I constantly see videos of guys putting their smoker between 225 and 250 degrees and they smoke their brisket for something like 8 - 10 hours before they take it off to wrap it. They say to get the meat to between 165 and 180 degrees. Well, I've got a 13 lb Brisket I put on the smoker at 10:30 this morning, set the temp to about 225 and it's already at 170 degrees internal temp in just 3 hours. How do you all smoke your stuff so long? What am I doing wrong?
Hi there and welcome!
Also if your meat probes are in the point I highly suggest you move them to the thickest yet center-most portion of the FLAT muscle.
The Point will lie to you like a 6 year old politician :P
Also, it is not easy to nail this magical temp spot on a brisket and is a major reason why people report so many wildly different finishing temps for their brisket.
The Flat muscle is the key. Also the brisket is only done when it is tender. Never by time or temp.
Check for tenderness around 198F+ Internal Temp (IT of the Flat muscle) by stabbing ALL OVER the brisket and if it goes in without resistance ALL OVER then the brisket is done. If you get resistance in an area, let the temp rise a few degrees and try again. Pull when the tenderness test tells you it's tender and done.
Also if you find a non tender spot, I bet money if you move your meat probe to that spot you will see the temp much lower there :D
I'd also recommend wrapping at 180F IT of the meat. Why? Better flavor. If you wrap too early you end up with roast beef flavor and not smoked BBQ beef brisket flavor. To me flavor is everything, not the time it takes to make the thing. So in my smoker I don't ever wrap my briskets. I simply plan more time to have the most amazing flavor AND I cook at a hotter temp to reduce my overall time.
Finally, a brisket doesn't care what temp it is cooked at, as long as you aren't burning it. I do mine all the time at smoker temp of 275F. All a smoker temp of 225F is going to get you is a longer time babysitting that brisket. Feel free to crank it up.
I hope this info helps :)