Questions regarding my first brisket

MontanaGuy · June 22, 2009, 07:44:57 AM

I smoked my first brisket this weekend. It was a small one........only about 3 pounds. I slathered it in mustard and applied a rub, then put it in the fridge overnight. I put it in my DBS the next day at 220 degrees with Mesquite. I thought it would take about 1.5 hours per pound or 4.5 hours total. Guess I was wrong! After 2.5 hours of smoking and a total of 13 hours, the internal temperature finally hit 190 degrees. It was a little tough and definitely seemed overdone. Tasted very good but it was too dry.

Apparently I cooked it too long given how dry it was. Any idea what I did wrong? I thought that as long as I didn't go over an internal temp of 190 degrees I would be OK. Do you think the small size of the brisket was the problem? Maybe I should have cooked it for less time because of the small size. Or maybe I should have pulled it out at 185 degrees so it would hit around 190 after it continued to cook.

I would appreciate any feedback the forum members can provide.

Smokin Soon · June 22, 2009, 06:16:41 PM

I have only tried a small briskit once and had the same results. My larger ones have been fine. Others will be along shortly I am sure to confirm this.

KyNola · June 22, 2009, 06:56:18 PM

MG,
Welcome to the forum. If you haven't already discovered the recipe website, the address is www.susanminor.org Once there look for the recipe by WestTexasSmoker for smoking brisket. For me he is hands down the expert on briskets using the Bradley. He's a really good guy too although he uses this really strange wood that none of us in Kentucky have ever heard of. It's called mesquite I think. ;)

Sorry WTS, you know I'm gonna do it. :)

Seriously MG, WTS is an incredibly knowledgeable source of info for briskets in the Bradley.

KyNola

westexasmoker · June 22, 2009, 07:12:21 PM

KyN,
Is way to kind to me....although I do like the brisket...and mesquite! Gonna have to change too...Mesquite what there's other wood, Brisket what there's other meat! ;D

C

Smokin Soon · June 22, 2009, 08:11:23 PM

Just so you know wts, I got a new treager grill coming from Bryan at Y&P. Ordered a mix of pellets and yes I did get 20 lb of MessyWood!

MontanaGuy · June 23, 2009, 04:54:04 AM

Thanks everyone for the feedback. Looks like I'll try a couple things next time. First I'll go with a larger brisket. I think the small one was just too easy to dry out. Second, I'll look at the recommended website for WestTexasSmoker's brisket recipe. I kind of stumbled on the website yesterday but didn't have much time to look at it.

Thanks again for the help. I'll let ya'll know how the next one turns out!

MontanaGuy · June 23, 2009, 05:02:20 AM

I just looked at the website recommended by KyN. The recipe from WTS looks like the way to go! That's what I'll do next time. Thanks again for the feedback.

Caneyscud · June 23, 2009, 06:18:10 AM

Quote from: MontanaGuy on June 23, 2009, 04:54:04 AM
Thanks everyone for the feedback. Looks like I'll try a couple things next time. First I'll go with a larger brisket. I think the small one was just too easy to dry out.

Those small ones are usually trimmed to be devoid of fat and are generally destined for long moist cooking methods that are supposed to keep it from drying out. However, moist cooking doesn't guarantee a moist end product (has to do with cooking speed, contraction and squeezing out moisture from the cells). So to try to do one in a smoker without some additional moisture/fat added during prepping and/or cooking (larding, basting, mopping, injecting, bacon wrapping, etc...) is inviting a dry brisket. The larger, packer cut briskets are full of that good, beautiful fat needed to bathe those protein fibers into tender submission!

Plus the 13 hours bothers me and doesn't make sense. I'm wondering if you were using the DBS readout for the cabinet temp? Sounds like the cabinet temp at your meat location might be lower than you thought. You might need to check your thermometers to verify that they are correct. However, with that being said, I did 10 pounds of fresh sausage saturday at 250 that took from 11 to 3:30 at night. Far too long and of course it was pretty dry, but did not get to 165 until then. And I had just checked my thermometers. Sometimes the barbecue pixies just play games on us!

Highly recommend the larger briskets - less $ per pound, easier (but longer) to cook, and just think of all the great leftovers!

MontanaGuy · June 23, 2009, 07:59:30 AM

Thanks Caneyscud for the feedback. Yeah, there was very little fat on the brisket. I'll have to consider that next time. And you're probably right about how the temperature not being consistently at 220. I know that at times it was definitely dipping lower. And I did open it a couple times. So I need to factor that into my plans in the future. I may get a PID. If I understand right, even a digital BS could benefit from a PID so far as keeping the temp consistent is concerned.

Oh yeah, and I'll definitely go with a bigger brisket next time!

Thanks

Deflated · June 23, 2009, 10:38:01 AM

I don't mean to hijack this thread but I have a question. I've never done a brisket and I'm itchy to do one in the next few weeks. A lot of what I'm reading on this forum is making me think that I should avoid the flat and go for the packer. If that's so, then is there a particular size/weight I should be looking for when selecting one to fit in the Bradley?

westexasmoker · June 23, 2009, 10:41:06 AM

Quote from: Deflated on June 23, 2009, 10:38:01 AM
I don't mean to hijack this thread but I have a question. I've never done a brisket and I'm itchy to do one in the next few weeks. A lot of what I'm reading on this forum is making me think that I should avoid the flat and go for the packer. If that's so, then is there a particular size/weight I should be looking for when selecting one to fit in the Bradley?

I find a 9-11 pounder fits just about right on the racks, once trimmed up a bit!

C

Habanero Smoker · June 23, 2009, 02:10:56 PM

Quote from: Deflated on June 23, 2009, 10:38:01 AM
I don't mean to hijack this thread but I have a question. I've never done a brisket and I'm itchy to do one in the next few weeks. A lot of what I'm reading on this forum is making me think that I should avoid the flat and go for the packer. If that's so, then is there a particular size/weight I should be looking for when selecting one to fit in the Bradley?

Click on the link, and read the section on Brisket Selection. That will give you a good idea of how to select one, and what to do if one is too long.

Brisket Pachanga

Caneyscud · June 23, 2009, 02:45:38 PM

Quote from: MontanaGuy on June 23, 2009, 07:59:30 AM
And you're probably right about how the temperature not being consistently at 220. I know that at times it was definitely dipping lower. And I did open it a couple times. So I need to factor that into my plans in the future. I may get a PID. If I understand right, even a digital BS could benefit from a PID so far as keeping the temp consistent is concerned.

I'm not trying convince you not to get a PID, (I've got two temperature control devices and neither is installed on a smoker - just haven't "needed" to yet), but for brisket and butts you just don't really need one. Those meats are forgiving. As long as you are somewhere around 220 to 250 on average - no prob.. You don't want to consistently (for long periods of time - like hours) be lower or higher - that can affect time and tenderness. I also cook on two big stickburners and they are a joy to use - once warm - relatively easy to keep consistent temps - lots of steel that holds heat. I have a smaller stickburner that I use at home frequently - not as much steel so not as easy to be consistent - especially at night (I usually sleep an hour, get up tend smoker, sleep an hour, get up tend smoker, etc....) I will get 10 to 30 degree temp swings and that thing still puts out some of my best briskets. What I was attempting to try to say, is that just because your digital temp readout says 220, where the meat is may not be 220 degrees or the probe may not be reading correctly and the temp is actually less (or more). Just because the readout says 220, it does not mean that the cabinet is 220 throughout - in fact there can be quite a big difference between racks and locations on the rack. This is inherent for ALL smokers (and kitchen ovens - just check it to see) - that is why some go to fans, multiple smoke injection sites, reverse flow, etc..... to try to equalize the cabinet temp. One of the big smokers I use is a big rotisserie - it moves the meat through all the temperature zones to counteract the effects of different temps. The Bradley heating element is on the back wall down near the bottom of the cabinet so that is likely going to be the hottest area and the lowest temp. will be somewhere else - depending on weather, wind, vent opening, distribution of meat, etc..... For all the verbosness of the above, there is a possiblity that your brisket was sitting cooking in an area of your smoker that had a temp much less that 220 and that caused a very long smoke, which can tend to dry out things - especially in a lean piece of meat.

MontanaGuy · June 24, 2009, 05:00:12 AM

Caneyscud,
Great info. I'm not real eager to spend the $ on a PID. Sounds like the right thing to do is to learn the nuances of using my DBS and then make a decision on whether or not a PID is necessary. Regarding your comments about placement of the meat in the smoker and the impact on temperature...maybe that was part of my problem. I had the brisket on the highest rack so furthest away from the heat. Maybe I could have reduced the cook time if I had it closer to the heat source. I'll consider this next time. Another lesson learned for me!

Thanks again