I am a BGE user for 10+ years. I can do ANYTHING on the BGE except Beef Brisket. My last experiment, Sunday, resulted in another DISASTER!! I was tough as a boot, but did not taste as good as a boot! For some reason I totally SUCK at brisket. I can do pork; chops both grilled and smoked, ribs, loin. My steaks are great, as are the hamburgers; beef ribs and standing rib roast (prime rib) are excellent. Red Fish on the half shell turns out great. But brisket, forget it.

The set up I use is. Pit is Large BGE with after market cast iron plate setter, heavy grill, and the fully adjustable top cap. I use lump charcoal with Pecan Chunks for smoke. Digital thermometer with probes for grill temp and internal food temp. The fire is started and the BGE is allowed to reach and hold 225 to 250 for one hour prior to cooking.

I purchase brisket at HEB in the cryo bags. I have taken to purchasing smaller briskets so as not to waste so damn much money. The brisket prep is to trim excess fat and to dry brine 48 hours prior to cook. Placed on pit directly from refrigerator. Rub is combo of Kosher Salt and ground black pepper applied to a moderately water wetted brisket.

I am an engineer by training. Therefore I keep a spreadsheet of the temps, both grill and meat every fifteen minutes of the cook. I can see the 'stall' in the cook temp vs time. I can see the evaporation that causes the 'stall' cease and the internal meat temp begin to increase. However, all this good 'science' has not resulted in a brisket fit for the dogs!

I have used the Texas Crutch for brisket with the result I got a huge Pot Roast, that still was not tasty. It was not, however, as tough as the proverbial boot. Done in the smoke with no aluminum foil it is tasteless and tough.

My last brisket was yesterday. I smoked it at an average of 250 for 6 hours to an internal temp of 190. Hard to imagine a worse outcome!!! Which brings me to my question, 'What the Hell am I doing wrong!!!!'

Any suggestions are greatly appreciated!

What grade are you buying? Water pan?

Also, 190 is low in my experience. Mine turn out better closer to 200. BUT that's why you can't rely on temp too much. Go by feel it should jiggle like jello and the probe should slide in and out easily.

I smoke at 200 to 160 fat side up. coat in butter and wrap in foil and let it heat to 190 at 300. Then let it rest for a minimum of 1 1/2 hours.

Pulling at 190 could be your problem. I just keep a brisket on until it gets tender which is usually around 205. If it's tough just chop it and cover it in BBQ sauce. If it's still not edible them you have bigger problems.

Cook until 200 amd buy the whole brisket not just the flat

Im a good cook - I rarely use recipes and cook by taste and feel. I used to make awesome brisket..so good people told me I would win competitions. I'd just toss it on the BGE and smoke it until I thought it was ready. I didn't worry about internal temp or dome temp...nothing. I just pulled it when I knew it was ready. And it was perfect.

About 6 months ago, I bought a digiq and started getting fancy. Since then, I haven't cooked an edible (in my opinion) brisket. They've been tough, overlooked and even burnt.

I bring this up because you say you are an egjneer and love all the data stuff. Throw that in the trash and cook with your gut and your heart.

Temp is not the determining factor of when to pull - it just gives you a basic framework of when to start monitoring to pull.

225-250 is about right - at the grill surface. If you are basing the temp on the gauge on top of your dome, you are likely 50-75 degrees higher at the grill surface itself. You need to know what the average delta is between actual grill temp and gauge temp. 190 is a little cool as it is - I generally don't start probing until 195-198. But you have to probe! When your probe goes in the point without resistance, you are ready to pull. Wrap in butcher paper and towels and put in a cooler for an hour to finish off and rest before you start doing any hacking on it.

Also, make sure you are cutting each end the correct direction. The flat and point have two different muscle structures and the grains are perpendicular to one another, cut accordingly across the grain.

Taking it off half done? I'm not an egg user but seems quick to cook brisket.
The small ones are still usually 10 lbs.

As for flavor, I just get it out of package and put on salt and pepper or sometimes use Montreal steak seasoning. You might be over thinking it.

Yeah, I'd look at temp first. As an example, I did a very large pork shoulder a couple of weeks ago. It stalled in the 160s-170s for several hours. At the 7 hour mark, 187 degrees, I pulled it off and "harvested" a little around a bone because we were starving. The shoulder for the most part was still like shoe leather. Put it back in until I got it to 203 degrees and it was falling apart, it was so tender. Just 16 degrees and a couple extra hours was all the difference.

Thanks for these tips. 1. Grill temp is grill temp, not the dome bi metal thermometer. As stated, the dome temp is 20 to 40 degrees less than grill. 2. Will cook until 200 to 205 and see what happens.

Thanks!

Mark Fairchild said:

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Thanks for these tips. 1. Grill temp is grill temp, not the dome bi metal thermometer. As stated, the dome temp is 20 to 40 degrees less than grill. 2. Will cook until 200 to 205 and see what happens.

Thanks!

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Start probing at 195 or so. Temp is just a ballpark. You cannot apply engineering principles to cooking brisket.

Mark Fairchild said:

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Thanks for these tips. 1. Grill temp is grill temp, not the dome bi metal thermometer. As stated, the dome temp is 20 to 40 degrees less than grill. 2. Will cook until 200 to 205 and see what happens.

Thanks!

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Don't cook until any temp in particular. Cook until a probe goes in like butter.

Based on your post I'd try some of the following:

Spritz some water periodically while cooking. Wrap in butcher paper when you hit the stall if you want to wrap. Pull the brisket closer to 195-205. Let it rest in a cooler for at least an hour after cooking.

Rest time once complete?

Cook to 203, then wrap and let it rest for at least an hour. (butcher paper then foil then towels in a cooler)

Do not let your guests or Spouse rush is it.

Plan ahead for 1.5 hours per pound and an hour of rest before you plan to serve. That way when it finishes way early you will not have to fret.

Slice with a big knife against the grain, only slice what you need.

How big of Brisket was it? 6 hours sounds short to me. I cooked a 10lb one Saturday an hour a pound st 225-250 then rested it in foil for an hour. It wasnt my best but pretty decent.

I think that cooking a cut like brisket is a function of time as well as internal temprature. It takes time for the collagen and other tissue to break down. Most of my packer trim briskets take 10-12 hours to cook plus an hour or so of rest time. I have an egg and try to maintain 225-235 over that period. Internal temperature is usually at 205 when I pull them. Mine are probably a bit dry, but that is how my family likes them. Make sure to probe in several places, but the ultimate test is stick it with a fork. You should be able to twist it before pulling.

Few things to try/change:

-I've never brined a brisket, wet or dry. If your brisket isn't over-trimmed it shouldn't be necessary.
-You said you put directly on the smoker from the fridge. I always pull out the brisket and season when I fire up the smoker and let it come to room temp while the smoker is warming up.
-I smoke brisket around 275, but the temp isn't as big an issue as time, as others said you should be able to tell when the probe goes in with minimal effort.
-Meat grade matters, I've had fine results with choice if not using prime, don't go lower than choice.
-The biggest thing I did that got me decent brisket is rest. Once its done I wrap and rest for 2 hours, slice as you serve.

I think I found your problem. No where in your summary did you list drinking beer as a step you took. That part is critical to smoking a good brisket.

Been said already but gets JUCIER at 205 than 190. Gotta let the colagen break down. Cook longer

Mark, since you're retired now, we expect you to have another brisket on the Egg this afternoon and report back.

I'm not an expert, but I've been having good luck with my briskets on my BGE. I would try putting a water pan under your brisket.

I put a silicone spacer (It's my wife's trivet... Don't tell her) on top of the diffuser, so the water doesn't evaporate too fast, then a disposable cake pan with water in it.

Helpful hint: put the empty cake pan on the diffuser and then pour the water in it. Just trust me on this one.

I usually pull mine about 203 degrees. I have wrapped it, but only if I'm in a hurry. Good luck.

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Done in the smoke with no aluminum foil it is tasteless and tough.

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put more wood in with the lump and make sure it is mixed throughout. that's one thing i've learned using a komado cooker...more wood than i thought. that should at least give you the flavor you need. and, as others have said, you're probably pulling it too soon if it's tough as a boot.

Aaron Franklin recommends letting it rest until the internal temp is down to about 145

And I recommend that you don't brine it, just use salt and pepper.

Then let it sit out of the fridge for an hour before you start to cook.

JAW3336 said:

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Aaron Franklin recommends letting it rest until the internal temp is down to about 145

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This one often gets overlooked. If your brisket is steaming when you slice it, it's too hot. That is moisture that you worked so hard to retain is just evaporating into the air with every slice.

I just got a BGE and tried Franklins method. Only seasoned with salt and pepper. I did over shoot and dry it out on the first time.....but it was tasty!!!

Getting it to room temp or letting it sit out a bit before cooking is a busted myth. Go straight from fridge to smoker. Plus, cold meat takes up more smoke. If you like that sorta thing of course.

Cooked my first one on my BGE 2 weeks ago, and I think it turned out great. I didn't crutch, just let it smoke Lesson I learned is just to let it sit. Mine was 12lb, and it took 9.5 hours to get to 203 internal temp (measured in the thick part of the flat). I agree that 6 hours seems very short for a brisket.

A certain someone with a 4 hour wait would disagree.

JAW3336 said:

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A certain someone with a 4 hour wait would disagree.

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Physics trumps a 4 hour wait

Guess my point wasn't clear.

Aaron Franklin lets his brisket sit out of the fridge before putting on the pit and he seems to be making some tatsty brisket.

OleRock02 said:

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Mark, since you're retired now, we expect you to have another brisket on the Egg this afternoon and report back.

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I had to sign on just so I could blue star this. ... very interested in seeing if the board helped solve the problem.... I agree with the board here, (cook a little longer, pull and let it rest) everything in the OP seems like good procedure to me.

What still puzzles me is that the OP thought the flavor was even pretty bad. It still should have tasted decent, even if it was tough.

Man, some of y'all would jump off a cliff too if the BBQ God Aaron franklin was doing it.

As WC87 said, pulling a brisket out of the fridge for an hour or two before cooking does nothing. A brisket's internal temperature will change by less than 5 degrees sitting on your countertop over that time. People have actually experimented with this and it's not important, just stick it on the pit and go. And don't pull it every time at 203 just because that's franklins magic number. Every brisket is different and will finish differently. Start monitoring the temp more closely past 190, but as said before wait until the probe goes in with no resistance.

OP, I know you said you're an engineer but sorry, brisket smoking is an art, not a science.

agfan2013 said:

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Man, some of y'all would jump off a cliff too if the BBQ God Aaron franklin was doing it.

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I am just saying if you are looking for advice why not go to the best?

And he doesn't recommend that you pull at 203, he says that is just a guide.