# Brisket is a little dry...



## smokey2569

OK, so I have been going at this smoking thing for the past 8 months, and have perfected most everything I have made up until now. I have made about 4 or 5 briskets since I got my smoker, and I feel that they have been coming out a little dry. Any advice that can be given will help in my next brisket smoke. 

Here is the steps I have been following:
- Most have been around 5 or 6 lbs. Usually about 2 inches thick.
- I use a rub of kosher salt, pepper, garlic powder, paprika, cayenne
- I rub it about an hour before throwing it in the smoker and let it sit to come up in temp a few degrees
- Smoked fat side up on middle rack
- Mopped every hour after the first 2 with a mixture of beer, veggie oil, garlic, onion
- Bring it up to around 180 before taking it out and letting it sit in cooler for an hour or so
- Smoking with hickory in a GOSM. The water pan is almost always about 3/4 full. Temps between 225 and 250 for duration of smoke.

Thoughts?


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## gnubee

Do you foil it at 160f ? That may solve your problem.


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## smokey2569

Yep...foiled at that stage, and throw it back it to about 185ish


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## bman62526

#1 - I assume you put a little liquid in the foil before you wrapped it?  That helps moisten things up.

#2 - Once you foil it, take her up to 195 instead of 185...might help.

#3 - Most important think to try in my opinion, is to cook it fat side down.  I know that people say that the fat cap "bastes" the meat as it melts off, but I prefer fat down for two reasons.  One, there is plenty of thin 'ribbons' of fat throughout that cut of meat that will help flavor your brisket and two, most important in my opinion - fat side down insulates the meat from temp spikes.  Without that insulation, you can dry out the meat if you have a couple temp spikes over the course of your long cook.


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## fatback

I will be following this thread to see what kind of responses you get.

I suspect I know one answer...you mentioned a 5-6 lb brisket which probably means you're only smoking a flat cut -- not a whole brisket. Brisket flats are all I have tried so far, and all but one have been a bit dry for my liking -- even though everyone raves about how good it is. I take mine all the way to 195-200 degrees, and thought I would drop down to 180 or so on my next attempt. But based on your experience, that may not be the answer. Maybe a whole brisket holds up to a long smoke better and retains more moisture?

Like I said, I will be paying attention to see what the experts say.


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## billbo

Also be careful of how much salt you are using in the rub. Too much will draw the natural juices out of the meat. Other than that I think I would try fat side down. This insulates the cut from the more "direct heat". 

250° may be a little high but not in short bursts, try to hit like 225-235° for the duration and see if that helps.


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## herkysprings

Slice the brisket, and get a good spray / mop on the exposed meat fibers. They will act like a sponge and soak up the liquid.


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## bigbaldbbq

I will inject mine with good ole beef stock sometimes too.


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## smokey2569

I had very consistant temps this weekend and there was no temp spikes. It was around 225-235 for the majority of the day. I can understand if it hit 250-260 for a while without me knowing, but it was nice and low all day. 

I also used very little salt because of drying out the meat prior to cooking, and have tried it both fat side up and fat side down.

I guess I could slice it up and spray it with something to moisten it, but at that rate I might as well just use a good bbq sauce for moisture. i want it moist from the get go, not from adding liquid to it...

I guess I keep on trying. Its a no lose situation as at the end of it all I get to stuff food down my gullet.


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## budking

Ha ha...gullet...


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## geek with fire

As mentioned above, if using flats with little or no cap, add a layer of bacon on the top to keep it moist.  But, packers are the best to work with.

Also, make sure you have a pan under the brisket to collect any of the drippings.  Always add the drippings back in when you foil.  Lastly, if you still think it's dry, slice it after rested, throw in a crock pot with the juices and simmer for a couple of hours.  It will be like butta.


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## stubs

I was having the same problem with flats being a little dry in my gosm, I cook them pretty much the same as you, but got that problem solved.

GWF is right on the money, I cooked a flat last weekend with 6 strips of bacon on top and it was extremely moist, and tasted great! You should give that a go.


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## pineywoods

Another method I have seen used here is to do the entire smoke in a roasting pan some will start with a little liquid either water or beef broth in the bottom of the pan and when it comes time to foil they just foil using the pan.
Personally if I'm slicing I usually inject it the night before the smoke


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## bassman

I double wrap mine at 165 degrees.  Finish to 190, leave wrapped in foil, wrap in old towels and place in cooler for 2-3 hours.  This step lets the brisket re-absorb some of the juice from the foil.  Never had a dry one yet.  When foiling, I pour on a bit of apple juice/rum mixture.


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## smokey2569

I think my issue might be because I usually use just the flat. I will try one with the point attached in a few weeks and see what happens. At least I can always have burnt ends after all is said and done...


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## smokey2569

Here is what it looked like finished. Finally got around to posting a photo...


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## vegansbeware

I know there are about as many methods for smoking a brisket as there are BBQ fans. To each their own. My method has seemed to work flawlessly every time I've done it. Here's a link to my post...
http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/for...331#post290331

It may be kinda long but it is a full overnight brisket smoke.

The trimming method I use can be found here...
(I know it didn't come from this site...but it is informative and isn't that what this site is for? Information?)
http://www.thepickledpig.com/forums/...n-brisket.html

Hope all this helps!


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## meat hunter

Here is the steps I have been following:
- Most have been around 5 or 6 lbs. Usually about 2 inches thick.
- I use a rub of kosher salt, pepper, garlic powder, paprika, cayenne
- I rub it about an hour before throwing it in the smoker and let it sit to come up in temp a few degrees
- Smoked fat side up on middle rack
- Mopped every hour after the first 2 with a mixture of beer, veggie oil, garlic, onion
- Bring it up to around 180 before taking it out and letting it sit in cooler for an hour or so
- Smoking with hickory in a GOSM. The water pan is almost always about 3/4 full. Temps between 225 and 250 for duration of smoke.

Thoughts?[/quote]
Just me, but try it fat side down. Mop every 1/2 hour. if it looks like its getting dried out a bit, I have even made a foil tent and sat it over the brisket when I do mine. wrap in foil at the end and keep in cooler for at least 3 hours. I put mine in a cooler with an old down pillow on the bottom, then the brisket, then another down pillow. I have actually had these stay piping hot from 10 at nite till almost noon the following day. very very juicy.


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## billbo

That sure looks good to me! If it's too dry for you send it my way!


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## mamunoz

I used to have the same problem it was really good tasting just dry.  Only thing I can tell you I do now is basically just use a rib rub on it with no mustard or anything put it in at 235 and let her sit for about 3.5 hours mop it once with a mixture of beer, honey, and a little bit of the rub let her get to about 160 or a little over and then foil it but then I put in a bunch of the liquid and then bring her to about 200.  I also do it fat side up.  I have done this twice oh and both times they were fresh meat I froze first then let thaw and then cooked.


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## smokey2569

Thanks for the info. I have pork on the list next, but will let you know how the next beefer comes out.


When you eat a ribeye steak, you must floss it...


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