How to Prevent Overcooking (~15#) Brisket

[JShoemaker]

Hello All,

I cooked a full packer brisket earlier this Summer. I forget the details of cook time/temp, but I think it was ~17hours. Note I never wrapped in foil at anytime during the cooking. The FLAT was cooked to perfection, and the POINT was insanely dry/overcooked. I used a temp probe in the flat, and pull at correct temp, and placed wrapped in a cooler for a couple hours after.

I'm contemplating on buying a 15# brisket to smoke for our Packer party this weekend, but I don't won't to have it overcooked again, and I'm looking for pointers on how to prevent it.

Do you cut/separate the point/flat, and cook them on separate racks?
Probe the thinner cut first, then pull when it's reach temp?
Should I wrap it after x-hours in foil, and shorten the cook time?
Do you leave it whole, then wrap only a certain portion of it?

 

[Vincent Carrocci]

Do you cut/separate the point/flat, and cook them on separate racks?

Yes, you can do that but it isn't necessary. You can easily cook a whole brisket and get a great result.

Probe the thinner cut first, then pull when it's reach temp?

Regardless of whether you cook it whole or separated, you need to use temperature as a guideline only and learn how a brisket feels when it is at the desired tenderness. This takes time and experience but is well worth the effort. A probe inserted into the flat running across the grain should have just a little resistance. Once there, vent the meat and then rest before slicing. If you think the point needs more time, you can now separate it from the flat and continue to cook it.

Should I wrap it after x-hours in foil, and shorten the cook time?

Wrapping is a great idea and, in my experience, is far more likely to help you achieve a consistent result. It will also shorten your cook time considerably. Try to get the internal temp in the middle of the flat to about 160°F +/- and then wrap. The temperature of your cooker will greatly impact the time it should spend in the wrap (foil or paper) so you'll need to be diligent and not let it get away from you.

Do you leave it whole, then wrap only a certain portion of it?[/I]

I wouldn't spend a great deal of time on this option. In fact, I wouldn't spend any time on this option!

 

[Dave from Denver]

17 hours is a long time but not outside the realm of possibility. It's hard to believe that the point was dried out before the flat finished cooking, since brisket points contain so much more fat than the flats.

Can you give us some more information about your process? Temps, fat up/down, water in pan/no pan?

I agree with Vincent, it's more common for me to separate the point from the flat once the flat is cooked and continue to cook the point. Additional rendering can be desirable in order to make the fattier piece of meat palatable for some people.

 

[JShoemaker]

I shoot to get my temp at 250F, but it likely ran a touch higher the whole time. I'm pretty sure I went fat up, then flipped after ~12 hours. Water in pan yes.



I trimmed the fat off the whole thing, but perhaps I trimmed too much? The thinner end of the point was definetaly hard/dry like leather. Not too much of it, but enough where I was disappointed.

I'd like to give it a go again, but also don't want to botch a $40-50 piece of meat, and have a dozen hungry football fans at my house either.

I'm always looking for a reason to smoke a brisket, and it's not too often I have a legitimate one!

 

[Tommy B]

I think your flat was done and you point was not cooked enough. You are thinking but it was dry so it was overcooked this guy is an idiot... I am no brisket expert but a point typically takes longer to cook then a flat. When cooking a brisket rarely does dry mean over cooked.. There is a very small window of when the meat is done. Pull too early and its dry. You didn't allow enough time for the connective tissue to break down and you had a dry point. I would suggest cooking until the flat feels probe tender. Then pulling the brisket and checking the point. If the point is not probe tender separate the point from the flat and stick the point back on the cooker. I would foil it before putting it back but doesn't matter either way. The foil just speeds things up.

Good luck!

 

[ChuckO]

I cooked a full packer brisket earlier this Summer. I forget the details of cook time/temp, but I think it was ~17hours. Note I never wrapped in foil at anytime during the cooking. The FLAT was cooked to perfection, and the POINT was insanely dry/overcooked. I used a temp probe in the flat, and pull at correct temp, and placed wrapped in a cooler for a couple hours after

Basically you want to cook the brisket on your smoker until the bark sets (when you can scrape it with your finger nail, it's set) It's at this point that you harvest the "burnt ends" (point) if you wish and it's at this time you that you wrap the brisket. Your target IT starts around 190 degrees. That's when you start toothpicking the brisket until the tooth pick goes in effortlessly. Then she's done. It's not unusual for a brisket to reach 200+ before being done. Cooking the burnt ends, is a process in it's self. Burnt ends are the best (imho) but the flat is where the bulk of your $'s are, and where you want to keep your focus

 

[JShoemaker]

I think your flat was done and you point was not cooked enough. You are thinking but it was dry so it was overcooked this guy is an idiot... I am no brisket expert but a point typically takes longer to cook then a flat. When cooking a brisket rarely does dry mean over cooked.. There is a very small window of when the meat is done. Pull too early and its dry. You didn't allow enough time for the connective tissue to break down and you had a dry point.

This could be very likely.

The flat was cooked perfectly in my opinion. The point might have been simply undercooked, but I just thought it was overcooked. Hmm....

Looks like I need to try and practice on another one...

thanks for the feedback everyone.

 

[Dave from Denver]

Another possibility is that the end of the point that you didn't like was indeed overcooked to make it so hard. The "cool" area provided by the water pan doesn't extend all the way to the end of the grate. The outer inch or so of the cooking area is in fact exposed to higher temperatures than the ambient temperatures of the WSM as it is in effect direct heat that rises up unimpeded by the baffle of the water pan.

If your large brisket was overhanging the edge of the water pan, it's certainly possible that the tips of the meat were exposed to higher temperatures and therefore overcooked.

Foiling prevents this as does jamming the brisket between the handles of the top grate, or cooking smaller briskets...

 

[Jim Lampe]

Dave, will foiling the end point really make that much difference?
it sounds like this was pretty dry/overcooked.

Jesse, you did this on the 22" WSM, yes?

 

[JShoemaker]

Yes'r, it was on the 22" WSM.