Brisket Help - unusual cook times?

jusgonz22

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My RT700 arrived a couple months ago, and after a few smaller cooks (ribs/chicken/etc.) I decided to take on a brisket (full packer) for Mother's Day.

The brisket was choice grade, and ~12 lbs. after trimming. I threw it on at 10 p.m. at 225º, fat cap down, with the probe in the thickest part of the flat. I spritzed with water every hour for 6 hours. I planned on wrapping at 160-165º, which I thought it would reach within 5-8 hours (poor estimate?). That was not the case.. it seemed to stall around 145º (weird? Early stall?)

At the 11 hour mark, it was sitting at 155º, so I decided to turn the grill to 250º, hoping to help it into the 160-165 range. Two hours later, it finally got there. 13 hours til 160º ?! That's not normal, right? Maybe this can be expected for an oversized brisket or cooking at an extremely low temp, but I thought neither was the case here.

I wrapped it tightly in butcher paper and threw it back on at 275º, hoping to speed things up, as it was now 11 a.m. and we originally wanted to eat around 2 p.m. About 3 and 1/2 hours later, my MK4 read 204-208º and she was probe tender.

We originally planned for a 2 hour rest in cooler, but now that it was almost 3 p.m. and we hadn't had lunch, we opted for 1 hour.

I'm familiar with Franklin's 1 hr. 15 min./per 1 lb. theory at 250º so in the end, I guess the cook time wasn't that unordinary (16 hours, 12 lb. brisket). However, had I not adjusted my grill temps, who knows when that thing would've been done!

The photos are from this cook. The bark and smoke ring were both pretty incredible. It was delicious, and the smoke flavor was very present, but it was definitely quite a bit dry, particularly in the flat. It passed the famous bend test, but was a bit tough to pull apart. It also seemed difficult to get thinner slices (too tender?)
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I assume it dried out seeing smoke for that long (11 hrs.), especially considering it lacked the marbling of a prime grade brisket. Which leads me to another thing.. this 15 lb. untrimmed choice brisket was $120 from a local butcher. Is that normal?! I could've sworn I've heard of $60 prime briskets at Costco. Is that a thing of the past?

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Flash forward to last night, I thew on another choice brisket at 9 p.m. It was 17 lbs. trimmed down to ~14. Opted to let her ride at 250º this time. I also decided I would wrap based more on bark/color and less on internal temp. I wrapped at 6 a.m. (9 hours in). IT was again holding around 145º (why?!). If I was going off bark alone, I would've liked to wrap sooner, but temp was far too low.

I understand every brisket is different, so every cook is different. But this is now twice my expectations have been way off. I thought stall range was 155-170º.

At 2 p.m. (16 hours!!), the brisket was at 175º, so I upped the temp to 275º (should have done it sooner, but fell asleep on the job).

Any explanation of what's going on here? Am I experiencing some kind of a early stall? Am I being unreasonable? Should I smoke at 275º the whole way? Please be brutally honest! My timing has been off and the family is losing patience LOL
 
My last brisket was a 13.7 lb Angus from Sam's. As I recall, it was ~$40. So far as time goes, I start mine around 6-7:00 PM at 200 and let it go until morning. Then, after 12-14 hours I boost temp to 250. If the bark looks good, I'll wrap. I always plan on 1.5 hr/lb and allow for at least a 2 hr rest. A longer rest in the cooler is no problem. Being done on time is a must to keep the other half happy. Also, I strongly recommend probe tender as opposed to some set temp. My last brisket was tender at 198, but I left it on till it hit 203. Still very good taste and tender, but somewhat dried out.
 
My RT700 arrived a couple months ago, and after a few smaller cooks (ribs/chicken/etc.) I decided to take on a brisket (full packer) for Mother's Day.

The brisket was choice grade, and ~12 lbs. after trimming. I threw it on at 10 p.m. at 225º, fat cap down, with the probe in the thickest part of the flat. I spritzed with water every hour for 6 hours. I planned on wrapping at 160-165º, which I thought it would reach within 5-8 hours (poor estimate?). That was not the case.. it seemed to stall around 145º (weird? Early stall?)

At the 11 hour mark, it was sitting at 155º, so I decided to turn the grill to 250º, hoping to help it into the 160-165 range. Two hours later, it finally got there. 13 hours til 160º ?! That's not normal, right? Maybe this can be expected for an oversized brisket or cooking at an extremely low temp, but I thought neither was the case here.

I wrapped it tightly in butcher paper and threw it back on at 275º, hoping to speed things up, as it was now 11 a.m. and we originally wanted to eat around 2 p.m. About 3 and 1/2 hours later, my MK4 read 204-208º and she was probe tender.

We originally planned for a 2 hour rest in cooler, but now that it was almost 3 p.m. and we hadn't had lunch, we opted for 1 hour.

I'm familiar with Franklin's 1 hr. 15 min./per 1 lb. theory at 250º so in the end, I guess the cook time wasn't that unordinary (16 hours, 12 lb. brisket). However, had I not adjusted my grill temps, who knows when that thing would've been done!

The photos are from this cook. The bark and smoke ring were both pretty incredible. It was delicious, and the smoke flavor was very present, but it was definitely quite a bit dry, particularly in the flat. It passed the famous bend test, but was a bit tough to pull apart. It also seemed difficult to get thinner slices (too tender?)
View attachment 10611View attachment 10612View attachment 10613

I assume it dried out seeing smoke for that long (11 hrs.), especially considering it lacked the marbling of a prime grade brisket. Which leads me to another thing.. this 15 lb. untrimmed choice brisket was $120 from a local butcher. Is that normal?! I could've sworn I've heard of $60 prime briskets at Costco. Is that a thing of the past?

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Flash forward to last night, I thew on another choice brisket at 9 p.m. It was 17 lbs. trimmed down to ~14. Opted to let her ride at 250º this time. I also decided I would wrap based more on bark/color and less on internal temp. I wrapped at 6 a.m. (9 hours in). IT was again holding around 145º (why?!). If I was going off bark alone, I would've liked to wrap sooner, but temp was far too low.

I understand every brisket is different, so every cook is different. But this is now twice my expectations have been way off. I thought stall range was 155-170º.

At 2 p.m. (16 hours!!), the brisket was at 175º, so I upped the temp to 275º (should have done it sooner, but fell asleep on the job).

Any explanation of what's going on here? Am I experiencing some kind of a early stall? Am I being unreasonable? Should I smoke at 275º the whole way? Please be brutally honest! My timing has been off and the family is losing patience LOL
 
I have not made a moist Choice grade brisket.

But to address dry meat, I make an au jus with a quart of beef stock, 1/4 cup rub, splash of Dales steak seasoning (or soy sauce), tablespoon of worchestershire sauce, splash of red wine, simmer for a few minutes, use as a dipping sauce or just pour it directly over the sliced meat in a serving tray. It adds flavor and moisture. I do this with all brisket and tritip.
 
Like myself and a bunch of others say, "Meat can't tell time".
You did nothing wrong, I usually cook 14-19# packers (after trimming). I have had time vary for every single one and I have been doing this since the mid 80's. The meat will tell you when it is done, not the other way around. There are so many reasons that they all cook differently, I could write a book.
I will plan to put my brisket on at least 20 hours prior to the wife's planned dinner time. Resting for longer is not a big deal to me and does not effect the meat. Happy wife, happy life.
 
Just say "yes" to tritip. Front sear or reverse sear and a couple hours of smoke, slice and be happy. Friends and family ask for my tritip more than ribs or brisket. I only do brisket now when I'm bored and I'm looking for a challenge. Tritip isn't brisket, but then brisket isn't tritip either. But, both are big beefy flavored and served in similar presentations.
 
Ditto on making sure your probe is calibrated. Both my bullseye and my bull were way off from the factory. I typically get my brisket from Costco and I buy the prime if they have it. I tried a choice once and the flat turned out drier than typical. I also inject my flats to try to help this. My typical cook starts on low (extreme smoke) and I let it go overnight, roughly 10 hours. At that point I don't even check temperature, I just check the bark and if it's good I wrap. I then use the temp probe and let it go till it hits about 202 and then start probing for tenderness. Usually takes anywhere from 14 to 16 hours total depending on the size of the brisket. So I don't think you're doing anything wrong. 🙂
 
Everyone has their particular way of dealing with briskets. Me personally I like to crutch'em between 145 & 150 degrees which usually puts me just before the stall. I've found wrapping in butcher paper dressed with Tallow keeps my wife at (happy) bay. I pull it off 195-198 degrees take it out of the butcher paper & re-wrap with foil and put it in a styrofoam cooler wrapped in towels and let it sit for 90 minutes. Works For Me!
 
A little confused. You said you used choice in a couple of places but in one other you said prime. Which was it?
 
You can usually make a great brisket with either. I would avoid select, but choice or higher is fine, IMHO.

OP - sometimes it simply comes down to the meat. Some briskets seem to be drier than others. If you pick one up and notice it doesn't have a lot of marbling, then you can inject it with whatever (beef broth, beer, whatever is your injectable of choice) to try and keep it moist.
 

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