I’m new to bge and new to smoking. This is my first brisket.
In order to get the texture just right, I couldn’t wrap it. Texture didn’t get this way until the end. (7.5 hours)
The problem is, it got pretty dry by then. Pretty good on all other accounts, just dry.
Any tips on that?
by no_quart3r_given
6 Comments
By texture, I mean bark.
Looking delicious!
That looks like just a brisket flat, which is the end of the brisket that’s lean. I find it almost impossible to smoke a brisket flat and have it come out anything other than dry – it just doesn’t have enough internal fat to stay moist over long slow cooking. You can try by injecting it with flavorful fat (like beef tallow or butter), making sure to buy a fattier looking flat and not trim too much of the fat off before cooking, using low temp (200-225), and wrapping it, but in the end I still find that flats almost always come out dry. One workaround that I use is to cook it in a sous vide water bath at like 155 degrees for 36 hours, then smoke for just 3 hours or so until it probes tender – that keeps it moist through most of the cooking but adds bark and smoke flavor at the end. But the BBQ purists will get pretty worked up over that approach being “not BBQ.”
Otherwise, you can try cooking a brisket point cut instead (or an entire packer brisket, which has both the flat and the point). The point is much fattier and easier since it doesn’t dry out nearly as easily as a flat.
Yes I have a great tip! Tallow is your friend and the beautiful thing about brisket is if you select the best cut you’ll have the most delicious fat (deckle). So my suggestion is to make sure you keep as much fat on the cut that you get as you can get away with (keeping cost in mind) and allow it to render while cooking.
Also be very aware of the timing and temperature. Since you’re using a minimax I have to assume that your cut is rather small, thus your cook time will be significantly shorter. Don’t worry if you feel it won’t yield the same results as a larger cut. You’ll still be able to get a good cook even with short duration.
And lastly given that you’re cooking smaller I would suggest using a very hot pan to sear the cut first to reduce the loss of moisture in the meat, and then straight to the smoker to finish. This is a great way to substitute for the lack of size (kinda treat it like steak). Just use lots of fat! I hope you enjoy your journey to culinary perfection!
I had a similar experience with first attempt on the mini max.. looked like the same piece of meat honestly.
Next attempt I got a prime full packer from Costco, trimmed it, and then split the point and flat. Look up some videos on how to do this, but didn’t have to trim off much more to fit them each on the minimax on separate cooks. Cooked pretty much the same way, each turned out a lot better than the first attempt. Point is naturally a lot juicier and I actually cooked this one all the way without wrapping. with enough fat kept on and cooked with fat cap down, the flat turned out nice and juicy as well for me, did a foil boat for the flat. Also made a small makeshift water pan placed on top of the plate setter to help keep it extra moist in there even with the egg being moister naturally
Quality of meat seems to be important imo – choice or prime will get you what you need. And probe tender is important, as well as a long enough rest, I’ve found holding in the oven at 150ish for several hours after letting it cool down on the counter for 20-30 mins to work out well.
Great smoke ring, how long did you let it rest