Smoked this 12 lb packer brisket on my traeger for 12 hours at 205 until ~165 then wrapped in butcher paper until ~195-200. Let it rest on the counter at room temp for about an hour then in a cooler for about 3 hours. It tasted great but wished the fat rendered more. Wasn’t as tender as I would have liked it… any advice?
by Comfortable-Moose472
15 Comments
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Did you trim it at all or did you leave the fat cap on?
I always cook mine fat side down unwrapped the entire time, comes out super tender. Usually pull just north of 200.
I know this might be weird.. but try cutting it at a different angle. If it’s chewy you’re cutting it the wrong way, if it melts in your mouth like butter you’ve nailed it.
I did mine at 180 until 165 and then bumped it to 225 until 175 then wrapped until 199. I don’t think you went long enough initially but I am pretty inexperienced, what I did just turned out perfect.
You need black gloves to get a proper cook
Fat side up , always. Don’t cut the fat off, sheet. If you still have fat that looks like that, it was not cooked to the right temperature. Fat renders into the meat while cooking. I cringe when I see people trim off fat.
195 to 200 is a big window, especially when you want to go to just over 200. Cook until 202 and see how much difference that makes. And find a way to enjoy what you’ve got; you worked hella hard for something that can still be a great meal. One brisket down, hundreds more to go 🙂
I’ve never done a brisket any lower than 225, I also have a really old model so am unable without upgrading to a digital thermostat, so I can’t speak on anything below that 😂.
I keep it at 225 (low setting on mine) the whole smoke.
Start fat side down, wrap at 165 (I flip mine fat side up at this point).
I’ll pull when both flat and point have probed at least 203.
Let’r set for at least an hour (I leave mine in a towel packed cooler for around 3 hours).
You can also just leave it without wrapping and all that guff, but I’d let it get to at least 203 before pulling.
Take it to 225°F next time for your Traeger temperature and your meat 202
You have to figure it’s going to stall when it starts to sweat which is when the temperature drops on your meat 225°F will still get you. Good smoke and remember anything past six hours is not getting any more. At that time you’re just rendering it down further. You could actually do a six hour smoke and then create the temperature up to 350° and cook it the rest of the way wrapped in parchment paper and some apple cider vinegar or apple cider to draw back in the moisture and retain it as it finishes the cook for another five hours Once or twice in between not too much love and temperature in your cooker. Cap does not render down into the meat. Only the fat found in the subcutaneous render into the meat. That’s why the fat cap should be trimmed down to about 1/4 of an inch thick.
You could smoke for six hours at 185 and give you more smoke, then jack the temperature up to 350°F for another five hours but wrap it in parchment and pour about 1/4C Apple juice or apple cider vinegar and with it and then follow up my wrapping it in tinfoil so that it leaks all the way through.
Ive never had a problem with smoking fat side up. I have a timberline 1300. I always do super smoke mode. I start my cook at 205, after about 3-4 hours of solid heavy smoke I bump it up to 225 for the rest of the cook until its 165-170 or the fat is nice and pillowy and a little melty. Then I pull and and wrap in paper with tallow and throw it back on until its 200-205 then I unwrap and rewrap the brisket to rest out for an hour then cooler for 10-12 hours.
Very similar experience until I raised the temp to 250. I don’t even wrap anymore. Actually the most tender I’ve ever done I was cooking at 275…but you may not get enough smoke flavor for your liking.
So experiment with raising the temp. Trust me…it works.
The fat could of used a bit better shave.
My 1 piece of advice. Never wrap at a temp. Never wrap at a temp. Never wrap at a temp.
If you do insist on wrapping. Wrap when you know you are in the stall. Temp stays the same for hours, might even drop.
I say this because why would you fuck with a piece of meat that is finally doing what you smoke it for. It is just getting warm enough inside to start breaking down the fat etc. Why would you take this piece of meat out to fumble it. Just let it be.
First rule of brisket club: Fight the stall, embrace the stall, and there is no better feeling than seeing your meat come out of the stall.
Your brisket did look good.