Diagnosing a brisket cook.


 
J

JohnBankert

New member
All,

I just did my first brisket, and it came out OK, but not as well as I’d hoped and I’m seeking wisdom from the hive mind as to where I may have gone wrong.

I had a small, triangular piece of flat that weighed in at 2.25 pounds. Fairly lean. Ambient temp was around 35F. No water in pan. Total cook time was 4.75 hours to an internal temp of 205F. I sliced a piece off the flat end after a rest of 1 hour. Flavor was good, but the meat was a bit dry and chewy. I can’t decide if I over cooked or under cooked. I bought the meat at Wegman’s, a local supermarket chain. Cooking log follows

TimeSmoker TempMeat Temp
1215210-
123024067
124525094
1315265136
1345285154
1415275164
1500305170
1530295174
Wrapped brisket @ 1530
1615265191
1645300201
1700300205
Pulled brisket and put it in cooler to rest.

I know I was running a bit hot, but otherwise the cook went about as I expected given the size of the piece of brisket. Any thought appreciated.
 
Well that's pretty darn small.

Sounds like it might have reached "normal" done temp too quick for collagen to break down.

On a 10-20 hr cook , 200-205 works fine.

Cooking whole packer works better, and it's not really that much meat. I know it looks like a lot.....but 15 lb start wt gives maybe 12 lb after trimming fat, and yields maybe 7 lb after cooking. Wife and I will each eat about 1 lb for lunch.....some more next day.....and if I freeze leftovers it's usually only 3 lbs. About 6 little vac sealed packages for future 2 sandwich servings.

Besides..... they usually ream you on price of just a flat by comparison. Even when I cure/smoke a flat for pastrami, I'll buy a packer and cook the point for sandwiches too, just tie it up into a little roll so cook even.
 
It heated up pretty fast, but may not have been in the zone long enough. What MartinB says. Maybe it needed a bit more time in the 180 to 200 zone. The rest period may have done it some good. Pics might help determine. But was it probe tender? That might answer. Still sounds like an excellent job though. Good work.
 
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As MartinB stated you’ll have more success with a packer. I’ve smoked 13 packers in the last 12 months and will freeze leftover too.

I don’t recall the last time I smoked a small flat. To me it’s not worth the time and effort.

Thanks for sharing your first brisket cook!
 
RJ Humphrey said:
As MartinB stated you’ll have more success with a packer. I’ve smoked 13 packers in the last 12 months and will freeze leftover too.

I don’t recall the last time I smoked a small flat. To me it’s not worth the time and effort.

Thanks for sharing your first brisket cook!
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I still consider myself very much a learner when it comes to smoking meat. Until I’m more confident in my abilities, including operating my smoker, I prefer to spend as little as possible on the meat I’m smoking. I think I spent $15.00 on the piece of flat. I don’t mind screwing up a small rack of baby ribs or piece of flat. I’d cry into my beer if I did that with a $75 full packer. I’ll get there eventually.

I put it in the oven for a couple of hours to cook it a bit more and warm it up before taking it over to my Dad’s. Wasn’t the best brisket I’ve had but it every one else was more than happy with it.

Thanks to all for the feedback and advice! 👍
 
JohnBankert said:
I still consider myself very much a learner when it comes to smoking meat. Until I’m more confident in my abilities, including operating my smoker, I prefer to spend as little as possible on the meat I’m smoking. I think I spent $15.00 on the piece of flat. I don’t mind screwing up a small rack of baby ribs or piece of flat. I’d cry into my beer if I did that with a $75 full packer. I’ll get there eventually.

I put it in the oven for a couple of hours to cook it a bit more and warm it up before 6taking it over to my Dad’s. Wasn’t the best brisket I’ve had but it every one else was more than happy with it.

Thanks to all for the feedback and advice! 👍
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It's seriously hard to mess up.

Put salt and pepper on it
Use about one fist sized wood chunk for every 3-4 lbs meat
Cook at 225-280
Wrap it when internal reaches 160-170 and has bark
Pull it when internal temp reaches 200-205 and is tender and jelly-like

Almost impossible to make it inedible, no matter how bad you mess up
 
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JohnBankert said:
I still consider myself very much a learner when it comes to smoking meat. Until I’m more confident in my abilities, including operating my smoker, I prefer to spend as little as possible on the meat I’m smoking. I think I spent $15.00 on the piece of flat. I don’t mind screwing up a small rack of baby ribs or piece of flat. I’d cry into my beer if I did that with a $75 full packer. I’ll get there eventually.

I put it in the oven for a couple of hours to cook it a bit more and warm it up before taking it over to my Dad’s. Wasn’t the best brisket I’ve had but it every one else was more than happy with it.

Thanks to all for the feedback and advice! 👍
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I totally understand practicing on lower price points of meat.

All home cooks like you and I are really only cooking for loved ones and friends. Their opinion and feedback is the only thing that matters!

Glad to hear your Dad and other were happy with your first brisket cook.

I like to say, I never make bad bbq, it’s just that some is better than others.

Thanks for sharing your first brisket cook.

Cheers
 
You might consider "practicing" on a chuck roast if you get in a pinch finding brisket flats. They are typically easier to find, and cook in similar ways. I agree with Lynn, temperature is just a reference point, you have to go by feel for done-ness. Also, keeping the brisket wrapped tight, and letting it cool down really slow in a cooler, or it an oven that was preheated to 200 then turned off can help produce a more tender brisket. I like wrapping in saran wrap after I pull it off the smoker, wrapping it up in towels, and stashing it in a 48 qt cooler for a couple of hours before slicing.
 
John K BBQ said:
You might consider "practicing" on a chuck roast if you get in a pinch finding brisket flats. They are typically easier to find, and cook in similar ways. I agree with Lynn, temperature is just a reference point, you have to go by feel for done-ness. Also, keeping the brisket wrapped tight, and letting it cool down really slow in a cooler, or it an oven that was preheated to 200 then turned off can help produce a more tender brisket. I like wrapping in saran wrap after I pull it off the smoker, wrapping it up in towels, and stashing it in a 48 qt cooler for a couple of hours before slicing.
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I’ll keep the chuck roast idea in mind. At this point I’m mostly concerned about keeping the smoker going for 10+ hours, so any cut that takes a long time to cook would work well.
 
I would not attempt a 2.25 lb brisket flat. Get a small whole packer brisket, USDA Choice, 12 pounds. Trim it and you'll lose some of that weight, making it very manageable in your 18.5" WSM. It should fit easily on the top cooking grate; if it's a bit long, shoehorn it between the grate handles so it arches up a bit, it will shrink during cooking. I'd run the WSM at 275, foil it at 160-170*F, and finish it at 205*F.

Good luck!
 
I smoke my brisket pretty much like Chris has posted and they have all come out fabulous. My first 3 or 4 briskets were done on my Weber kettle before I got my 22" WSM and they were awesome. I read a lot and see a lot of angst out there on smoking a brisket. I think it's one of the easiest thing to smoke, period. I never "practiced" or whatever. I watched some videos and some of the Kingsford Pitmaster shows and jumped in and didn't stress on it. Get the best grade of packer you can, season with kosher salt and medium coarse black pepper, watch your temp, but know that brisket can take a higher temp. Wrap it, pull it at 203 and rest it properly. It will be fantastic.
 
JohnBankert said:
Until I’m more confident in my abilities, including operating my smoker, I prefer to spend as little as possible on the meat I’m smoking. I think I spent $15.00 on the piece of flat. I don’t mind screwing up a small rack of baby ribs or piece of flat. I’d cry into my beer if I did that with a $75 full packer. I’ll get there eventually.
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On the economics of it, I've been seeing whole briskets for $3.49 at Costco often lately, and I have a local butcher with a similar price. The flats for some reason are much more per pound, like at least double that. I don't know why. We paid around $35 for our last one. It's a great deal on beef no matter what you plan to do with it. My wife likes to stew beef and she will buy any old slab for that, but will usually pay more per pound than $3.49.

Truth is I joined Costco in great part because of the brisket, anyway I would not pay $75 for a brisket either.
 
Joe D - BBQ Joe said:
On the economics of it, I've been seeing whole briskets for $3.49 at Costco often lately, and I have a local butcher with a similar price. The flats for some reason are much more per pound, like at least double that. I don't know why. We paid around $35 for our last one. It's a great deal on beef no matter what you plan to do with it. My wife likes to stew beef and she will buy any old slab for that, but will usually pay more per pound than $3.49.

Truth is I joined Costco in great part because of the brisket, anyway I would not pay $75 for a brisket either.
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Costco finally made it into my area in the last couple of years, but I’ve never been. I’ll put a visit on my weekend agenda. In a way, brisket cost is kinda ironic. Cheap cut of meat became popular for barbecue and is now no longer cheap.
 
Joe D - BBQ Joe said:
The flats for some reason are much more per pound, like at least double that. I don't know why.
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I think that's all down to processing costs. Every time a butcher has to take a knife to a slab of meat to cut it up or portion it out, that's extra time and work. For every flat that gets sold, there's a point muscle that may go unsold, or that has to be further processed.
 
The reason for smoking meats was to take cheap, and not that eatable cuts of meat and make it eatable. At $3.49 a pound the cost is really $7.00 a pound. There are a lot of meat cuts a lot more tasty in the meat cooler then a brisket and cooks in a shorter time. Time to find other cheap cuts that we can use our smoking magic and make those cuts tasty. Does a horse have a brisket??????
 
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