First Brisket (on the BGE)

13 hours on the egg @ 225. Came out a hair dry, but that's me being critical. Guests loved it. I am thinking about foiling it next time to help with moisture but could use any tips!

That's a good looking brisket flat you have with nice bark. What temp did you pull the brisket at?

X2 on the foil.

Keeps it a little moister at the end of the cook cycle.

That looks great!

Foil ruins the bark.

Looks great! I've got a BGE as well, and have been meaning to try the Brisket, but have not yet. 225 is a good temp though i would think.

Hernando said:

That's a good looking brisket flat you have with nice bark. What temp did you pull the brisket at?

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I pulled it at 175 internal - I have heard people go even higher.

I did my first brisket point and flat on my WSM last weekend. I took mine to 190 but in talking with others I have heard of people taking them as far as 205... Clearly with foil.

FoxRunner said:

I did my first brisket point and flat on my WSM last weekend. I took mine to 190 but in talking with others I have heard of people taking them as far as 205... Clearly with foil.

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Did a 9# brisket (a little on the thin side) to 195 internal temp last weekend on an overnight smoke (11-12 hrs). You don't want to go quite as long when shooting for the higher internal temps if you want to keep it moist. Smoking it closer to 240 or 250 helps it finish a little quicker and won't dry it out as much, IMO. I've only done a few briskets, but I have found they don't need the same length of time as a pork butt, for example.

I agree with Randar that if you are having moisture problems you may want to use a slightly higher temperature. Lots of people advocate temperatures that are too low which lead to the cook taking excessively long which leads to moisture loss. This was exactly the problem I had with my first brisket cook.

You said you cooked it at 225 degrees, but was that the dome temperature (the built in thermometer) or the grid temperature (from some other thermometer sitting on the grid)? That is definitely too low of a dome temperature.

I would suggest starting with a full, uncut (packer trimmed) brisket if you can get it. It will have the point and the flat together with lots of fat still on it, and it will be upwards of 12 pounds. It is more likely to be moist in the end if you start with one of those rather than with only a flat. A pre-trimmed flat is about the worst to start with in terms of moisture. If you can only get a flat then I would brine it overnight first (I don't brine packers but I would brine a flat) to get moister results. Foil can help retain moisture, but it leads to mushy bark which I don't think is a good tradeoff. The only times I have used foil is after grilling it to completion and trying to hold it warm for a party (wrapped in heavy duty foil with no additional liquids, wrapped in a towel, thrown in an empty cooler).

My own notes from my last brisket cook on my BGE:
240 degrees grid (dome will be ~25 degrees higher usually)
185 degrees target meat temperature
approximately 1-1.25 hours per pound

I do all briskets @ 225 and have had a 19 lb one go 26 hours and still came out nice and juicy with no foil. While a lot of people don't agree I think you have to use sugar on the rub to help seal in moisture (though not as much as a but) and spray it ever hour for at least until tramps hit 150 or so (used apple juice and burbon on my brisket). Let it work it's way through the platue(s) and do it's thing

If you pulled it at 175, that's why is was dry. You should get it up close to 190. At 175 the collagen hasn't started breaking down yet. After 180 or so that tough connective tissue breaks down like gelatin and dissolves into the meat. That's when it gets tender and juicy. Odd as it seems, it was dry because it was actually undercooked.

Dang - I always thought 150 was the break down zone. I did hear that in reference to pork though. Is there a difference?

jammin said:

Dang - I always thought 150 was the break down zone. I did hear that in reference to pork though. Is there a difference?

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Pork is the same. It's usually 165-170ish where you hit a platue where temps will hold steady for an hour or so where it starts breaking down. I usually take pulled pork to 210 brisket or sliced pork 195

It took me a while to figure out cooking a brisket right. I now cook the brisket to 190 deg F internal, then wrap in foil and cook for about an hour. Maybe less than an hour for a smaller brisket.

I second the packer briskets and use the internal temp as a guide only. "Feel" for doneness. you're fork, knife, thermo probe will slide in like butter. I like to do them at around 230-250 and I've had them take forever and I've had some be probe tender alot quicker than others. You can get an idea about how long it will take but "feel" to tell when done.

The brisket I smoked yesterday came out very tender. I did the "Texas Crutch" (foil wrap) when it reached 150 and pulled it out at 195 degrees. Very moist and tender.

The point at which the meat tissue breaks down was very noticable when probing with the meat thermometer.

I've had some hit 210 internal before and still tender. I like to foil once hit's about 160-170ish then put back on for an 1.5 hours or so. I had a couple when I first started out I pulled too early and it was a tough as a shoe..I thought I over cooked but in fact it was way undercooked.

What I tend to do is pull the brisket out 190-195 and lay iton some foil I spritz the crap out of it with (whatever liquis you use) usually apple juice misture and wrp it up in foil then a blanket. I then throw it in a cooler for an hour to finish it off and rest it. Once that is over and one with I have a perfect brisket.

Probe tender is when it's done not a specific temperature. Not all briskets are created equal, some take longer to get tender. It is best to probe it IMO.

SmoothSmoke said:

Probe tender is when it's done not a specific temperature. Not all briskets are created equal, some take longer to get tender. It is best to probe it IMO.

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Everytime you stick in a new hole you are letting juice out. Cook.it to temp low and slow and cut against the grain and it WILL be tender

JeepDiver said:

Everytime you stick in a new hole you are letting juice out. Cook.it to temp low and slow and cut against the grain and it WILL be tender

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Nope, no significant amount of "juice" will be lost by probing that would be the cause of a brisket not being tender.
As for cooking to temp, that may work some of the time, but will not work all the time as each brisket is different, some are ready at 198 others 210. You just never know, that is why most use probe tender method instead.

I cook brisket at 240F

I have a big homemade smoker that I use, so can't compare it to a BGE, wish I had one.

I smoke it straight for 5-6 hours, then turn it upside down in a large 4" full pan ( Flat is facing up) Cover about 3/4 of the way with a home made aujus. continue smoking till internal temp is 195-200 F. I baste the meat about every hour ish. let it rest for about 30-45 minutes, seperate the flat from the point. throw the point on a nice hot grill, baste with sauce to get a really great crunchy exterior. slice the flat pencil thin and serve with the point chopped up over white bread with some au jus.

man... now I want some brisket

Don

The brisket saga continues

I am ready to give this cook another shot and appreciate all the valuable feedback. I picked up a 14lb brisket this time. I plan on taking it up 195-200 based on everyone else's advice. I have a feeling this is going to be much better!

A 14lb packer is a tight squeeze on a large egg.

Any guesses on how long it will to finish?

I usually fold a bit of the flat end under, it keeps the ends from sitting outside of the plate setter and drying out of burning. I agree that 195º-200º is usually where you want to be temperature wise but its best checked for tenderness with a thermometer probe, I pull mine when the probe slides in with little to no resistance in several places. this is usually at 195º-205º but I had one that I had to take all the way to 215º.
I have cooked them at 225º and up to 275º and noticed little difference other than the time it took them to cook.

@SuperiorBrew -
Thanks for sharing your experiences. I just put the temp probe in this morning and I can see/feel exactly what you mean by "probe tender". The brisket is up to 172 after 10 hours and I can tell it is still quite rubbery. Funny that this is about when I pulled the last one; no wonder it was a little tough!

Here is a shot of it 10 hours in, lot of shrink;

Looking good. I had a 19lb one go 26 hours one time. It hit two platues. Unfortantly with BBQ, it's done when it's done and not when you want it done

Well, you were all right when you said "you'll know when it's done". I pulled it off the egg @ 193 and it felt juicy as hell. No question about it, it was done! I was very nervous about "feeling" it to tell if it's done. In hindsight, it's quite obvious.

So it took just hair over 18 hours to cook, but my fire didn't burn as efficiently as I figured and I could have added a little more lump next time around. That big dog ate a lottery fuel than my standard smaller cooks. My fire died down to 195 by the very end even with the BBQ guru. There were some large chunks of lump left that wouldn't catch.

I'm using the leftover fuel for the burnt ends right now. Next time around I will trim better so I can make a cleaner cut on the point. I'm such a noob!


Obligatory finished cook shot after 18 hours:

Looks tasty!

Did you start with all new lump? If I am doing a slow and low cook I always vacuum the egg clean and start out with all fresh lump, any smaller pieces I either put on the top or save for the next cook. I have gone 28 hours at 225º and still had lump left. It could be the brand of lump too, I usually check the naked whiz's lump database and try to find some higher rated stuff.

Here is the review on the lump you used

I did start with all new lump, and true to the whiz;s review, the burn time on Lazzari is medium/short (in my limited experience). It does have an amazing mesquite aroma that is quite unique. Probably the best smelling lump I have used. Neighbors had to have been admiring haha. The Lazzari left a few "boulders" of lump behind at the end of the cook. I think if they were a hair smaller they might have burned better. 18 hours is a decent smoke though on a medium+ load of lump. I could have easily added in more lump but figured I'd be good for some reason.

Next time around I might stick with Frontier; that stuff always treats me right. Burns super clean and is very consistent. Not a lot of dust, not a lot of boulders. I can get a good deal on it at Lowes too - 10% off with my military discount.

Thanks again for all the assistance and tips. This cook went much better

I usually inject my briskets with a beef broth solution and cook hot at 275F for 8 or so hours. I wrap it in foil or a aluminum pan at 170F and bring it up to 200F and then let it rest for a couple hours. The best I got was 10th place out of 50 competitors.

jammin said:

13 hours on the egg @ 225. Came out a hair dry, but that's me being critical. Guests loved it. I am thinking about foiling it next time to help with moisture but could use any tips!


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I start mine at 200 and let that go to internal 150 or so then turn up to 225 until internal 175-180. Then put in pan and cover with foil, turn up heat to 240 and pull at internal of 197-205. Super moist, super tender but nice pull and bark/ring that legends are made of.



Oh, forgot to mention that I do inject with a broth mixture and dry rub the night before. If you're interested lmk and I'll post up recipes for both.

That sounds like a solid technique. I will try it out on my next brisket.

I have a digital controller so changing temps like you do shouldn't be a problem.

Another thing you can try is once you hit your temp. Wrap your brisket in foil then some old towel or blankets. Throw it in a cooler and let it rest for an hour. This way the bark isn't ruined by being wrapped while smoking and your juices will be redistributd in the meat. I use this method every time for briskets chucks and butts.