1ST Beff Brisket

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ronnie

New member
Just got a Traeger and first time smoking on it or any king of smoking. I smoked the Brisket for about 3 hrs then set the temp to 225 for 6 hrs. Every hour sprayed it with apple juice. The highest i could get the temp was 170 but it looked great. LWraped in foil and let it rest for about 45 min. Then i sliced it and it was dry,what did i do wrong.
Any info would be great . Thanks
 
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wneill20

New member
I agree with you Chili it had to be a flat. If it was you need to brine or inject wrap qt 165 with beef broth until 195 and let rest at least and hour so it can suck up some of those juices. A flat is hard to do.
 
scooter

scooter

Moderator
Ronnie, It's difficult to say what you did wrong because we weren't there to see everything you did. The first thing I'd say is you picked the most difficult piece of meat to cook right as your first attempt at smoking! Try something easier like pork butt then work your way up to brisket.
What sounds like happened to you is your brisket hit what's called the "plateau" or the "stall" where a large chunk of meat will slow down and stop increasing (I've seen a few go backwards a few degrees) in temp for several hours (or more) in the 155-170 range especially when cooking as low as 225. After a brisket or pork butt eventually works its way through the stall it will begin to increase in temp again. I think you needed more patience to wait out the stall.
Before I cook any cut of meat for the first time I research it thoroughly. Had you known to expect the stall, you would have known to just leave it alone, especially an unwrapped brisket. It would have begun to increase in temp again eventually and you would have completed the cook with different results. There are a couple brisket threads in the Hall Of Fame Recipes forum. Read them both before attempting another brisket would be my advice.
If you'd like to cook a great pork butt, try the recipe below. I've tried it and it's pretty much my standard butt cook now. You will face the same stall situation as you did with the brisket but at least now you know what to expect.
http://www.slapyodaddybbq.com/images/06 Culinary Artistry/Slap Yo Daddy Pork Bone-In Pork Butt.pdf
 
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Big Poppa

Big Poppa

Administrator
I cannot imagine brining a brisket....Please read my brisket thread in hall of fame...it works pretty good....
 
scooter

scooter

Moderator
TomC said:
How can you tell the difference between a packer and a flat?
Click to expand...

Tom, a packer typically consists of two muscles with a thick vein of fat between them. The flat (A) and the point (B). The flat is typically far less fat marbled than the point. Sometimes butchers will trim off the point (the best part of a brisket in my book) and sell only the flat. Many pitmasters wouldn't even bother with just a flat but it depends on the pitmaster. Cooking just a flat would be pointless!! haha, sorry, pun intended...couldn't resist! :)
Anyway, the pic below shows you a whole packer brisket with both flat and point connected. The line only illustrates grain direction on the flat.

brisket_flat_700.jpg
 
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sparky

sparky

New member
scooter said:
Anyway, the pic below shows you a whole packer brisket with both flat and point connected. The line only illustrates grain direction.

brisket_flat_700.jpg
Click to expand...

i know grain direction but is that where the two are separated at? oh, wait. is the fat to the left of B the separation point. cutting threw that fat vein?
 
Chili Head

Chili Head

New member
Kudos for trying a brisket right outa the box! I think it took me a couple months of research and asking questions before I had the nerve to try it lol. I think scooter is exactly right, your brisket was in the stall and why it didn't get past
170. The brisket is done when you can stick a probe in it and it goes in easily. Yours could have been dry because the fat wasn't rendered (melted) completely. And sometimes the meat just won't cooperate no matter what you do to it.
 
sparky

sparky

New member
cool. ty very much. i didn't know that. how do you see it once its cooked? raw i could see it good. but cooked? be hard to find.
 
scooter

scooter

Moderator
Your welcome Tom.

Sparky, here's a better pic of the separation between the flat and the point. You can really see how much more marbling of fat the point has over the flat. In this picture, the instructor is holding the brisket by the point. Much of the fat between the point and flat has been carved away.

IMG_7024.jpg
 
scooter

scooter

Moderator
Sparky, it takes a few to get the hang of it but it's not difficult. When fully cooked, a long knife will go through the fat vein between the flat and point pretty easily.
 
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wneill20

New member
No need to read here. I was trying to help a pellet smoker out if he had a flat the brine will help. I had a 4 lb flat one weekend and said what to do and read the Neellys recipe from food tv and said what the hell give it a try. All in all very moist and tender was it a comp brisket No but for a weekend flat pretty good. Just trying to help
 
TTNuge

TTNuge

New member
Most time if you separate after cooking you can actually use the back side of a knife to separate the two
 
Big Poppa

Big Poppa

Administrator
wneill20 said:
No need to read here. I was trying to help a pellet smoker out if he had a flat the brine will help. I had a 4 lb flat one weekend and said what to do and read the Neellys recipe from food tv and said what the hell give it a try. All in all very moist and tender was it a comp brisket No but for a weekend flat pretty good. Just trying to help
Click to expand...

Ii know you were helping just was saying that I didnt brine any beef...the beauty is each to his own...Wneil his toughness was not finishing his cook...if he had brined the flat and pulled it at 170 it would not have been rendered. Thats all ...its all good. Sorry if you took me wrong.
 
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wneill20

New member
Big Poppa said:
Ii know you were helping just was saying that I didn't brine any beef...the beauty is each to his own...Wneil his toughness was not finishing his cook...if he had brined the flat and pulled it at 170 it would not have been rendered. Thats all ...its all good. Sorry if you took me wrong.
Click to expand...

Its all good. I agree with you don't pull at 170 or it will be tough. He left a lot of unknowns out what temp was he smoking at, Flat or whole, Did he foil and let rest? He may have been at the stall and could not take any longer.
 
Big Poppa

Big Poppa

Administrator
yeah..the stall...amazing ribs has a great study from Dr Blonder explaining the stall...the old school explanation was that it was the point in time when the colagen in the meat was being converted to gelatin....Blonder proves it is evaporative cooling
 
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