really good. The tenderness was MUCH better. It did not fall apart when I sliced it as the last few have.

Again, thanks for the advice and I look foward to eating the leftovers for lunch today here at work.
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Like others Ive only done two briskets. The first I did my way and it was tender but dry. The second I did Jim Minion's way and it was fantastic. Im getting ready to do another for my dad when he comes up from Texas and hopefully it will turn out just as well as the last one.
 
Russ
Tuned offsets use metal plates or tube to distribute the heat and smoke down the length of the horizonal. It sounds like you don't which means you have hotspot next to the firebox and real cool spot at the other end.

I would use the flip method turning a few times during the cook. If you would like to tune your pit let me know, it can be done without spending a lot of money.
Jim
 
I'd love to tune it. I don't like the hotspot too much. Can you give me more info? Will you be in Houston any time soon?
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Russ
The easiest way to tune the pit is to have 1/8"
plates cut into 6" to 9" sections; they need to be long enough to fit down in the horizontal just above the top of the baffle. What you do is start placing the plates up tight against the baffle wall and then as you down the horizontal towards the other end you would slightly spread the plates making a small gap as needed to even out the heat the full length of the cooker.
The firebox side will still be hotter but this will even the temp across the whole length of the pit. You get radiant heat from the tuning plates so cook the brisket fat side down.
This modification is pretty inexpensive.
Give me a call if you want to talk about it.
888-527-7661
Jim
 
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