Brisket - What went wrong?

[CUSE]

I smoked my first brisket this weekend (4.5 lbs). I didn't look at it until 203 degrees because the smoker didn't get as hot as I wanted (220-240), and the meat was reading 180 degrees 4 hours into the cook. it stalled out around 195 and got to 203 at 5-6 hours in. I wrapped it in foil and towels and placed it in a cooler for another hour. I never got to remove the point, but when I went to serve the point end fell apart like pulled meat just by holding it. the the flat end cut okay but was over cooked. I used a electric smoker on a windy day at 35-45 degrees outside air temp.
I know my smoker has cooked other items quicker in the past, but anything you might be able to add would help me...Thanks

 

[BB-que]

I smoked my first brisket this weekend (4.5 lbs). I didn't look at it until 203 degrees because the smoker didn't get as hot as I wanted (220-240), and the meat was reading 180 degrees 4 hours into the cook. it stalled out around 195 and got to 203 at 5-6 hours in. I wrapped it in foil and towels and placed it in a cooler for another hour. I never got to remove the point, but when I went to serve the point end fell apart like pulled meat just by holding it. the the flat end cut okay but was over cooked. I used a electric smoker on a windy day at 35-45 degrees outside air temp.
I know my smoker has cooked other items quicker in the past, but anything you might be able to add would help me...Thanks

Well as another brisket newb who is struggling to find the brisket sweet spot, take this advice with caution. First off I think you’re gonna have a tough time keeping a brisket that small moist, my guess is that’s a big part of the issue right there. Sure you’ll also get the comment to cook brisket to probe tender, not a specific temp.

 

[txgunlover]

You had a packer brisket that weighed only 4.5 lbs?

 

[chef jimmyj]

Over cooked! Brisket can become tender between 195 and 205. You will often see folks talk about the Probe Test, where a problem slides in with No Resistence. This Brisket is DONE and is fine if you are going to rest 15 minutes, in the counter and serve....BUT....If you, for whatever reason, are going to wrap and Cooler rest, you HAVE to undercooke the meat slightly, Probe slides in with Slight resistance and let it Finish Cooking, get DONE, as it rests in the cooler.
Look at it this way. The IT is 203, the meat is Perfectly Done, but the surface two thirds of the meat is not 203 but is what the Smoker is running at 225 to 240. Seal ALL THAT HEATER up in foil and the cooler and you perfectly Done meat just COOKED another hour as that 225 degrees conducted into the meat and raise the 203 IT to 210-215°F. Way Overcooked!
I have been Preaching for years...If the meat is DONE, rest 15 and EAT IT. if you need more time, meat done early, you need to take it elsewhere, then Pull it 5°F, Slight Probe Resistance, then Cooler the meat. The Carryover Cooking from the High surface temp will get the meat DONE, and you will be good to go...JJ

 

[CUSE]

Thank you for your replies....heard so many people talking about how long it takes, I guess I didn't believe what the temps were telling me. plus I read about the probe test, but it was so cold out that day that my temp would dropped way down if I opened the door that I skipped it...lessons learned.

 

[chef jimmyj]

Don't feel bad. Brisket is tough to get perfect to begin with. Add in any adverse situations, cold weather, and there is plenty of room for things to go wrong. We all started out making mistakes and eating marginal food. But fortunately, practice makings perfect and eventually some magical meals...JJ

 

[BB-que]

Thank you for your replies....heard so many people talking about how long it takes, I guess I didn't believe what the temps were telling me. plus I read about the probe test, but it was so cold out that day that my temp would dropped way down if I opened the door that I skipped it...lessons learned.

Brisket is difficult as I’m learning so don’t be too hard on yourself. Not much room for error like most other meats. I’ll

Don't feel bad. Brisket is tough to get perfect to begin with. Add in any adverse situations, cold weather, and there is plenty of room for things to go wrong. We all started out making mistakes and eating marginal food. But fortunately, practice makings perfect and eventually some magical meals...JJ

you make a good point chef, mine have been coming out dry and I wondered if wrapping and putting with a bunch of towels in a cooler was drying it out - I’m thinking so. I see these vids with pools of au jus after resting and mine was just grease on the paper and crumbly. So many said tho you could pull it off when prove tender and rest for hours in towels and a cooler. I gotta think that’s drying mine out, not sure what else it could be.

 

[jcam222]

You hit 205F in 5 hours smoking @ 220F?

 

[txgunlover]

You hit 205F in 5 hours smoking @ 220F?

He stated it weighed 4.5 lbs, which does not sound like a whole brisket, more like a flat.

 

[chef jimmyj]

BB, What's the texture like? Dry and fall apart? Dry and just slightly tender?
Believe it or not, Dry Brisket tend toward slightly under cooked. Brisket has a lot of Collagen, being an active muscle. But it also has very little Marbling Fat. The bulk of the brisket moisture comes from cooking until the Collagen is liquefied into Gelatin. This change happens over time and reaching that Magic IT where the meat is tender and juicy but not falling apart, overcooked, and dry or undercooked and dry. Give more detail on IT, tenderness and,such...JJ

 

[Jonok]

Really. Just start out wrapping at 140-160 and probing to feel when it starts to be tender. Once you know what that feels like, you can start to think about doing a bare brisket. In the mean time, you will be wasting a lot of meat if you just burn it up with no moisture or rational temperature control.

And, parenthetically, big packers (of whatever grade) are exponentially easier to cook than seperated flats and points. Start there and move up. Gordon’s Foods routinely has packers for less than $3/lb.

You are learning how to cook now.

You are not (yet) Harry Soo, Tuffy, or Myron.

Just take it a step at a time, and, as you become comfortable with a given cook, you can experiment.

 

[BB-que]

BB, What's the texture like? Dry and fall apart? Dry and just slightly tender?
Believe it or not, Dry Brisket tend toward slightly under cooked. Brisket has a lot of Collagen, being an active muscle. But it also has very little Marbling Fat. The bulk of the brisket moisture comes from cooking until the Collagen is liquefied into Gelatin. This change happens over time and reaching that Magic IT where the meat is tender and juicy but not falling apart, overcooked, and dry or undercooked and dry. Give more detail on IT, tenderness and,such...JJ

So I separated the point from the flat in a 15 lb prime packer. I was concerned about separation post cook being a novice and all I figured sepersting when I could see the fat seam was gonna be easier. However I won’t be continuing that. Next one I’m gonna remove the kernel and some of the seam fat but only half way or so. Once the flat hit 160 or so and started to stall I wrapped in pink paper and ramped it up to 325. I was running behind at this point and really wanted to get they the stall and get resting. It was prove tender around 207 and then I double wrapped in foil and 2 big heavy towels and into a cooler for 2 to 3 hours. Keep in mind it came off a 325 grill too before being rested for so long. Took out and lots of “greasy” paper but no juice in the foil. And it was tender but crumbly - I have little doubt it was overcooked. BE were good so not a total fail.

 

[chef jimmyj]

That is why Brisket is considered the most difficult meat to smoke. There is very little wiggle room. A few degrees one way or the other and the meat is dry. Paper is more permeable than foil. At the high temp, a lot of the moisture may have Cooked off...JJ

 

[BB-que]

That is why Brisket is considered the most difficult meat to smoke. There is very little wiggle room. A few degrees one way or the other and the meat is dry. Paper is more permeable than foil. At the high temp, a lot of the moisture may have Cooked off...JJ

 

[schlotz]

Missing a bit of information here. What was the gross weight of the brisket vs the trimmed weight? BTW, 4.5 lbs seems a bit unlikely to have been a whole packer. If trimmed, was there any fat cap left on the meat? Regarding temps, are these from the built-in smoker's therm? I suspect this is the case here given the OP indicated other smokes have gone quicker as well. If so, built-ins are notorious for being inaccurate. It's best to know for sure what your grate temps actually are by using a known, calibrated therm which you've also tested in ice & boiling water to verify. Regarding doneness, IT is strictly a guideline. Each piece of meat can be different and probing for the amount of resistance (very little at most) at insertion is the better way. Temps for example, I've had briskets get done anywhere from 195-205º based upon probing and exactly as Chef jimmyj pointed out, if pulled when already done it's ready to serve, not store. Immediately placing a done and then wrapped brisket in a cooler for another hour or so allows it to cook even further. See his post back up the thread. Only input I could suggest under the condition of being done and the time to serve hasn't arrived would be to allow the brisket to cool on the counter to an IT of maybe 180-185º before wrapping & storing in the cooler thus retarding the cooking but allowing any remaining colligans to still break down while the IT continues to stay above 160º. BTW: I use a monitoring probe in my briskets when using a cooler to keep an eye on it and the safe food level of 150º.

 

[CUSE]

One of my problems was I was trying to smoke too many other foods the same time. all to be ready at set times don to feed people

Missing a bit of information here. What was the gross weight of the brisket vs the trimmed weight? BTW, 4.5 lbs seems a bit unlikely to have been a whole packer. If trimmed, was there any fat cap left on the meat? Regarding temps, are these from the built-in smoker's therm? I suspect this is the case here given the OP indicated other smokes have gone quicker as well. If so, built-ins are notorious for being inaccurate. It's best to know for sure what your grate temps actually are by using a known, calibrated therm which you've also tested in ice & boiling water to verify. Regarding doneness, IT is strictly a guideline. Each piece of meat can be different and probing for the amount of resistance (very little at most) at insertion is the better way. Temps for example, I've had briskets get done anywhere from 195-205º based upon probing and exactly as Chef jimmyj pointed out, if pulled when already done it's ready to serve, not store. Immediately placing a done and then wrapped brisket in a cooler for another hour or so allows it to cook even further. See his post back up the thread. Only input I could suggest under the condition of being done and the time to serve hasn't arrived would be to allow the brisket to cool on the counter to an IT of maybe 180-185º before wrapping & storing in the cooler thus retarding the cooking but allowing any remaining colligans to still break down while the IT continues to stay above 160º. BTW: I use a monitoring probe in my briskets when using a cooler to keep an eye on it and the safe food level of 150º.

Smoker was a Masterbuilt 30" Elect and yes I only used the display as the smoker temp. Digital probe in brisket for meat temp.

 

[CUSE]

it was a 4.5 trimmed Brisket from BJ's Wholesale club

 

[chef jimmyj]

Unfortunately, the MES therm to monitor cabinet temp AND meat temp are often inaccurate. I have a MES 40 that the cabinet therm is accurate but the meat probe is off 15°F. My Daughters is just the opposite. We both use separate tested accurate digital thermometers to monitor cabinet and meat temp. Been using a MAVERICK 732, few bells and whistles, for years, got it from Todd at A-MAZE-N. I just got a heavily discounted Inkbird IRF-4C, an SMF Sponsor, that I am testing...JJ

 

[CUSE]

Unfortunately, the MES therm to monitor cabinet temp AND meat temp are often inaccurate. I have a MES 40 that the cabinet therm is accurate but the meat probe is off 15°F. My Daughters is just the opposite. We both use separate tested accurate digital thermometers to monitor cabinet and meat temp. Been using a MAVERICK 732, few bells and whistles, for years, got it from Todd at A-MAZE-N. I just got a heavily discounted Inkbird IRF-4C, an SMF Sponsor, that I am testing...JJ

FYI....I used a external KFiAQ Wireless Meat Thermometer which has been proven accurate. I will have to keep a separate probe for box temp moving forward, I have always used the second probe on another meat.