Brisket #5 - no stall, probe tender

[Tchycner]

Hey all,

This is my 5th brisket cook. Just pulled it off at 204 to rest I will put it on warm in the oven at 170 once the temp starts coming down.

I did this last time and it was the most tender brisket I have ever had with excellent bark. I think this one will turn out the same as last.

I have made 5 briskets now and never experienced a stall. They are all 18-20 lb full briskets from Costco. The first three were trash and just perfecting the cook.

I Make an injection marinade:

Boil and simmer:
-Some fat trimmings/raw beef scraps from trimmings
-2 sticks of butter
- beef broth
-minced garlic
-whatever seasonings you like (I go with garlic powder, smoked paprika and a bit of cayenne)

I inject the brisket the day prior to the cook, rub it down with a typical seasoning blend including garlic powder, a little cayenne, brown sugar, onion powder, smoked paprika, salt and pepper. I use mustard as a binder.

Throw it on the smoker at 200 and let it go, I open the lid around 165 to check on the bark, it usually starts forming here for me but this cook was a little delayed and got a decent bark by 175. I pull it off, very lightly spritz with apple juice and wrap in traegers butcher paper. This seems to continue to tenderize and keep it moist but also keep the bark formed and not soften it. I continue to let it go until it is prone tender but don’t check it really until 200-203. The last two cooks have been prove tender at 203.

Again, let it rest on the counter until the temp starts dropping, approximately 30 minutes. Throw it in the oven on 170 and let it ride out until dinner.

It seems that 30 minutes or less per lbs to smoke at 200 and not getting a stall is abnormal, I’m no pro but this works. The brisket will melt in your mouth and the flavor will be amazing.

Anyone have feedback for me or can anyone knowledgeably share about the no stall and incredibly fast cook time on a 20lb brisket?

 

[schlotz]

First, welcome to SMF! Glad you are here.

My first reaction to your full packer smoke is that your smoker may be telling you it's running at 200º but what you described (30 min/LB) suggests it's running hotter than that. Not running into a stall also suggests a lot higher smoking temp. What are you using to verify grate temp, built-in therm or something else? FYI, built-ins are notorious for being inaccurate. Are you timing your briskets? If so a 19# probably will dress out around 14-15#. Given your 12h 6m attached chart that would yield 48-52 min/lb. This also suggests the actual grate temp is higher than 200º. Did you weigh your trimmings to get to a smoked weight or maybe did the math by dividing by 20#'s?

For briskets, I run at 275º with a verified grate temp by a calibrated therm from Thermoworks. At this temp the stall times are usually very small or none at all. Most of my trimmed weight briskets are around 11# and they run from 50-57 min/LB. It varies cause every brisket can be different. Add to that what type of meat being smoked, i.e. choice, prime or wagyu.

 

[Tchycner]

First, welcome to SMF! Glad you are here.

My first reaction to your full packer smoke is that your smoker may be telling you it's running at 200º but what you described (30 min/LB) suggests it's running hotter than that. Not running into a stall also suggests a lot higher smoking temp. What are you using to verify grate temp, built-in therm or something else? FYI, built-ins are notorious for being inaccurate. Are you timing your briskets? If so a 19# probably will dress out around 14-15#. Given your 12h 6m attached chart that would yield 48-52 min/lb. This also suggests the actual grate temp is higher than 200º. Did you weigh your trimmings to get to a smoked weight or maybe did the math by dividing by 20#'s?

For briskets, I run at 275º with a verified grate temp by a calibrated therm from Thermoworks. At this temp the stall times are usually very small or none at all. Most of my trimmed weight briskets are around 11# and they run from 50-57 min/LB. It varies cause every brisket can be different. Add to that what type of meat being smoked, i.e. choice, prime or wagyu.

Thanks for your reply.

A few things:

1) only monitoring ambient temp with my meater wireless thermometer and the temp my Traeger gives me which I know is inaccurate. I set the temp to 200 and the ambient temp fluctuates up and down bit, mostly ambient temp reads a bit higher though.

2) I just did 20 lbs divided by the hours but yes, that’s inaccurate. I’m very new to this and trimming a brisket, but I estimated I took maybe 3 lbs off. So I suppose it ends up being closer to 45 min/lb

3) I believe the briskets I’ve bought were considered prime.

Thanks for your feedback and will look into the grate temp solution.

 

[Fueling Around]

A 200° cook temp is not going to net a 204° IT, but you realize that with your wild temp swings from 170° to 270° with a Meater probe means they are much wider in the chamber. The ambient probe is influenced by the close proximity to the meat mass.
My pellet pooper doesn't hold steady temps until above 250°
A pellet pooper is basically a wood pellet fueled convection oven. They do cook faster.

Matt @schlotz pointed out a solution. I have 2 ThermoWorks units to choose from to monitor grate and meat temps. I prefer the pricier Signals as it has 4 probes and links to my phone