Brisket--what did I do wrong????

[astrid1st]

I smoked food for the very first time yesterday...Beef Jerky which came out gret. Today it was a 5.5 lbs Brisket which I dry rubbed last night following WTS Brisket recipe. I then took the Brisket out this morning for one hour until it started sweating while the BS was preheating to 220 degrees Fahrenheit. I put the water into the bowl and added a little beer, used Hickory Bisquettes and after the one hour of preheating I set the smoker on 4 hours of smoking and a total of 6 hours oven. The Brisket looked great and the taste was awesome, but it was a little too tough. Usually when I cook it that long int the slow cooker it falls apart.
WHAT DID I DO WRONG?????? HELP PLEASE!!!!

[FLBentRider]

Did you take the meat temp before you pulled it? I take brisket to at least 180-185F

I would say that you did not cook it long enough. When I do brisket it is a 12-18 (even 24) hour cook, sometimes longer.

I would assume that your slow cooker cooks faster due to a couple of factors.

1. More wattage. I think mine is 1500 watts.

2. Direct contact with the meat.

[astrid1st]

FlBentRider, thank you for your information and reply. How big are your briskets? They look awesome in your picture ndno I did not take the internal temp since someone mentioned to just go at 220....HEL
P!!!

[FLBentRider]

I have done briskets from 6 to 14-17 lbs

You will find when you start cooking by target temp you will have much more consistent results.

It is hard, however, to time things, so we use a method called FTC (Foil towel cooler) - wrap in foil, then an (old) towel, and put in a cooler with no ice. This will keep a brisket or pork butt warm at food safe temps for at least 2 hours, and as longs as 6-8 depending on the meat mass and the cooker.

[KyNola]

Yep, Randy (FLBR) has you on this.  Key to most everything coming out of a smoker is the IT of the meat, not time.  It's done when it's done.  The other part of the equation is the animal(in this case the cow) itself.  Some animals are just tougher.

Don't feel bad.  You're doing well.  There is always a learning curve.

[DTAggie]

IT is your friend.  You have to measure IT to be successful.

[astrid1st]

Maybe I misunderstood the instructions for the Smoker, but I thought the digital window shows the set temperature and the IT which one showed 220 (set) and I thought the other one which was 221 was the IT. The funny thing is that the brisket had lots of juice and was not dry at all, just "chewy".

[Tenpoint5]

Maybe I misunderstood the instructions for the Smoker, but I thought the digital window shows the set temperature and the IT which one showed 220 (set) and I thought the other one which was 221 was the IT. The funny thing is that the brisket had lots of juice and was not dry at all, just "chewy".

What your seeing is the set point 220º and the actual cabinet temp at the sensor located on the back wall 221º. You will see the second number over shoot and fall short of the set point as the unit cycles the heating element on and off. The temp swings will get smaller as the meat starts to warm completely through. Most everyone uses a remote probe to monitor the Internal Temp (IT) of the meat. The Maverick ET-732 is the newest and most widely used. Although you can use most any meat probe thermometer to accomplish this.

[astrid1st]

Thank you Tenpoint5 for the information. I guess I need to get a probe then because and will look up the Maverick one....

[mow_delon]

Completely agree with all the posters here.  Your brisket was not done yet, which is why it was chewy.  I put a 4 lb pork roast in the Bradley Saturday and it took 13 hours to get to 185 IT.  The IT (internal temperature) that is being talked about here is the IT of the meat, not the Bradly cabinet.  Get a Maverick and be happy!  You never even need to open the door until it is done when using one.

[gbritten_nh]

Thank you Tenpoint5 for the information. I guess I need to get a probe then because and will look up the Maverick one....

I used my Bradley maybe 5 times before I got an ET-732 Maverick dual temp probe.

I recently had to replace the meat probe, and it was down over the weekend when I usually smoke, and I found myself thinking, I cannot smoke anything cause I do not have enough information.

So I strongly concur, get a maverick, and treat the probes carefully!

[trainer]

from a fellow newbie, getting the Maverick ET-732 does make life much easier. you will knock it out of the ballpark with one of these. everyone will think you are a great cook when in fact you are second guessing everything and checking it twice on here hehe... that is our little secret ;)