Shoe leather brisket

[SgtRock]

Burgers and hot dogs for memorial day. I ruined the brisket. Could someone please tell me what I did wrong. I started with a choice packer. I trimmed some of the fat and removed the silver skin. Rubbed my brisket down with dry rub. Wrapped it in plastic wrap and set it in the fridge for 24 hours. Fired up my propane smoker got the temp to 225 degrees. Added pecan and oak chunks then put my brisket in. Placed a temp probe in thickest part of the point and set the time for 195 degrees. Maintained water in the water tray and the temperature between 225 and 250 degrees. Eleven hours later timer starts beeping And internal temp of brisket has reached 195. I removed the brisket, double wrapped it in foil. Wrapped it in a towel and placed it in a cooler for 4 hours. Took it out set it on a cutting board and carved it. Dry and tough as shoe leather. Family was disappointed. Went to the store and bought hamburger meat and dogs. Made the best of the day. Ended up chucking the brisket in the trash. Any idea what I'm doing wrong?

[Txdragon]

Welcome! The only thing you did wrong was rely on temp to say whether or not the brisket was done. Cooked it may have been, but ready it was not. The probe test is gonna be your best way to determine readiness. When you can probe the thickest part of the flat with near zero resistance, it's ready. Temps **MIGHT** coincidentally be in the popular region of 200 or 205 during the time it's ready, but again, this is honestly just coincidence. The connective tissues need the proper amount of time to break down, and if not, you end up with results similar to yours. The best way to determine if that has occurred is by the probe test, not temps..
Cheers!

[Sailor Kenshin]

Burgers and hot dogs for memorial day. I ruined the brisket. Could someone please tell me what I did wrong. I started with a choice packer. I trimmed some of the fat and removed the silver skin. Rubbed my brisket down with dry rub. Wrapped it in plastic wrap and set it in the fridge for 24 hours. Fired up my propane smoker got the temp to 225 degrees. Added pecan and oak chunks then put my brisket in. Placed a temp probe in thickest part of the point and set the time for 195 degrees. Maintained water in the water tray and the temperature between 225 and 250 degrees. Eleven hours later timer starts beeping And internal temp of brisket has reached 195. I removed the brisket, double wrapped it in foil. Wrapped it in a towel and placed it in a cooler for 4 hours. Took it out set it on a cutting board and carved it. Dry and tough as shoe leather. Family was disappointed. Went to the store and bought hamburger meat and dogs. Made the best of the day. Ended up chucking the brisket in the trash. Any idea what I'm doing wrong?

BTDT. What txdragon said. Plus, you could have saved the meat, chopped it, and used it for chili. You'll nail it next time.

[Chasdev]

OR put it in the oven at 300 for an hour or so until it got tender..

[woodenvisions]

All good advice ^^^^

U might wanna also first cover the entire brisket with yellow mustard before ur rub.
Not too much, just a bit to help hold the rub..

[rockinar]

Brisket can be difficult and takes practice. Its not like chicken where you can cook it at a specific temp for 45 minutes and its done. Brisket is done when it's done. Cook till probe tender. Also with brisket, you get what you pay for. A ruined Prime brisket will be better than a ruined Choice brisket and a ruined Waygu brisket will be better than a ruined Prime. Choice cuts can be pretty low in fat and bad results can be pretty humbling. Trying a Prime next time and everything being equal, your results will be better than last time.

[SgtRock]

This brisket was beyond use for chili. All the fat was gone. It was like jerky. I would like to try a prime brisket but can't afford.

[k.a.m.]

This brisket was beyond use for chili. All the fat was gone. It was like jerky. I would like to try a prime brisket but can't afford.

Your problem was trying to cook a non marbled brisket low and slow your next problem was monitoring the temps in the point which is if any the fattest part of the brisket. If you had upped your temps to around 250°/275° and monitored the center of the flat checking it for probe tender around 205° you would have had a chance in my opinion.
Keep trying it takes a couple before yo find your groove.

[jwh]

Though it was tough, like you say, I wonder if you'd'd thrown in some roasted and peeled Poblanos and Anaheims, with some salt and chili powder, all into a crock pot, if it might have softened up after 6 hours on low? Would it have been too tough for some brisket sammiches?

I couldn't tell you what went wrong, however, I've only made one Brisket attempt so far and -thankfully- it was not a complete failure. The best brisket that has ever passed these lips -including Ten50, Lockhart, or Hutchins around here- is the brisket my pastor smoked on his "Big Green Egg." Hutchins is likely my favorite around these parts, however. Havene't tried Cattleack or Pecan Lodge yet.

God speed on your next try, Friend.

[woodenvisions]

Been there before, all u need to do to salvage things like this is change direction and pull out your slow cooker with some good sketti sauce.
Cut ur leather into small pieces or even chunks, throw them in the pot on ( Low ) with some garlic, potatoes, sausage and peppers and in 6 or 8 hrs, I Guarantee that once leather brisket will cut with a fork and taste great as well.
If ur stuck on full slices for sammiches, that will work as well, I've done that before too.
Don't be afraid to pull out the slow cooker, nothing wrong with simmering meat to save ur cook.


Good luck

[Sailor Kenshin]

Been there before, all u need to do to salvage things like this is change direction and pull out your slow cooker with some good sketti sauce.
Cut ur leather into small pieces or even chunks, throw them in the pot on ( Low ) with some garlic, potatoes, sausage and peppers and in 6 or 8 hrs, I Guarantee that once leather brisket will cut with a fork and taste great as well.
If ur stuck on full slices for sammiches, that will work as well, I've done that before too.
Don't be afraid to pull out the slow cooker, nothing wrong with simmering meat to save ur cook.


Good luck

We call that The Long Island Crutch.

[rockinar]

Next time, I would put the temp probe in the the thickest part of the flat, when internal temp reaches 160-165, wrap it in foil. Start checking for tenderness about 190. That should get you at least in the right direction and the foil should help keep some moisture in there and keep from it being a total loss. Worst case, I guarantee it will be better than you last effort.