Brisket postmortem

[661]

This is the sad, sad story of my first smoked brisket.  It starts at the meat counter where I asked for a flat (cooking for two).  Watched the butcher remove the point from a full brisket.  He trimmed a little but there was still a good quarter inch fat layer across most of the bottom.  Weighed in at 4.7 pounds.  Paid five bucks a pound for it, BTW; which I thought was nuts.

The flat was seasoned and left to warm on the counter for the better part of 2 hours.

Put it fat-side-down on the top rack of my model 2D, probe in the thickest part of the meat, and an inch of water in a foil loaf pan next to the smoke box.  Temp was set at 225 with a target internal temp of 195.  I had budgeted 5-7 hours for the smoke.  No peeking. 

At hour 5 the internal temp was 160-something and it was clearly not going to get done on time so I bumped the temp to 250.  Added another 10 degrees an hour later.

At hour 7 internal temp was 191 degrees.  We were starved so I pulled the plug at that point.  Straight to the cutting board with no rest.  I was surprised how much it had shrunk.  Smaller by probably 40% of its volume.   Cutting across the grain was difficult and not even a hint of meat juices coming from it.  Meat was tough and dry but tasty.

Really discouraging.  I was naive in thinking the PID would make smoking a no-brainer for any hunk of meat large enough to probe.  Expensive lesson as well so I’m apprehensive about trying again.

I expected a better product despite the shortcuts.  If this was doomed from the get-go I sure would like to hear why.

Thank you kindly for reading and any insights you can offer.

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[RG]

I must admit that I've never cooked a flat on the SI. I have a time or two on other cookers. I too ended up up with less than desirable results. Knowing now what I didn't know then, this is what I would do. Inject it with an injection of your choice. I personally like a commercial injection called Butchers Prime Injection or Fab B Lite. Both are great for briskets and both have ingredients in them that help the meat retain moisture. Adds a nice beefy flavor too. The next step outside of injecting would be to wrap the flat either in foil or butcher paper once it hits somewhere between 160° and 170°. This will require you to peek obviously, you're going to want to make sure it's a nice color before wrapping. If you wrap in foil, you will compromise your bark but you'll also retain more moisture so it's a trade off. The butcher paper breathes so you'll do less damage to your bark but it does not seal in and retain as much moisture as foil. It does help though. If I were doing a whole packer brisket I would use butcher paper. The flat alone I'd go the foil route. Being that the flat has a lot less fat than the point, it needs all the help it can get and also will be "done" at a lower temp than the point. I take the points all the way past 200° internal temp, the flat will need to be pulled out of the SI in the 190°s. Also, don't be so hell bent on cooking to a pre set internal temp. Using either your instant read thermometer or a toothpick or skewer or whatever pointy object you have at your disposal, it's done when said pointy object is able to probe the meat like butta! When it slides in and out easily, with little to no resistance, it's done. Doesn't matter what the thermometer says, if it probes tender, it's done.

Once out, open the foil to vent it, let it rest for at least 30 minutes then cut against the grain and dip those slices back into that jus in the foil, no need to waste that liquid gold!

This is what briskets wrapped in butcher paper look like at the end of the cook, saturated in juices! Foil keeps it retained so you can save the drippings (jus). The paper holds in moisture but also lets it breathe to not damage the bark as much. Experimentation on your part will be needed for you to find what works best for you! That's the fun part You can even forgo the foil and paper and finish the cook in a disposable aluminum pan, add beef broth to the pan, then the flat then cover with the pan with foil and finish in the oven even! Once wrapped, it'll not get any more smoke and at that point heat is heat, SI or oven, doesn't matter.

[661]

Thanks, Jason.  The detail you provided is much appreciated.  In hindsight I should have wrapped it but all these posts about solid results sans the crutch convinced me to try it this way.  Reading further it seems these small flats can be tricky.

All that shrinkage with a final internal temp of 191 has me perplexed, though.  I’m beginning to wonder if one, or both, of the PID probes is off.  Wish I had thought to verify with the thermopen. 

Then again maybe it was just a lousy piece of meat.  lol

[RG]

The difference between 225° and 250° isn't that big of a deal overall, I don't think your temp was ever the issue per se. I think that the meat being void of fat, being more like a sirloin and the point acting more like a rib eye, is why you had such a dryness occur. That fat cap should've been plenty thick enough to act as a heat shield against the heating element and your placement up top was right so maybe it was just an anomaly!?!

The good news is there is always a "next time"

[SconnieQ]

RG hit a lot of good points. I might repeat some of his advice, but here's what I would suggest.

Seems like a lot of people are smoking the smaller size flats lately and having some trouble. They tend to be pretty lean, and small pieces of meat are difficult, because they still need to smoke long enough to get through the stall, without drying out. I can tell you almost everyone who makes their first brisket doesn't allow enough time, and I hear "we were hungry, so we had to pull it early" or "we didn't let it rest". So don't feel bad. It's very common until you get comfortable with briskets. Just remember to allow extra time, it can always rest longer, or keep warm for several hours. Some things you can try next time...

1) If you have a Costco nearby, they have GREAT briskets, at good prices. A PRIME whole packer is going to be the most delicious, and least expensive. My Costco also sells flats. One of them is the whole flat, Choice, untrimmed. That one would be best if you don't want to buy a whole packer. I would not trim any fat off of a flat, unless it is thicker than 1/2 inch. Avoid the smaller partial flats at Costco (or anywhere). They are heavily trimmed, and cost more per pound. Those are really more appropriate for crock pot type brisket recipes. Brisket reheats extremely well, so consider a whole packer or larger flat. I always have extra that I slice, vacuum seal in portions, and freeze.

2) Brining. This should help it retain moisture.

3) Do not warm your meat to room temperature. I know that is recommended for other smokers and smoking techniques, but for the SI, put the meat directly from the refrigerator, into a cold smoker. Cold meat takes smoke better than warm meat.

4) For these smaller cuts of brisket, you should probably plan on at least 2 hours per pound at 225, plus time for rest.

5) Wrap in foil when it reaches about 170 (maybe even 160). Adding a little liquid inside the foil helps. Or place in a pan with some liquid, covered with foil. Like RG says, at this point, oven or smoker, it doesn't matter once it's wrapped. Keep it at 225 though.

6) I rest all of my briskets for at least an hour. 2 hours is my preference for whole packers. Double wrapped in foil, wrapped in a towel and in a cooler. Resting is probably the most important step for a moist, tender brisket. I've rested in a cooler as long as 4 hours. If you have to go more than 4 hours for the rest, then place the brisket (still double wrapped in foil) back in the cold smoker. Set the temp to 140. It can be held for several hours this way.

7) Save and use the juice in the foil.

Briskets do shrink a lot. Also, test your probes by placing in boiling water. They should read 212 or pretty close.

[DivotMaker]

John, so sorry to hear of your bad results!  Jason & Kari, as always, hit the nails on the head (all of them!).  Curious - what SI do you have, the 2D or the 3D?  If you have the space, smoke full packers - you'll be happy you did!  The only time I have ever used a flat was for corned beef/pastrami.  I have never wanted to spend 1/3 more for a good packer that someone had to dismember for my convenience.  You lose a LOT, when they strip that point off!

[va_rider]

To reinforce what everyone has said... Cook to temp. Not to time. If you need to have it done by a certain time, budget the time of smoke accordingly, and have a buffer built in. 1-1/2 - 2hrs per pound is what I typically use for brisket. If it finishes early, double wrap in foil and wrap a bath towel around it, then toss it in a cooler. I've had a 18# brisket in a cooler for 6 hours, and it was still above 140 when slicing it.

To echo Tony, do packer briskets whenever possible. Spend a couple of bucks and buy yourself some sort of FoodSaver vacuum sealer device of your choosing. Vacuum sealed and frozen brisket can be warmed back up from frozen in the FoodSaver bag in a pot of just under boiling water, and when you open the bag, it's like it just came off of the smoker. There's no such thing as too much brisket. I have a #2, and have done 20lb briskets without an issue. It can be a little tight, but fold up the edge, and it'll shrink down to fit on the rack.

Brisket was one of the first things I had great success with on the smoker, but a tiny flat is going to be an issue. I personally haven't done anything smaller than about 10lbs for a brisket. "No Peek" is great... to a point. But, you do have to check on it eventually. Each piece of meat is different. I've had some briskets that at 195 jiggle like a bowl of jello. I've had others that at 198 were still not as probe tender as I was looking for, and I've had to run them to 201-203. 

I've also recently become a firm believer of the crutch. I use butcher paper, and don't wrap until it's well into the stall and has formed a nice bark. But, I was having problems with less than 12lb briskets, or pork butts losing a lot of moisture during the stall. The butcher paper seems to really fix this for me, and really gives me the texture that I'm looking for. Granted, everyone likes their BBQ different, so your mileage may vary. For me, this was the missing piece between people saying "Man, this sure is good" to people grabbing a plate of meat, and just falling silent as they cram it into their mouths with reckless abandon.

Stick with it! It's not an exact science, as each piece of meat is different, but it is something that you can handle. If I may, I'd suggest that you go get a Choice or Prime packer brisket of at least 12-14lbs. Take your time with the prep. Cut away the hard fat, but leave a nice cap. Season it, wrap it in Saran Wrap and toss it in the fridge for 3-4 hours. Then, pull it out of the fridge and toss it in your 2D at around 11PM - Midnight at 225. Go to bed. Set your alarm for 7am. See where the temp is. Should be in the 170's or so. Let it keep on trucking for a while. Around 185-190, check on it. If it's got a good firm bark, you can wrap it with some butcher paper, or just let it coast. Check on it about every hour to see how it's doing once it gets to 195. Temp will climb slower the closer you get to the set temp of the smoker.

[DivotMaker]

You're write-up makes you sound more like Aaron Franklin, Aaron!  Great post & advise!