3 Brisket Troubleshooting Tips

Briskets can be one of the hardest types of beef to smoke. A good brisket takes patience, attention, and skill.

In our last post, we offered you the basic steps to cooking a great brisket. But sometimes things can go wrong, which is where today's blog post comes in.

If your first stab at a brisket came out a little bit disappointing, or if you ran into unexpected problems, this post will help you make adjustments so you can finally enjoy the brisket of your dreams!

The Stall

Has your brisket's temperature stopped rising? We call that the stall, and it can be frustrating.

What's happening?

The brisket is sweating. The evaporative cooling effect is keeping the internal temperature from rising.

What can you do?

Has the brisket reached a temperature of at least 150°F? You can wrap it a little earlier than we recommended in the step-by-step blog post. It won't hurt anything: the whole purpose of the wrap is to trap moisture and heat. It shouldn't impact the bark on the exterior of the brisket.

We don't recommend wrapping it when it's any colder, but fortunately, the stall does tend to happen between 150°F and 160°F.

Tough, Dry Brisket

Tough, dry brisket is the worst, and it's the ultimate grillmaster's failure!

What's happening?

There's one of two problems. Either you cooked your brisket too long, or you didn't rest your brisket properly.

How can you fix it?

Let's assume you were plenty patient and followed our directions about resting your brisket. We'll now address the cooking problem.

Many recipes talk about how long to cook your brisket. Time can be a useful guide, but you're cooking to temperature. The target temperature is 200°F to 205°F. It's ready when it's ready.

Start by checking at the earliest likely "done" time, and then check every 20 to 30 minutes after that. Once you've hit that early "done" mark by time, you've got to stay vigilant! Don't guesswork it, assume that the average time will do, or cook it to the maximum highest time. Keep an eye on your brisket.

Burnt or Bitter Brisket

While every brisket should have a flavorful, dark bark, a burned bark is hardly a taste sensation. And a thick, unpleasant bark can detract from the experience of eating the brisket.

What's happening?

There's an imbalance between the sugar of the rub and the heat of the smoker.

What can you do?

Try cooking at a slightly lower temperature (remember, this is low and slow cooking), or move the brisket to a cooler section of the smoker during the final stages of the cook.

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