smoking brisket

[shawn bachman]

I have cooked a couple briskets in my masterbuilt smoker but both times they have come out over done. I cooked them about 1.5 hrs per pound and the internal temp is 180 by the masterbuilt internal probe. After 4 hours I wrap it in seran wrap and foil. It comes out like shredded need and just falls apart. Any ideas what I am doing wrong. I have cooked many briskets in my wood smoker and they come out great. Seems that the brisket is cooking much faster maybe done I'm 6 hrs. I am going to attempt cooking one tomorrow and really want it to come out great. Need some bragging rights to my friends. It's about 14 pounds.

 

[s2k9k]

I assume this is a Masterbuilt Electric Smoker (MES)? At what temp are you cooking at? The MES's are notorious for the temp setting and the probes not being accurate. If it is shredding at 180* I would bet it is hotter than that. It shouldn't shred until it reaches at least 200*, it should slice nicely at 190*.

I would use a known accurate therm to check smoker temp and another one to check the IT of the meat. Smoke at 225* until the brisket reaches 150*, then wrap in foil with some liquid like beef broth or beer or whatever sounds good to you, then continue to cook unti you reach an IT of 190* if you want to slice or take it to 200* to pull (shred).

I see this is your first post here, when you get a minute would you do us a favor and go to Roll Call and introduce yourself so we can get to know you and give you a proper welcome, also would you add your location to your profile, we like knowing where you are when we talk to you, Thanks!

 

[shawn bachman]

I did as you asked and posted in roll call. Thank you for your help I appreciate your advice. Yes it is a mes. Do you have any suggestions on what you're of temp gauge I should get?

 

[shawn bachman]

Just an update cooked 2 briskets and three racks of ribs and they were GREAT!! Best I have ever made. Thank you for your advice and help. My friends were very impressed.

 

[boykjo]

Just an update cooked 2 briskets and three racks of ribs and they were GREAT!! Best I have ever made. Thank you for your advice and help. My friends were very impressed.

Cool.....A thumbs up for dave.............

 

[s2k9k]

I did as you asked and posted in roll call. Thank you for your help I appreciate your advice. Yes it is a mes. Do you have any suggestions on what type of temp gauge I should get?

A very popular therm is the Maverick ET-732 http://www.amazenproducts.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=MAVET-732  it has two probes, one for the smoker temp and one for the food temp. It also has a remote receiver so you can monitor temps from inside the house or wherever you might be. It has a range of about 100 feet. You can also set alarms on it like high or low temp alarm so you don't have to keep looking at it all the time.

Other than my smoker my Maverick is the most useful tool I have for smoking. Knowing correct temps is very important and since I got mine over a year ago it really stepped up my game and made things much easier by taking the guesswork out of it.

 

[hayseed1]

I have mes and tested the internal probe it is off by at least 15 degrees  good thing i did because my brisket was done in 6.5 hrs and turned out great thanks to all of the advice on this forum!

 

[smokinhusker]

Dave gave you great advice about the MES. The internal probe for mine is only off 2* from the other 3 therms I use.

 

[wmanger]

On my MES, the temp guage is actually about 50* higher than the real temp.  I never even bothered to test the probe after found the other so far off, I will just stick to the therms I know are accurate.