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Pellet Grills

"J"

Git Off My Lawn
Supporting Member
56,741
274
North Carolina
I took the brisket off at 4:05 pm…internal temp was at 157 degrees and it should’ve been 160….seems like it reached a plateau and wasn’t going any higher. I wrapped it in foil and put it back in…supposed to reach an internal temp of 204 degrees in 3-4 hours.
They stahl out for a while. Just gotta wait it out.
 

Sgt Fury

Sgt. Spellchecker
Well, core temp is up to 185*. According to times given on the recipe, it should’ve been done by now. I’m just going to leave it on, even if it takes until midnight. If it doesn’t reach the right temp by then, I’ll have to crank up the heat.
 

MoonLab

Where we’re going, we don’t need roads.
Supporting Member
10,371
145
Tooville
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Chuck roast almost to 161 then going to wrap it until it reaches to 203
 

Sgt Fury

Sgt. Spellchecker
Just checked the brisket…round metal thermometer says 190*…plugged in the one that came with the grill and it reads 195*. Don’t know if the temp reading is accurate but they both are very close, so I’d say it’s good. Now I just need it to reach 205*. 🙈
 
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Sgt Fury

Sgt. Spellchecker
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She’s done. The first pic is what it looked like coming out of the foil. I cut it in half and tried slicing the first half…it was too tender and it was falling/tearing apart like pulled pork. When a buddy of mine did it, he was able to cut perfect slices out of his…so I did something wrong. It tastes great, just not how I wanted it to turn out. Last pic is the second half. Thinking of placing it in the fridge to let it stiffen up, then slicing it. The brisket had a lot of fat on the inside also, so I’m not sure if I got a bad cut of meat. It was extra greasy also…is that normal on a brisket?
 

Sgt Fury

Sgt. Spellchecker
I think I found where I went wrong. The brisket I had was super thick, more like a roast. It also had a 1 1/2” strip of fat running down the center. Lastly, as per the instructions I was following, I only rested the meat for 30 minutes in a cooler. Watched a couple of videos and the consensus is to rest it for 2-4 hours. I will try again, hopefully with better results.
 
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Jamie

Senior Member
5,691
177
Ohio
Sarge, I'm not a brisket expert,, but I've done a few, and I see two things went wrong for you. The first you already figured out; you need trim a brisket up properly. If you are doing a whole "packer" brisket, the layer of fat under the point can be quite large. I prefer doing just the flats for this reason and they cook a little better, imo. The second thing is that it is mistake to cook a brisket to a specific temperature and call it done. I've had briskets "done" at 197*, and as high as 211*. Every piece of meat is different, so when you get to about 195, just start sticking a probe thermometer in toughest part of the flat you can find about ever 20-30 minutes until the probe goes in like it's soft butter. That is when your brisket is done.

When I used to do brisket the traditional way, I would always FTC for at least one to two hours, sometimes 3 or 4. they don't bleed juice nearly as much when they have a good rest in a cooler. Now that I cook them sous vide and finish over charcoal just to get smoke and bark on them, I don't take them past 160*, and they are ready to carve immediately when I take them off the Weber.

Also, some of the best ones I've done were finished in 250* oven, covered tightly, after they left the stall and had good bark and smoke on them.
 

Sgt Fury

Sgt. Spellchecker
Sarge, I'm not a brisket expert,, but I've done a few, and I see two things went wrong for you. The first you already figured out; you need trim a brisket up properly. If you are doing a whole "packer" brisket, the layer of fat under the point can be quite large. I prefer doing just the flats for this reason and they cook a little better, imo. The second thing is that it is mistake to cook a brisket to a specific temperature and call it done. I've had briskets "done" at 197*, and as high as 211*. Every piece of meat is different, so when you get to about 195, just start sticking a probe thermometer in toughest part of the flat you can find about ever 20-30 minutes until the probe goes in like it's soft butter. That is when your brisket is done.

When I used to do brisket the traditional way, I would always FTC for at least one to two hours, sometimes 3 or 4. they don't bleed juice nearly as much when they have a good rest in a cooler. Now that I cook them sous vide and finish over charcoal just to get smoke and bark on them, I don't take them past 160*, and they are ready to carve immediately when I take them off the Weber.

Also, some of the best ones I've done were finished in 250* oven, covered tightly, after they left the stall and had good bark and smoke on them.
Thanks Jamie. I’m new at this so I’ll take any advise as most people on here probably forgot more about smoking than I know. Something that’s common knowledge to most will be new info for me. Just finished cleaning the fire pot on the Traeger and put the grill inside the garage. I told the wife that I won’t be using it before my trip to Ohio and plan on trying to do a pork loin when I get back. Got a cooler all set up with a aluminum tray liner in it for the next time. Looking forward to also doing beer can chicken and some ribs.
 
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Jamie

Senior Member
5,691
177
Ohio
smoking meats is a journey, not a destination. half the fun is learning how, trying to get better at it. we're all amateurs, just not all beginners.
 
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