Dry Brisket


 
B

BChan

New member
Dry Brisket Problem

This is about my sixth attempt at making a whole brisket from costco. Problems with it coming out dry. A few notes:

  • about 11 pounds before trimming
  • foil in pan, filled with water once (a little liquid leftover at the end of the cook)
  • cyberQ used, steady temp of 250 throughout the entire cook
  • spritzed with water a few times around 2:30, 3 hour mark
  • wrapped with butcher paper around 3:30 hour mark when bark was set
  • brisket replaced on grill, fat side down (was fat side down to begin with)
  • around the 12 hour mark, removed and flat was probed to be around 205. Did not feel tender to probing when around 190/195.
  • put brisket in a cold oven, left there for one hour
  • when removed from paper, was still too hot to handle
  • definitely did not pass the pull test, meat appeared dry almost instantly after slicing

Any thoughts? Has anyone tried putting it fat side UP after wrapping? Wondering if that would make the difference. Feeling a little frustrated, glad I didn't have people over for this one although my 3, 5 and 6 year olds were like "we love it, it's the best!" ah, kids....
 
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Welcome to the forum, BChan!

Sorry to hear about your dry brisket. I, too, have tried (smaller cuts) brisket on the WSM, and both came of rather dry - with the latter effort being on the rubbery side.

I'd faint at the prospect of doing a whole brisket.
 
wow I have never experienced that and I have never used any water be it in my pellet or my kettle

What was the meat temp when you wrapped it? Maybe you wrapped too soon because it seems like you cooked it quite a long while post wrap. My experience is time cooking wrapped is about half the time unwrapped
 
It's hard to say what went wrong. Not passing the pull test makes it sound undercooked. One thing that sticks out is that you didn't vent the brisket before resting which would make me think overcooked. But I think overall you sliced it too hot. Your best move with your time frame would have been to put it on the counter to rest with the paper opened up.
 
Reggie G said:
wow I have never experienced that and I have never used any water be it in my pellet or my kettle

What was the meat temp when you wrapped it? Maybe you wrapped too soon because it seems like you cooked it quite a long while post wrap. My experience is time cooking wrapped is about half the time unwrapped
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I didn't take the temp of the brisket before wrapping; I just checked to see if the bark was set. I was under the impression that wrapping earlier would help to keep the moisture in longer...
 
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Dustin Dorsey said:
It's hard to say what went wrong. Not passing the pull test makes it sound undercooked. One thing that sticks out is that you didn't vent the brisket before resting which would make me think overcooked. But I think overall you sliced it too hot. Your best move with your time frame would have been to put it on the counter to rest with the paper opened up.
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Thanks for the response. Yes, in retrospect I'm wondering if I was supposed to unwrap it before letting it sit. I was under the impression that people like Franklin let it sit wrapped in a warmer for a few hours before serving so I thought I'd follow suit. I also lost part of the park presumably because i set it fat side down on the grill; the paper got stuck on the brisket. I also definitely think it was too hot when I sliced it because there was way too much liquid pouring out of the brisket when it was cut up (and because I couldn't hold the whole brisket without burning my hands).

As far as it being undercooked, I find it odd that it was so under despite it being over temp when I pulled it (if you consider 190/195 to be the target temp). This is why I think maybe next time I should put it fat side up after wrapping to let the fat baste the meat better.

Here's a quick video. Hope this conversation helps someone else out there...

 
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You should re-wrap for an extended rest, just vent it first til the temp hits 170 internal. This is just to stop the cooking. I typically wrap in paper, vent, and then rewrap in foil, just to keep my cooler from getting nasty. As far as the up vs down on the fat-cap, I did the exact same thing on my last brisket. My bark stuck to the paper on the fat side. I'd go fat down unwrapped and then fat up wrapped. I think its a good compromise and avoids that problem. You get some protection from the heat from the paper, and in the end I doubt the fat really protects the bottom all that much. Also, you are right about wrapping when the bark sets vs. a set temp. This is because briskets stall at different temperatures. You might find you hit your stall before your target temp and then you've waited really too long to wrap. You are right in that the longer it's wrapped, the better as far as moisture retention.

I enjoyed the video! Brisket actually looked pretty damn good to me!
 
Well when In doubt keep it simple. All I've ever done is follow the temps. Smoke until it's stalls at about 165 then wrap until 200. Let rest and vent sometimes it takes longer to get to 165 than others
 
Based on what the video shows... Your brisket was cooked to proper tenderness !!! Looks delicious !!! Good Job.

I'm betting the issue with your pull test is nothing other than how the brisket slices were sliced !!!
 
Bob Bass said:
Based on what the video shows... Your brisket was cooked to proper tenderness !!! Looks delicious !!! Good Job.

I'm betting the issue with your pull test is nothing other than how the brisket slices were sliced !!!
Click to expand...

I was thinking he sliced it with the grain myself.

I have a WSM 22.5, but I still separate my flat and point prior to smoking, right straight across, because they cook at different temps. I also foil i the high 140s to get through the stall quicker.

Prior to cooking slice off a piece of the meat to indicate the direction of cut. I saw another tip where instead of cutting a piece off push in a tooth pick to indicate the same direction to slice the meat.
 
....yes, i should have payed more attention to how it was cut (good call on that, glad i took some video footage) great suggestions, I appreciate all the feedback.
 
Try injecting in next time. I've done 2 briskets in the last couple weeks. Both double foiled at 157. The first I sprayed every 1 1/2 hours, double foiled at 157, then pulled at ~200. Let it sit double towel wrapped in a cooler for ~3 hours. Parts if it were falling apart when I sliced it. Wasn't dry, but wasn't terribly moist either. The second brisket I did not spray, but injected with apple juice at the beginning, double foiled at 157, then overslept my alarm and pulled it at 210, double wrapped in towels and an insulated bag and let it sit for roughly 7 hours. Too long I'm sure, but it was early morning. Regardless, this brisket was very moist and did not fall apart at all. It turned out quite good. From now on I'll be injecting my briskets.
 
hi chris,

i'm trying to keep it as simple as possible i.e no injections, no adding broth, etc. it seems franklin in particular doesn't do any of that but is still able to achieve the texture that we want.

however, if injecting and adding broth to rehydrate the brisket turns out to be the only way I can achieve that, then that's what I'll be doing from now on. i figure i have a few more cooks doing different things before I venture down that path.

good to hear how other people cook, I definitely need to let my brisket sit longer next time like you did. 👍
 
Have been doing briskets for a little while now. Have always injected !

Have judged many a brisket and suspect that 100% or very close to 100% were injected.
 
BChan said:
Thanks for the response. Yes, in retrospect I'm wondering if I was supposed to unwrap it before letting it sit. I was under the impression that people like Franklin let it sit wrapped in a warmer for a few hours before serving so I thought I'd follow suit. I also lost part of the park presumably because i set it fat side down on the grill; the paper got stuck on the brisket. I also definitely think it was too hot when I sliced it because there was way too much liquid pouring out of the brisket when it was cut up (and because I couldn't hold the whole brisket without burning my hands).

As far as it being undercooked, I find it odd that it was so under despite it being over temp when I pulled it (if you consider 190/195 to be the target temp). This is why I think maybe next time I should put it fat side up after wrapping to let the fat baste the meat better.

Here's a quick video. Hope this conversation helps someone else out there...

Click to expand...



Dustin is right, the flat was a little under cooked. What to have done differently is a bit tricky as there are a couple of approaches. If you didn't vent it, simply giving it more time during the rest would have done the trick as the brisket would have continued to cook. If you were going to vent it, then it should have stayed on the cooker for just a bit longer. Either way, it needed more time at temp to fully break down and render. All that said, it was pretty damned close. I would have scarfed it up :-)
 
Bob Bass said:
Have been doing briskets for a little while now. Have always injected !

Have judged many a brisket and suspect that 100% or very close to 100% were injected.
Click to expand...

That's exactly what Henry Soo said in the Q&A on this site, that in order to win, you have to inject.
 
I inject with beef broth, but thinking I'll give AJ a try for my Mother's Day brisket. I like to give briskets a 3 hour rest (butts 2 hrs).
 
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