Brisket----Need help

[Texmech]

OK, yesterday I did my first brisket on my Webber kettle. I followed the proper steps:
 - Cooked a point cut at 225-250
 - Used a drip pan filled with water
 - Mopped every hour
 - When the internal temp hit 165 I wrapped and cooked to 195. Actually internal temp was at 199 when I pulled it off.
 - Let rest for one hour
 - Total cook time about 4 hours
 Yet the end result was not very moist and was a little tough.

 Some of the you tube videos make it look so easy, yet mine was no where near the pull the meat apart with your fingers.

 Any suggestions?

[MrHoss]

Okay this is my experience with doing about 25 cooks.

You probably didn't cook it long enough. Overcooked brisket falls apart, undercooked is tough. Internal temperature is what I use as an indication of doneness. To test if it is actually done you gotta probe the meat with something, I use a toothpick. If it goes in as if it is a hot knife going through room temp butter you are there. You want to feel the slightest bit of resistance on the way in but nothing at all on the way out. I usually test my brisket when it hits 205f internal on my maverick.

[1buckie]

Yes, most likely not long enough.......

The water pan helps with stabilizing temp, but also adds in moisture......the meat is trying to lose moisture, so it slows things down a bit using the pan.....
Mopping means losing some heat every now & then also.....slowing the cook down some again.....

Just going by internal finish temp will get somewhere in the ballpark, but to get around the bases & back to home plate, probe test like Hoss described is what really works........

A point only cut, if you still have a major portion left, could be put back on & cooked some more...,..that's where the major amount of fat hangs out.....or burnt ends are another good way to use leftovers, as they can take a bit more cooking........

Brisket's weird in that, until the collagen converts to gelatin, it will appear that it's dry & overcooked......

Here's a decent thread on brisket that has also some other links in it.....check thru those also, as they contain some additional info........

http://weberkettleclub.com/forums/grilling-bbqing/brisket-on-a-22-5-kettle/msg106493/#msg106493

[Texmech]

yes, thanks for the input. I figured it was probably undercooked. I have since found out my meat thermometer is on the low side by about 10 degrees so I always need to use a secondary temp probe to wards the end of a cook. Good thing the wife was out of town. I was the only one to suffer the under cooked diner.

[1buckie]

Good deal, Tex & welcome here !!!


Might could cook just a tad higher heat also.......try running @ 260~275 & things will move along more smoothly...

At 225, if the therms off just a little, it won't ever get done !!!!

The Franklin's videos in that link above are really good......

[Sramsey]

I cooked brisket once and it came out awesome. I took this right out of a book from Myron Mixon. He pretty much said yes in traditional BBQ you cook slow and low, but he said that he can cook it just as good at 350, with a water pan and injecting it.
In a nut shell it was like this:
Inject the meat, and stick it in the fridge over night.
Fire up the kettle at 350, fill up a pan with water.
Put your rub on the meat, place in a aluminum pan and smoke it for 2 1/2 hours.
Then cover it with foil for 1 1/2  hours or until the point end temp reaches 205.
Let it sit in the pan wrapped for 3-4 hours.
This was for 15-20 lb brisket.

I sliced that thing and it was like butter, moist, nice ring, and burnt ends on it. I would do it the same way again.
You did 225, 4 hours, and i did 350 about 4 hours....as the other said, didn't cook it long enough i would think.
I know meat temp rises, but in this recipe it was pull the meat out at 205. Marinating it over night like it did i would think helped it out. You just mentioned that you were mopping it.

[mike.stavlund]

I am a total n00b at brisket.  But I just want to say that there is a ton of wisdom up above   ^^^^.

My lack of success has taught me that testing temperature will get you in the neighborhood, but brisket's all about texture.  When it comes down to it, the best temp probe in the world is only useful as a toothpick-like-testing device.