A Few More Brisket Questions

[quickray]

After completing my 2nd Brisket on Saturday I have a few more questions.

First, I smoked a 3.5 lb flat. When I took it off it was around 205. I smoked it for nearly 16 hours. After reaching 160 I transferred to an aluminum pan and covered it in beef broth. I also covered the pan in foil too. Every hour to 90 minutes I would briefly brush some of the broth over the brisket.

I did this until it reached 205. I then took it out, wrapped it in foil, and let it sit for two hours.

When cutting into it after two hours it seemed a bit tough and a little dry. Still delicious, but it certainly wasn’t dripping with juices and the slices didn’t quite have that bend to them.

1. Any tips on what I might have done wrong?

2. If I try a full brisket, do you cook each one separately or all at once? I would think the flat would reach temp faster than the point due to it being thicker and fattier, yes? How do you mitigate that?

Attacing a photo to show you what my flat looked like after I cut into it.

Thanks for any additional tips.

 

[gmc2003]

Looking at your pics It appears to be a little overcooked. Which is better then undercooked both in taste and texture.

I did this until it reached 205. I then took it out, wrapped it in foil, and let it sit for two hours.

Here's where I think you made your mistake(I may be wrong), but did you let the brisket cool down to about 170* to 180* before wrapping and storing in a cooler? If not, the residual heat continued to cook the brisket in the cooler instead of just keeping it warm. Resulting in an overcooked brisket.

It still should be really good. The slices may be fragile but will still taste good, or you can chop them up into smaller squares and eat them that way. Quite a few folks on here like their briskets chopped instead of sliced, and a few BBQ joints also serve brisket chopped instead of sliced.

Just my .02 cents

Point for sure
Chris

 

[Chasdev]

The flat will always be less tender/more dry than the flat, it has way less internal fat and is just a different type of muscle.
Beef is graded prime (youngest animal with highest fat content), choice (which still has decent fat but probably an older/tougher animal) and select which has even less fat and from an older animal.
Then there's ungraded beef which in some cases will be tough as leather from an old animal with little or no fat content.
If you buy an ungraded brisket it still could be good eating but you have to have a developed sense of how to choose one over another or over ten others in the cooler. (how to choose it another discussion but one worth thinking about).
Lastly, no two briskets cook the same with the possible exception of super high quality, high dollar ones from top shelf providers like those used by top competition cooks.
I've cooked at least 100 briskets and 25% have gone wrong or come out tough or were overcooked or had a mysterious cooking event (like refusing to get out of the stall for hours and hours) that remains unexplained to this day.
But now I'm getting pretty darn good at making brisket chili, which is a good thing!

 

[schlotz]

Cooking to temp: Temp is ONLY a guideline, to determine tenderness (doneness) you probe the flat in many places. It should feel like going into a jar of peanut butter. gmc2003 is correct, let the meat sit open on the counter for at least 10 minutes to retard the cooking before you wrap and rest.

When smoking a full packer you monitor the flat IT in the thickest part (not the point) and pull when the probing the Flat indicates its tender. Follow the same procedure, retard the cooking before wrapping and resting.

 

[chopsaw]

It appears to be a little overcooked.

Agree . Also agree on the chopped being good .

Read thru the sticky at the top of the beef forum main page by Gary s .
He also has info on How to choose a brisket along with how he cooks it . Good info along with the advice above .

Key to let it start to cool before you hold it . My best one to date is one that sat on the counter loosely wrapped for an hour , then served .

The only one I over cooked was wrapped right away and held in a cooler .

 

[SmokinEdge]

A 3.5 pound piece of meat basting in heat for 16 hours is an awful long time. Cooking flats to tender and juicy can be challenging.

I suggest you turn up the heat next time and get it done a little faster. 250-275* is a good temp range for the cooker. On top of that remember no two pieces of meat are the same. You could have cooked this flat exactly perfect yet it may have been a little dry. That’s the meat not the cook. Buying random meat from the grocery and expecting top shelf results is not practical. Sometimes even whole packets cooked perfectly can have a flat that is a little on the dry side. That’s why I make up my bbq juice to dunk the meat in. It’s a watery flavor packed sauce that finishes brisket very nicely.

 

[MJB05615]

Agree with all above. I just posted the best Brisket I've ever made by accident. I usually wrap at 175 IT, let it finish to 203 or higher depending on tenderness. Then let it rest for 30 minutes to an hour. This last one for several reasons, no wrap, let it rest in the smoker after it was finishing too fast. Once it got close to 200' IT, I lowered smoker temp to 140', let it sit in the smoker for 3 hours unwrapped. It was the most tender and juicy one ever for us. Even the Flat was juicy.

 

[chopsaw]

A 3.5 pound piece of meat basting in heat for 16 hours is an awful long time.

I wanted to say the same thing , but I only get so much typing at one sitting anymore .
Plus my opinion is you take away the effect of wrapping when you open it up and let the steam out . The moisture that would be in the meat is now gone .

 

[quickray]

Looking at your pics It appears to be a little overcooked. Which is better then undercooked both in taste and texture.



Here's where I think you made your mistake(I may be wrong), but did you let the brisket cool down to about 170* to 180* before wrapping and storing in a cooler? If not, the residual heat continued to cook the brisket in the cooler instead of just keeping it warm. Resulting in an overcooked brisket.

It still should be really good. The slices may be fragile but will still taste good, or you can chop them up into smaller squares and eat them that way. Quite a few folks on here like their briskets chopped instead of sliced, and a few BBQ joints also serve brisket chopped instead of sliced.

Just my .02 cents

Point for sure
Chris

No,I did not let it cool to 175 before wrapping, I literally took it out the smoker and wrapped it up immediately in foil. Maybe this is where I messed it up.

Thank you for the response and also to all the others for their fantastic feedback.

Doing this is definitely an art.

 

[bregent]

No,I did not let it cool to 175 before wrapping, I literally took it out the smoker and wrapped it up immediately in foil. Maybe this is where I messed it up.

Well that probably didn't help, but the IMO the main issue is that it was in the cooker too long. Don't focus on internal temps. I've had briskets that were probe tender at 190F. Learn to go by feel and you're briskets will turn out better.

 

[noboundaries]

The devil's in the details. I can't get past the 16 hours for a 3.5 lb flat. Oy vay! My full packers don't take that long.

After reaching 160 I transferred to an aluminum pan and covered it in beef broth. I also covered the pan in foil too. Every hour to 90 minutes I would briefly brush some of the broth over the brisket.

Covered it with broth? At that point you are braising the meat.

I've never heard of brushing a brisket with broth after it is wrapped. You probably reached 160 in a couple of hours, so 14 hours of opening and brushing?

Next time: 160-180F internal temp of flat, wrap tightly with a small amount of broth, leave alone until 200F, then probe through foil every 30-60 minutes until it probes tender. Might be 204, 207, 210, etc. Every piece is different. Remove, rest for a couple hours, slice and serve.