# First Brisket - FAIL!



## chocdog (Aug 26, 2017)

Well I tried smoking my first brisket this weekend.  FAIL!  I had decent bark and flavor, but it was pretty damn dry.

I started with a 17# packer.  It went in  whole last night around 6:00 pm.  I seasoned it using nothing but SPOG (used cracked pepper).

Smoked with a mixture of hickory and pecan in my MES.  Smoker temp held pretty constant 225-235 for the whole smoke.  I was not planning to wrap or use the crutch,  for a first timer, I think that was a mistake.  Everything was progressing rather well and I was suprised that there seemed to be be no lengthy stall.  It just cooked through.  Up until this point in time the flat and point were only a couple of degrees apart,  then they really started to gap apart.  Around 185 I opened up the smoke to check the progress and decided to separate the flat and point and wrap them in foil.  There was a lot of shrinkage overall.  I pulled both just past 200, wrapped them in towels and placed them in the cooler for a couple of hours.  The flat was drier than I had hope for and so was the point, even though it was much more tender.  The flavor was good, but I need to do better on the next one.


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## rw willy (Aug 26, 2017)

Some turn out better than others.  Keep trying, you'll get it.  BTW, those things can be tricky! My $0.02.


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## bdskelly (Aug 26, 2017)

Howdy ChocDog. It looks like you followed you IT temps well.  As a rule I never separate the peak from the flat until it's on the carving board.
Some question to think about. 
How much trimming did you do to the flat area? Did you leave at leave at least 1/4 inch of fat on the cap?
What was the grade of the beef? Choice, select,  prime? 
What are you using to check your temps of the MES and the meat? Maverick perhaps?
Did you place the peak to the right on your MES which is over the eliment? 
How long did your slices of flat sit before they were served? They dry quickly... the reasons the shops always carve to order. 
B


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## chocdog (Aug 26, 2017)

I may have been a little aggressive in trimming the fat, next time I make sure to leave more of the cap.

The brisket grade was choice.  It looked like it had decent marbeling.  I was using my maveric et73 , thermopro tp20 along with the mes.

Brisket was on the second rack from the bottom with the point on the right side above the element.  On the lowest rack was a large foil pan for drippings. Meat was sliced and served as soon as it came out of the cooler.  I definitely have some learnin to do.  I am usually pretty proud of what comes out of my smoker, this was quite humbling.


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## bdskelly (Aug 26, 2017)

Ha!  Forgive the oddball post I just deleted . My new iPad and I are not getting along! B


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## bmudd14474 (Aug 26, 2017)

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/...liced-brisket-defies-conventional-wisdom/0_40


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## hardcookin (Aug 26, 2017)

My thoughts are when you pulled it at 185 and decided to cut the point off that messed things up a little, but not completely.
If the brisket was dry it wasn't done. You can use temp as a guideline when cooking brisket but you really should go by feel.
For instance most choice brisket have been done for me at 200-205 but I have had them not finish until 210. Prime brisket usually finishes around 195 for me.
To check if a brisket is done, you check to see if it is probe tender in the thickest part of the flat.
You really have to have patience with brisket and brisket likes at least an hours resting time.

You didn't have a brisket fail...You had a brisket learning experience  :biggrin:

Next time probe tender and be patient.
I do wrap my brisket with butcher paper when it gets the desired bark. It's not necessary but that's just the way I do them.


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## scarps23 (Aug 26, 2017)

To help with dryness. Inject the brisket. Beef stock is all you need. Other stuff can be bought and works well too. 

If you wrap with foil of butcher paper that should help with keeping it from drying out. It can be done well without the crutch. Inject and wrap next time. It should have more juice. 

Sometimes the meat does what the meat wants. Sounds like you had everything else pretty well in line. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## greg1 (Aug 28, 2017)

I would suggest next time to go by tenderness not temp in deciding when to pull the brisket.  At about 190 degrees grab a tooth pick and insert into the brisket, when it goes in with no resistance you got it.


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## myownidaho (Aug 28, 2017)

Temp may have been an issue. The lower temp means a longer smoke and the potential for drying out the meat. You never know what you're going to get with fat content. By cooking at 250-270, you decrease the cooking time and the potential for drying out the roast. And yes, there will be plenty that disagree! Lol!


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## noboundaries (Aug 29, 2017)

Heavily exercised muscles on animals will taste dry and tough if not cooked long enough to melt the collagen connecting the tissues.  Whether cooking/smoking at 225F or 350F, enough collagen has to melt for the meat to 1) become tender, and 2), be juicy. 

There are three potential types of "juice" in meat.  One is water mixed with a protein called myoglobin.  It is the red liquid you see dripping from raw meat (no, it's not blood).  For low temp meats like steak, this plays a big part in the juiciness of the meat.

Second is fat, aka marbling.  Fat renders down to juicy goodness, but not until higher temps, above 130F to 140F. 

Third is collagen, the tough connective tissues connecting the muscle fibers in well exercised cuts like brisket.  Collagen doesn't melt until much higher temps, above 160F. The more exercised the muscle, the greater the collagen content and the longer it has to cook to melt the fibers.  Brisket is a WELL exercised muscle, but when enough collagen has melted, the meat changes from dry and tough tasting, to tender and juicy. 

The brisket point has a lot of fat, so it is tough to mess up a point.  The much leaner flat is the challenge.  Overcooked brisket flats will taste dry, but will be so tender it will crumble when you try to cut it.  If it tastes dry and tough, it hasn't cooked long enough and too much collagen is still intact.


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## bdskelly (Aug 29, 2017)

Noboundaries said:


> Heavily exercised muscles on animals will taste dry and tough if not cooked long enough to melt the collagen connecting the tissues.  Whether cooking/smoking at 225F or 350F, enough collagen has to melt for the meat to 1) become tender, and 2), be juicy.
> 
> There are three potential types of "juice" in meat.  One is water mixed with a protein called myoglobin.  It is the red liquid you see dripping from raw meat (no, it's not blood).  For low temp meats like steak, this plays a big part in the juiciness of the meat.
> 
> ...



Outstanding advice and information. In the beginning we often simply think meat + fire = que.  A few ruined $40+ hunks of meat gets a person to thinkin.  We've all been at that point.  Everyone of us.  The magic que appears once we understand how it is cooking and what happening while it's cooking.   
I think most of us agree that brisket Can be a challenging  smoke.  You're gonna screw up a few before you get it right. 
Any who.  Good info here.
Brian


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## olecrosseyes (Sep 4, 2017)

Noboundaries said:


> Heavily exercised muscles on animals will taste dry and tough if not cooked long enough to melt the collagen connecting the tissues.  Whether cooking/smoking at 225F or 350F, enough collagen has to melt for the meat to 1) become tender, and 2), be juicy.
> 
> There are three potential types of "juice" in meat.  One is water mixed with a protein called myoglobin.  It is the red liquid you see dripping from raw meat (no, it's not blood).  For low temp meats like steak, this plays a big part in the juiciness of the meat.
> 
> ...


Excellent understanding and proper rhetoric for a response in my opinion!


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