The Official Brisket Thread

[CJF]

That looks great, JL. I am going to Costco after the game. I think you've inspired me to pick up a small flat for dinner tomorrow.

[Jeff Lebowski]

Oh my that is a nice looking piece of meat. I gotta get me some of that.

I bet you say that to all the guys.

That looks great, JL. I am going to Costco after the game. I think you've inspired me to pick up a small flat for dinner tomorrow.

That's a trifecta. Everybody post pics.

[Moliere]

Looks fabulous. You are a natural.

I will say that I usually trim more fat off of the fat cap. I find that if you leave too much it doesn't all render and you are left with....well a fat cap.

[sparky]

Boise Costco was sold out of brisket. Story of my life. I found a pre-packaged brisket at Fred Meyer but it just didn't look as nice as yours JL. I'll call around next week.

[Jeff Lebowski]

Well, I am still in the learning phase. I put it on at midnight on smoke setting I went out a few times between midnight and 1 am and the temps were fluctuating quite a bit. It is supposed to hold at around 180, but it was swinging between 130 and 200. Temp fluctuation is common on the smoke setting, but I was a little worried because it is COLD outside so I cranked it up to 225. I woke up at 6 am and thought to myself "I need to check the brisket" but I went back to sleep and did wake up until 8:30 am. Oops. The temp was at 204! Most of the articles I read suggested pulling somewhere in the range of 180-200. I did read one article where the author claimed he had the best success pulling at 205, but I am clearly pushing the limit. Hopefully it won't be dry. It is covered in foil and sitting in the oven now at 170 deg. We were going to have it for dinner, but I guess we are now having it for lunch.

BTW, I used oak pellets. Trying to mimic the Salt Lick flavor, if possible.

Here is what it looked like this morning. I heard that they shrink while cooking, but I am amazed at how small it got compared to when I put it in. Good thing I got a whole packer.

[Drunk Tank]

6 hour cook time seems really fast for 225. How much did the packer weigh? Must of had some pretty big temp swings. The latest trend is to cook brisket hot and fast anyways so you just did what all the cool kids are doing.

Looks good!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Jeff Lebowski]

6 hour cook time seems really fast for 225. How much did the packer weigh? Must of had some pretty big temp swings. The latest trend is to cook brisket hot and fast anyways so you just did what all the cool kids are doing.

Looks good!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

More like 8.5 hours. One hour at 180 and 7.5 hours at 225.

It was about 8.8 lbs untrimmed, so a little on the small size.

[CJF]

Well, I am still in the learning phase. I put it on at midnight on smoke setting I went out a few times between midnight and 1 am and the temps were fluctuating quite a bit. It is supposed to hold at around 180, but it was swinging between 130 and 200. Temp fluctuation is common on the smoke setting, but I was a little worried because it is COLD outside so I cranked it up to 225. I woke up at 6 am and thought to myself "I need to check the brisket" but I went back to sleep and did wake up until 8:30 am. Oops. The temp was at 204! Most of the articles I read suggested pulling somewhere in the range of 180-200. I did read one article where the author claimed he had the best success pulling at 205, but I am clearly pushing the limit. Hopefully it won't be dry. It is covered in foil and sitting in the oven now at 170 deg. We were going to have it for dinner, but I guess we are now having it for lunch.

BTW, I used oak pellets. Trying to mimic the Salt Lick flavor, if possible.

Here is what it looked like this morning. I heard that they shrink while cooking, but I am amazed at how small it got compared to when I put it in. Good thing I got a whole packer.

Are you using a Maverick thermometer? I put my 5 pound flat on at 8:30 this morning at 215. I just came home from church to check on it. Internal temp of 198 according to my Maverick. Seemed impossible to me but I shut the smoker down and pulled it. I Wrapped in foil and stuck a regular meat thermometer in before putting in the oven. It registered 150. So I checked it again with a different meat thermometer and again, 150. I just put it into the oven at 200 degrees. I wonder if the cold is screwing with the Maverick thermometer.

[Drunk Tank]

More like 8.5 hours. One hour at 180 and 7.5 hours at 225.

It was about 8.8 lbs untrimmed, so a little on the small size.

I missed where you said you fell back asleep and checked it at 8:30.

[Shaka]

The thermometer problems you guys are having are interesting because they wireless model I got does not give a reliable temp. I'm blaming it for my Thanksgiving day salmonella adventure. I wonder if it was just the cold temps giving it fits. Either way I'm glad JL clued me in on the pen thermometer.

[Moliere]

Well, I am still in the learning phase. I put it on at midnight on smoke setting I went out a few times between midnight and 1 am and the temps were fluctuating quite a bit. It is supposed to hold at around 180, but it was swinging between 130 and 200. Temp fluctuation is common on the smoke setting, but I was a little worried because it is COLD outside so I cranked it up to 225. I woke up at 6 am and thought to myself "I need to check the brisket" but I went back to sleep and did wake up until 8:30 am. Oops. The temp was at 204! Most of the articles I read suggested pulling somewhere in the range of 180-200. I did read one article where the author claimed he had the best success pulling at 205, but I am clearly pushing the limit. Hopefully it won't be dry. It is covered in foil and sitting in the oven now at 170 deg. We were going to have it for dinner, but I guess we are now having it for lunch.

BTW, I used oak pellets. Trying to mimic the Salt Lick flavor, if possible.

Here is what it looked like this morning. I heard that they shrink while cooking, but I am amazed at how small it got compared to when I put it in. Good thing I got a whole packer.

205 huh? It'll taste fine but you'll likely have problems slicing it. You might need to do chopped (pulled) beef sandwiches. You're right it might be a bit dry, but I bet the taste is fine.

[TripletDaddy]

For you chain smokers out there, how many hours does a bag of pellets give you? Those bags can be pricey. I assume it costs more in the winter because it takes more to keep the temp up?

[Jeff Lebowski]

Are you using a Maverick thermometer? I put my 5 pound flat on at 8:30 this morning at 215. I just came home from church to check on it. Internal temp of 198 according to my Maverick. Seemed impossible to me but I shut the smoker down and pulled it. I Wrapped in foil and stuck a regular meat thermometer in before putting in the oven. It registered 150. So I checked it again with a different meat thermometer and again, 150. I just put it into the oven at 200 degrees. I wonder if the cold is screwing with the Maverick thermometer.

That's odd. No, mine is a different brand and I have never seen something like that. Mine cooked a lot longer than yours so there is no way it was off that much. I should have checked with the thermapen just to see what it would register. Now that you mention it, my thermapen is usually pretty close, but if it is off, it tends to be 5-10 deg cooler than my wired probe. Therefore, it could be that my brisket was just right.

You might want to do some testing with a pot of boiling water just to make sure it is working. You think maybe it was inserted at a bad angle and it wasn't in the center of the meat?

The thermometer problems you guys are having are interesting because they wireless model I got does not give a reliable temp. I'm blaming it for my Thanksgiving day salmonella adventure. I wonder if it was just the cold temps giving it fits. Either way I'm glad JL clued me in on the pen thermometer.

No, the temp fluctuations I was describing have nothing to with my temp probe. In fact, I had the probe in the meat, but it was turned off because I didn't see any need to have it use power overnight. I just turned it on the morning to check the temp. I was talking about the temp inside the Traeger. I put some fire bricks around the firepot last year and my temps are very steady at higher temps, but at the smoke setting it tends to fluctuate more, but usually not as much as I was seeing last night. It also seems to be a cold weather thing. Holds close to 180 in warm weather. If I turn it from smoke (180) to 225 it is very steady, even in the cold. Kind of odd.

[Jeff Lebowski]

Well, it was a smashing success. :clap:

It was tender and moist with fabulous flavor. I separated the point from the flat so that I could cut both at right angles to the grain. The point was extremely tender due the high fat content, but the flat was tender also. My wife and daughter typically aren't big red meat fans, but they raved about it.

Next time I think I will take Moliere's advice and trim more fat from the top. And even though it was moist and tender, I think it would have been fine pulled out 10 degrees or so sooner. I can't think of anything else I would change.

Thanks for all of the tips and suggestions, everyone. Let's keep this thread going!

Here you go (BTW, that might look like gravy, but it is BBQ sauce):

[CJF]

Nice job. Excellent smoke ring. Looks very good.