Brisket help

[jadams]

I've cooked plenty of briskets on my old WSM and they seem to be ok, but after doing two on my 850 I can't seem to get the hang of it. I've tried using hickory on the first one and then pecan on the second one but both of them had a bark that turned out slightly bitter and was a bit dry. One also had a store bought rub and the 2nd one was just salt and pepper 50/50 mix. The last one I cooked at 230 for about 4 hours then wrapped when it hit 165 and bumped the temp up to 300. Since this is my first pellet grill I'm just assuming I'm doing something wrong here. Any help would be great considering when I mess it up it's a bit expensive.

 

[Redoctapus]

I've cooked plenty of briskets on my old WSM and they seem to be ok, but after doing two on my 850 I can't seem to get the hang of it. I've tried using hickory on the first one and then pecan on the second one but both of them had a bark that turned out slightly bitter and was a bit dry. One also had a store bought rub and the 2nd one was just salt and pepper 50/50 mix. The last one I cooked at 230 for about 4 hours then wrapped when it hit 165 and bumped the temp up to 300. Since this is my first pellet grill I'm just assuming I'm doing something wrong here. Any help would be great considering when I mess it up it's a bit expensive.

Hi J Adam's, it sure is a drag to spend that much money and have difficulty.
A couple things come to mind.
Do you have a thermometer that provides a time / temperature graph? My PBV5 has "analytics" but I have a couple other stand alone thermometers with multi-channels giving me oven temp and meat temp with a graph. My Meater is cool because it calculates cooking time based on these parameters.
I usually see the stall start around 145-150. As soon as I see the temperature graph start to flatten out I immediately wrap and add some stock. The stall can be tricky, in a hot oven the roast may never stall. The stall is when meat starts giving up moisture (sweating) causing a cooling effect. I try to wrap before the stall rather than halfway through it. In my experience 165 is reached after the stall. I like to smoke at lower temps than 230 especially with flats. 250 is max temp I would ever use on a brisket. And a good 2 hour rest wrapped in a towel inside my 3 day cooler is a necessity.
As for the bitter flavor, in my stick burner that happens if the damper on the stack is closed to tight or the burn isn't clean enough. Very seldom if not ever has a pellet grill of mine laid down excessive heavy smoke... idk.
Salt and pepper ratio... this gets crazy. 1st you have the table salt vs kosher salt thing. Table salt is salter. Table salt in a level 1 cup measure is heavier than the kosher salt. Texans I know have a bowl of salt and a bowl of pepper. First goes the salt and then goes the pepper, me too. The Chef I work with uses one cup measure of each, another insists on weighing the salt and pepper combining equal weights, I think this gives the best starting point. Make a blend and try it on fried eggs and/or a hamburger then adjust to your personal taste. One rule of thumb is half teaspoon salt per pound. Sprinkle your blend on loose hamburger meat before you make the patty, is that to salty? Also it is a function of time. Salting the night before versus immediately before putting it on the fire.
I wet my brisket with whatsthisheresauce, then salt, then pepper. After resting I put a couple lines of yellow mustard on the brisket and rub this all in. Finally I sprinkle Montreal Seasoning and my blend of meat rub (bc it has the sugar I like.. When this is well wetted in I put it in the frig for a few hours. Then smoke it!
Please do not come to the Little Mountain BBQ Comp!

 

[Redoctapus]

Hi J Adam's, it sure is a drag to spend that much money and have difficulty.
A couple things come to mind.
Do you have a thermometer that provides a time / temperature graph? My PBV5 has "analytics" but I have a couple other stand alone thermometers with multi-channels giving me oven temp and meat temp with a graph. My Meater is cool because it calculates cooking time based on these parameters.
I usually see the stall start around 145-150. As soon as I see the temperature graph start to flatten out I immediately wrap and add some stock. The stall can be tricky, in a hot oven the roast may never stall. The stall is when meat starts giving up moisture (sweating) causing a cooling effect. I try to wrap before the stall rather than halfway through it. In my experience 165 is reached after the stall. I like to smoke at lower temps than 230 especially with flats. 250 is max temp I would ever use on a brisket. And a good 2 hour rest wrapped in a towel inside my 3 day cooler is a necessity.
As for the bitter flavor, in my stick burner that happens if the damper on the stack is closed to tight or the burn isn't clean enough. Very seldom if not ever has a pellet grill of mine laid down excessive heavy smoke... idk.
Salt and pepper ratio... this gets crazy. 1st you have the table salt vs kosher salt thing. Table salt is salter. Table salt in a level 1 cup measure is heavier than the kosher salt. Texans I know have a bowl of salt and a bowl of pepper. First goes the salt and then goes the pepper, me too. The Chef I work with uses one cup measure of each, another insists on weighing the salt and pepper combining equal weights, I think this gives the best starting point. Make a blend and try it on fried eggs and/or a hamburger then adjust to your personal taste. One rule of thumb is half teaspoon salt per pound. Sprinkle your blend on loose hamburger meat before you make the patty, is that to salty? Also it is a function of time. Salting the night before versus immediately before putting it on the fire.
I wet my brisket with whatsthisheresauce, then salt, then pepper. After resting I put a couple lines of yellow mustard on the brisket and rub this all in. Finally I sprinkle Montreal Seasoning and my blend of meat rub (bc it has the sugar I like.. When this is well wetted in I put it in the frig for a few hours. Then smoke it!
Please do not come to the Little Mountain BBQ Comp!

There is something I learned when I was cooking a lot of prime rib roasts in Alto Shaam ovens:

When beef is exposed to temps above 212F (boiling point of H2O) muscle cells burst, when this happens the juices leave and just connect tissue remains.

When beef is cooked slowly the enzymes in the meat tenderize the tissues. When the meat temp rises above 142F this reaction ceases. So the longer the roast is held below this threshold the meat becomes more tender and buttery. When this threshold is exceeded the meat doesn't get tender again until it is "stewed" , cook to temps above 188F.

So, when cooking your brisket try not to be hasty. With the smoker temp low and slow ( under 200F) this slow method let's the smoke nitrates work and the meat enzymes work for a longer time. A brisket will not ever be as tender as Prime Rib when it is cook medium rare but the longer the meat takes in this range of 32F to 142F you are ultimately going to get a tender brisket. All things matter, low and slow, moist environment and a long rest in its au jus within your cooler...

I cook Prime rib at 220 for 2.5 hours and then hold it over night in the Alto Shaam at 125 for a total of 18 hours minimum.
There is nothing like it!

 

[mixed up]

brisket is a very funny meat to cook you never know what kind of cut you have im not a expert but the best one I ever had I cooked it at 225 for 24hrs got the meat to a temp about 190 as for wood the hickory is a very strong flavor try some competition blend or smoke house with some sweeter wood and dont rush the cook my 24 hr smoke I hit the stall and just let the meat cook it soon got past that stall with out wrapping it I sprayed it every hour with apple juice

 

[Redoctapus]

brisket is a very funny meat to cook you never know what kind of cut you have im not a expert but the best one I ever had I cooked it at 225 for 24hrs got the meat to a temp about 190 as for wood the hickory is a very strong flavor try some competition blend or smoke house with some sweeter wood and dont rush the cook my 24 hr smoke I hit the stall and just let the meat cook it soon got past that stall with out wrapping it I sprayed it every hour with apple juice

Hi Mixed Up,
What a night you had! I've had those nights! On that long cook we're you using water pan?

I have hopper extentions on my Masterbuilt and GMG to triple the pellet capacity for those all night long cooks. That way I check the fire and spritz and grab another beer, lol. AND... maybe pick another play list!

 

[mixed up]

Hi Mixed Up,
What a night you had! I've had those nights! On that long cook we're you using water pan?

I have hopper extentions on my Masterbuilt and GMG to triple the pellet capacity for those all night long cooks. That way I check the fire and spritz and grab another beer, lol. AND... maybe pick another play list!

I have a PB4 and yes the water pan was kept full I had the brisket in a foil pan with a little juice in you say what a night yes It was. my son and I left to go get car parts for a total of 2 hr drive we were watching it on the App the whole time it stalled at about 160 170 we just let the thing eat at about 10 o clock at night the meat probe was reading 180 but I was hungry and check it with a hand held it was a 195 in some places so we pulled it wrapped till rest of dinner was ready it was the best brisket I ever done and I have been at it for 2 years so my lesson was dont rush things and my so was saying the same thing let it cook

 

[Redoctapus]

I have a PB4 and yes the water pan was kept full I had the brisket in a foil pan with a little juice in you say what a night yes It was. my son and I left to go get car parts for a total of 2 hr drive we were watching it on the App the whole time it stalled at about 160 170 we just let the thing eat at about 10 o clock at night the meat probe was reading 180 but I was hungry and check it with a hand held it was a 195 in some places so we pulled it wrapped till rest of dinner was ready it was the best brisket I ever done and I have been at it for 2 years so my lesson was dont rush things and my so was saying the same thing let it cook

.Really sounds cool to be smokin with your Son.
I am doing an 8.5lb flat Saturday. I haven'tused my stick burner in a while, I might use it your method!

 

[Redoctapus]

BEER... another plz.

 

[mixed up]

I put it in about 10 o clock Saturday at 225 I got up at about 6 in the morning to check temp it was sitting at 150 then so I put it in a tray with the apple juice and sprayed it then let it cook watchin the temp that thing stalled a good long time and took forever to jump up in temp sometime it took an hour to move a few degrees so I just let the thing go no wrap no bump in temp so at to not force the cook I just let it do what it was going to do cant remember how big it was but it was good all the way through the whole cut of beef tender as hell and juicy it was good the next day also not dry my final temp was about 195 good luck in your smoke its a learning experience

 

[Mebuhrow]

I've cooked plenty of briskets on my old WSM and they seem to be ok, but after doing two on my 850 I can't seem to get the hang of it. I've tried using hickory on the first one and then pecan on the second one but both of them had a bark that turned out slightly bitter and was a bit dry. One also had a store bought rub and the 2nd one was just salt and pepper 50/50 mix. The last one I cooked at 230 for about 4 hours then wrapped when it hit 165 and bumped the temp up to 300. Since this is my first pellet grill I'm just assuming I'm doing something wrong here. Any help would be great considering when I mess it up it's a bit expensive.

Alder is a very delicate wood with a subtle sweet flavor. It’s commonly used when smoking salmon, but it goes well with most fish, pork, poultry and light-meat game birds.

Apple has a very mild with a subtle sweet, fruity flavor. This smoking wood is ideal for poultry, beef, pork (especially ham), game birds, lamb and some seafood.

Cherry wood has a sweet mild, fruity flavor that is a good match for all meats.

Hickory smoking wood creates a sweet, yet strong ba- con-flavor; the smoke can be pungent, but it adds a nice, strong flavor to just about all meat cuts, but it’s especially popular with pork and ribs.

Maple has a mild and slightly sweet flavor. Use maple wood with poultry and small game birds. Vegetables and cheeses are often grilled with maple.

Mesquite wood has a strong and earthy flavor that is ide- al for most red and dark meats. It’s one of the hottest burning woods.

Oak has a medium smoky flavor that is stronger than apple and cherry, but lighter than hickory and mesquite. It’s great by itself, but works well blended with apple, cherry or hickory woods. Oak works well just just about any meat.

Peach wood infuses a sweet, fruity flavor that’s similar to other fruit wood. Peach wood is great when grilling pork, poultry and small game birds.

Pecan wood is stronger than most fruit wood, but milder than hickory and mesquite. Pecan is ideal when grilling poul- try but infuses a nice flavor to any cut of meat.

Walnut has a strong and slightly bitter flavor. Use walnut wood when grilling red meats, and game. Walnut wood is of- ten mixed with other woods to create a milder flavor.

When smoking with cedar wood, only smoke with West- ern Red Cedar that has not been treated with any chemicals. Seafood is one of the more common foods grilled on natural Western red cedar planks, but poultry and vegetables are a option for cedar planks