Hot fast brisket fail!

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rio_grande

Smoking Fanatic
Original poster
Feb 4, 2009
608
11
INDIANA
Been playing with other ways of cooking brisket. Trying to find a better end product than I am currently. Well I have a weber performer kettle. I thought I would try one in it. Did all the usual prep and trimmed it a bit closer. I injected this one as an experiment. On the weber running 300-350 for about 6 hr total. At 170 split off and wrapped the flat. Point back on to 200 internal. Pulled the flat at 190. 

The point ended up tough and gristley and the flat was as dry as I have ever seen. Had a great smoke flavor and smoke ring. But was dried out and not tender. I bet there was less than 1/8 cup of fluid came out of the foil when I unwrapped it. 

So where did I go wrong? 
 
Jeff I know people claim the hot n fast briskets are great but I still have doubts we cook low n slow for a reason. Maybe try not trimming any fat next time and see if that helps
 
I have my doubts too Jerry. This is the first brisket I have ever had an issue with. With dozens under my belt thought I would try something different. Maybee the old way was the best.
 
I was skeptical at first but have been doing strictly hot-and-fast cooks on my performer for a couple years now. I usually start at about 230 and let the cooker heat up to about 300-325 and keep it there for the rest of the cook. I wrap at about 165 and pull off when done.

Not sure what went wrong with yours ...
 
Hmm, don't know about this one. Could your injection have possibly been too salty and contributed to drying out? Maybe start at a lower temp as cricky states.
 
I agree that brisket normally benefits from the lower temps and longer time.  Anytime I have attempted to speed the process, I was disappointed in the results. 

Two words, tough and gristley, stood out. 

That is exactly the way mine ended up when I trimmed too close and added too much heat.  By not benefitting from the fat cap basting the meat over time and allowing the juices to slowly move, I have had the same results. I now believe that low and slow is my brisket's best freind

I hope your luck will be better in the future.
 
my opinon ..........too hot , i tried also at 350 degrees like Myron Mixon said he cooked his at but after it was done , the dog would not eat or touch it !

i dont think Myron is telling the trurth about cooking it at 350 degrees ................low and slow is the way to go  
 
Actually started out around 250 but not on purpous, i am new to the weber and had a tough time getting the temp up. Not sure guess I will have to try another one.
 
What did you inject with?  I have done a number of HNF briskets in my RF pit and love the results.  I follow the same guidelines as I do when I cook HNF as to when I cook SNL: inject, rub, wrap at 160, open foil at 190, probe for tenderness until it's butter.  My only suggestion would be to not separate the flat from the point until the flat is done. 
 
One thing I learned a while back was to leave all the fat on it. There is no need to trim before cooking. After the brisket has rested for a couple hours the fat scrapes right off no problem. No fuss, no muss. I am one of the folks who smokes fat side down. I Rub the top and sides and don't put anything on the fat cap.

Also, how long did you let it rest after you pulled it off?
 
One thing I learned a while back was to leave all the fat on it. There is no need to trim before cooking. After the brisket has rested for a couple hours the fat scrapes right off no problem. No fuss, no muss. I am one of the folks who smokes fat side down. I Rub the top and sides and don't put anything on the fat cap.

Also, how long did you let it rest after you pulled it off?
I may do this on my next brisket. Thanks for the tip.
 
I'm a fat-cap-down cooker also and here's my personal reasoning for it: Every time I smoked something that had a nice fat cap on it I noticed at those slow and low temps the fat didn't really render much at all and just softened up.  After cooking what I noticed was the meat under the fat cap had hardly any bark or flavor and was greasy, the side facing the grate had too thick a bark and some rubs developed a burned sugar taste, and the sides seemed just right.  When I flipped it and cooked fat-down most of the fat rendered off (or was pressed off?), the top and sides had a more even bark, and there was no difference in the moistness or tenderness of the meat when carving.  So it's my opinion the fat cap does a better job insulating the bottom of the meat as the heat rises up through the smoker than it does to maybe drip a little down from the top. 
 
Regarding Myron Mixon's temp and technique, his smoker has a huge water pan under the meat and over the fire, so I figure that's why he doesn't have the drying out issues us mere mortals face. When I did a brisket last week hot and fast, I put a 13x9 pan full of water in my Braten 1000 and kept temp around 300-320 using a Maverick thermometer placed near the brisket to get an accurate pit temp. I wrapped it at 165 and let it get up to 200. Let it rest and it was juicy and tender.
 
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my opinon ..........too hot , i tried also at 350 degrees like Myron Mixon said he cooked his at but after it was done , the dog would not eat or touch it !

i don't think Myron is telling the trurth about cooking it at 350 degrees ................low and slow is the way to go  
Myron's pretty adamant  about his liking the high heat ...  He references it in his books and on BBQ Pit Masters quite often.  Myron also is using a multi thousand

dollar piece of equipment that I'm sure is sealed up tighter than fort knox.  which allows him to do things with much more efficiency than you or I with our units.

I also use a large water pan and try to keep it about 1/2 -3/4 full,  it helps so much with the regulation of temperature while also helping to

insure my meat stays plenty moist.

Happy Smokin
 
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