8-pound brisket problems

[MoHuka]

Ok, i am the newbie from earlier post and Ihad some problems.  First i have to say it was 19 degrees when I started at 6am this morning.  I had built a rack and enclosed with a tarp to keep the wind off the smoker.  I set the temp for 230 degrees but after an hour I only had 165 but put the brisket in regardless.  The meat reached intenal temp of 140 degrees after 6 hours when I wrapped it in foil and continued.  After 12 hours the oven temp reached a high of 216 degrees and the meat topped out at 171 degrees.  Also the oven seemed to stop heating as all day the heat indicators ( I, II, III) kept going but eventually stopped stopped.  The final state was oven temp set at 230 and actual temp was 216 and internal temp 171 and not going any higher.  I removed the brisket and we ate it but it was like a prime rib texture wise....how many things have I done wrong as this was disapointing....thanks

[STLstyle]

Brisket, pork butt, any large piece of meat will "stall" for potential hour/hours. Sounds to me like you needed to wait it out.  Can't be in a hurry with a brisket...
That being said I'm still trying to perfect my technique on that tricky cut myself!


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[FLBentRider]

After you wrapped in in foil, it is not going to take on any more smoke flavor.

Having said that, without the smoke the Bradley is a 500W oven.

I would move it to your house oven when you foil, most house ovens are 1500W. It will still stall, but the house oven has more BTU's to bring to the party to maintain your set temp.

The reason for the stall, put simply, is that the connective tissue in the brisket (or pork butt for that matter) is breaking down into gelatin (this is what makes it so lip-smacking good) and water. It is the evaporation of the water that has a cooling effect and causes the stall, since the phase change in the water is taking up all the energy you are throwing at it.

[Sailor]

Greg, Doing a good brisket is something that will have you doing them time after time.  They are not hard to do as all it takes is patients. They say to plan for at least 1.5 hrs per pound but I normally plan a few extra hours to just be safe.  You can always FTC it until needed or vac seal and reheat.  I like to reheat as I think I get a better flavor after it sits in the fridge for a day or so.

As Randy said you only have a 500 watt heater trying to cook.  I did not see how big your brisket was so can't say how long it should have taken.  I did 2 briskets for Christmas one a 15 pounder and a 12 pounder and it was a 22 hour cook.  If you are doing a 10 pounder and want to eat at 5pm I figure it will take 15 hrs of cooking plus at least 2 hrs of FTC.  So I am looking of at least 17 hrs.  That means I need it to go in at midnight.  But to be safe I would start it around 8pm the day before.  Don't hurt to FTC it for 4 to 5 hrs.

Brisket like all meats will stall out.  The stall can last from 1 hr to many hours as it just depends on the meat.  My 2 briskets stalled at different times and one was a problem child as it did not seem to want to come out of the stall.   Just patients with it and it finally broke the stall.  I don't boat my briskets as I like the bark and don't put them in the oven.  Just a personal thing with me.

That was pretty long winded but the bottom line.  Just be patient.  It will get done when it is done.  I bring the flat to 185 to 190 IT.  Then cut the point off and make burned ends so not to worried about the IT when it firsts comes out.

Once you make a tender lip smacking brisket you will be wanting to do it again and again.  Get a log book and write down what you did and times for the smoke.  When you hit on that "out of the park" brisket you will have your notes and can do it time after time.

Good luck on the next one.   ;D

[MoHuka]

Thanks to everyone for the healp.  I finished the brisket off the next day in the crock pot and it was very good..great smoke taste.  Next time I will move to the kitchen oven as suggested..expecially when the ambient temperature is in the 20's.