[0:00] hey guys welcome to mad scientist [0:01] barbecue i'm jeremy oder and today i'm [0:02] going to tell you about the 12 most [0:04] common brisket cooking mistakes [0:09] brisket mistake number one cooking at [0:12] the wrong temperature [0:13] now this happens all the time because [0:17] usually people aren't cooking on the [0:19] same type of smoker [0:20] as they might see somebody else cooking [0:21] on in a video for instance [0:23] there are probably very few people out [0:25] there who cook on a thousand gallon pit [0:26] like aaron franklin does [0:28] he's going to cook at 275 285 and he's [0:31] going to get very different results than [0:32] if you try to cook at those temperatures [0:33] on your weber kettle so the point is [0:36] this [0:37] figure out the right temperature for [0:38] your smoker and you're going to have [0:40] much better results now [0:42] franklin can cook a lot hotter on his [0:44] pit because he has so much convection [0:45] moving through there that it's [0:46] constantly cooling the brisket and as a [0:48] matter of fact if you tried to cook a [0:49] brisket at 225 it would take him [0:51] 27 28 hours so this one isn't quite as [0:55] extreme [0:55] but it's pretty close so for me i gotta [0:57] cook it 275 or else my brisket's going [0:59] to take forever to get done [1:01] now if you have say a pellet grill if [1:04] you cook at 275 you're probably going to [1:05] burn your brisket [1:06] so it's usually smarter on a pellet [1:08] grill to cook at 225 [1:10] or if you have a green egg i would [1:12] suggest something like 225 because [1:14] there's not tons of air rushing past [1:16] that brisket to cool it down all the [1:17] time so [1:19] basic guideline okay a small offset 250 [1:22] is good [1:22] a big offset 275 is good ceramic [1:26] cooker like a kamado joe or big green [1:27] egg i'd recommend 225 [1:29] i'd also recommend 225 for pellet grills [1:31] and then on a weber smoky mountain or a [1:33] weber kettle i would say [1:35] 225 up to 250 if you're really trying to [1:37] rush it you can go hotter up to 275 [1:40] and you probably won't burn anything but [1:42] the best temperature for flavor and [1:44] results would be [1:44] the 225 to 250. mistake number two [1:48] using the wrong rub when people cook [1:51] barbecue [1:52] they either tend to go in two directions [1:54] there are two extremes [1:55] one is they want to use a rub that has [1:58] tons of flavors in it and they may even [2:00] combine two or three different rubs just [2:01] to try to pack as much flavor on the [2:03] exterior surface [2:04] of the brisket as possible and then [2:05] other people will go to [2:07] ultimate simplicity just salt and pepper [2:09] now [2:10] the correct answer depends on the kind [2:12] of cooker you're using again [2:14] so if you're using a big offset salt and [2:16] pepper you're going to be totally fine [2:17] there's going to be so much flavor that [2:19] accumulates on the exterior surface of [2:20] that brisket that you're not going to be [2:22] wanting for anything else [2:23] now if you're using something that [2:25] doesn't produce a ton of smoke flavor [2:26] don't hate me pellet grill users but [2:28] pellet grills just don't produce as much [2:30] flavor as a big offset [2:32] it can still produce great flavor and it [2:34] can still produce a good amount of that [2:35] flavor [2:36] but you may want to supplement with more [2:38] things more spices [2:39] in that rub but i would caution you [2:41] against using [2:43] too much and covering the whole surface [2:45] so that smoke flavor doesn't really [2:46] penetrate [2:47] so i would say find a happy medium so [2:51] if you're using a big offset then you [2:52] add salt and pepper all the way to go or [2:54] even a small offset salt and pepper [2:56] you're going to be totally fine but if [2:57] you're cooking on another kind of smoker [2:59] i would say keep the rub simple so you [3:02] can add more things like [3:03] onion and garlic maybe dry mustard [3:04] powder things that you like [3:06] or some chilies but don't go so heavy [3:08] with the rub especially with the fine [3:10] particles [3:10] that it covers up the surface and you [3:12] don't get the smoke flavor that's the [3:13] whole reason [3:14] you're barbecuing in the first place all [3:16] right mistake number three and this [3:18] is a big one and it's true no matter [3:21] what kind of smoker you're using [3:22] okay it is not allowing yourself enough [3:24] time before you have to serve the food [3:27] this has inevitably gotten everybody who [3:29] barbecues well i would presume [3:31] almost everybody who barbecues if not [3:32] everyone because a lot of times you'll [3:35] say [3:35] you know what i think it's going to take [3:36] about you know 10 hours to do this cook [3:39] and then i'll let it rest for an hour [3:41] and then the guests will be there about [3:42] 30 minutes after that it's all going to [3:44] be fine [3:44] but the problem with doing outdoor [3:46] cooking is that you can never [3:48] really predict exactly how the cook is [3:50] going to go sometimes you'll have a [3:51] brisket that stalls out forever and [3:53] doesn't want to finish sometimes you [3:54] have a brisket that gets done two hours [3:55] early [3:56] so what i would say is if you're trying [3:57] to feed guests make sure you give [3:59] yourself [4:00] more than enough time so you could [4:02] calculate exactly how long you think [4:03] it's going to take [4:04] i would say add an extra two and a half [4:06] hours to that [4:07] and then you're safe because you can [4:08] always let the brisket rest for a little [4:10] longer [4:11] but if you don't give it time to finish [4:13] then you're going to have hungry guests [4:15] and you're either going to make them [4:17] wait too long [4:18] or you're going to serve something [4:19] that's not quite done both circumstances [4:21] provide [4:22] less than ideal results mistake number [4:24] four not allowing your brisket to rest [4:26] long enough now this is something that [4:28] gets overlooked a ton [4:30] in backyard cooks but it's something [4:32] that's very important to the [4:33] og pit masters if you go to places like [4:36] memphis or [4:37] the central texas region as a matter of [4:39] fact when i went to austin the last time [4:41] when i was hanging out with the guys who [4:42] were running pits [4:43] most of the time they didn't give a crap [4:45] what what i was using they didn't care [4:47] about the rub i was using you know what [4:48] they talked to me about they talked to [4:49] me about [4:49] rest times and how i rest my brisket and [4:52] a lot of those guys are resting for six [4:54] eight 10 even 12 hours before they serve [4:57] the meat [4:58] and there's good reason for it because [5:00] resting it allows [5:01] the rendered fat inside the meat to [5:03] distribute really well you're going to [5:04] have [5:05] brisket that's more moist and it's going [5:07] to be the right level of tenderness if [5:09] you rest it properly like that so what i [5:10] would suggest for most backyard smokers [5:13] is this if you cook is eight hours or [5:15] less [5:16] say you have a small cooker and it just [5:18] cooks quickly and you [5:20] finish up in eight hours what i would do [5:22] is upon removing that brisket [5:24] i would take it put it in a cooler and [5:26] allow it to stay hot in there and slowly [5:29] come down in temperature [5:30] if your cook takes between 8 to 12 hours [5:32] what i would suggest [5:34] is you pull the brisket you let it come [5:36] down to about 180 degrees then [5:38] allow it to rest in a cooler if your [5:40] cook takes 12 hours plus [5:42] i would suggest pulling the brisket [5:44] allowing it to cool to [5:46] 165 170 and then place it in the cooler [5:49] to slowly come down to a serving [5:51] temperature of about 145 degrees or so [5:54] and the reason that i give different [5:56] rest protocols for different times of [5:58] cooking is because [5:59] the longer the cook takes the more time [6:01] that brisket is spent at a high [6:02] temperature [6:03] which is kind of the reverse of resting [6:05] for a long time afterward [6:07] so if you have a long cook time you [6:09] already have some rest period built in [6:11] but you want to make sure that you have [6:13] ample time for everything to distribute [6:15] and everything to kind of equalize in [6:17] that brisket before you actually slice [6:19] it [6:19] you don't want to cut into the brisket [6:20] too hot and you don't want to let it [6:22] cool too much [6:22] but if you serve it at about 145 degrees [6:25] with a nice long rest [6:26] minimum of one hour you should really [6:29] strive for at least two hours of rest [6:31] then you're going to be pleasantly [6:32] surprised with how much better the [6:34] product is [6:34] than when you just pull it out let it [6:36] cool down quickly and slice into it [6:38] big mistake number five is making [6:40] changes that are too big [6:42] what i mean by that is this when you're [6:44] doing a brisket [6:46] right unless the last time you did it [6:47] was a complete horror show and [6:49] everything was a complete disaster [6:51] don't change everything so i know some [6:53] people will do a brisket one way and [6:55] then they'll change [6:56] everything about how they did it so [6:58] they'll change the temperature that they [6:59] were cooking at [7:00] they're gonna change the rub they're [7:01] going to change the injection or they're [7:02] going to [7:04] not inject when they did the time before [7:06] and they're going to do different wood [7:08] everything is different they're going to [7:09] go with a water pan when they didn't [7:11] have one last time [7:12] so essentially what you're going to find [7:14] out is if you make those big changes [7:16] you're not really going to know how to [7:18] deal with all those changes at the same [7:19] time [7:20] and then also if it turns out that you [7:22] do one and it's good or it's bad [7:24] you're not going to know what thing [7:26] affected that cook [7:27] so if you make small changes and you [7:29] kind of have a slow progression toward [7:31] the exact kind of brisket you want to [7:32] make you're going to be much more [7:34] successful [7:34] than doing wild and crazy things each [7:36] time because you're not going to have [7:38] the consistency or the experience with [7:40] all those different changes to make sure [7:41] that you produce the best brisket [7:43] possible [7:43] now from a science perspective we want [7:45] to control as many things as possible [7:47] because when you're doing outdoor [7:48] cooking there are a lot of things that [7:49] you don't have control over [7:50] you don't have control over the [7:52] temperature outside you don't have [7:53] control over the humidity outside [7:54] you don't have control over every aspect [7:56] of what's in each piece of wood [7:58] because they're all a little bit [7:59] different the moisture content might [8:01] vary from one piece to the next [8:02] so in order to have as much control over [8:05] your final outcome [8:06] as possible only change one tiny thing [8:09] at a time [8:10] so that way you don't have wild swings [8:12] in the quality of what you make [8:14] brisket mistake number six looking for [8:16] the wrong [8:17] signs in your brisket what i mean by [8:19] that is people are going to look for [8:22] usually one of two things before they [8:24] wrap and they usually [8:26] look at the temperature and for most [8:28] people that's the only thing that [8:29] they're really checking [8:30] and the second thing that they'll look [8:31] for is time so a new brisket smoker [8:34] might think [8:34] oh i should leave it on the smoker for [8:37] four hours before i wrap it or [8:39] whatever they have been told it's not [8:41] about time [8:42] and then it's also not ultimately about [8:44] temperature even though that's a part of [8:45] it [8:45] what i would suggest is there are five [8:47] things to look for [8:49] before you wrap your brisket and i'm [8:50] gonna break them down pretty simply as [8:52] simply as i can [8:52] for you right now number one color [8:56] this is going to be your proxy for how [8:59] much smoke flavor [9:00] you put on the brisket so the darker the [9:01] brisket generally speaking [9:03] the more smoke flavor you have on it so [9:05] you want to make sure you have a good [9:06] amount of smoke flavor because that's [9:08] the whole reason you put it in a cooker [9:09] and not in an oven anyway [9:11] number two we'll look at the bark itself [9:13] so if you have a build up [9:15] of stuff on the exterior surface where [9:17] you have a combination of the rub that [9:18] you use [9:19] the fat render and the meat itself [9:22] kind of all turned into this delicious [9:25] covering on your brisket [9:27] when you have a good bark on the [9:28] exterior and once you've had good bark [9:30] you'll know exactly what i'm talking [9:31] about [9:31] once you have that on the outside that's [9:33] one of the necessary conditions before [9:35] you wrap [9:36] number three is going to be this despite [9:39] what you may believe [9:39] you actually want your brisket to sweat [9:41] out a bunch of water in the cooking [9:43] process [9:44] so you lose a bunch of the water and the [9:46] brisket shrinks down in size [9:48] so for me when i see that the brisket [9:50] has shrunk about 40 [9:51] that's the sign for me telling me it's [9:53] time to wrap now what can happen is [9:55] if you don't allow it to sweat out [9:57] enough water before wrapping [9:58] it will fill the wrap itself with lots [10:01] of moisture and you get the soupy stuff [10:03] that washes off all the bark that you [10:04] worked so hard to create [10:06] you don't want that make sure that your [10:07] brisket loses enough water [10:09] and as a consequence concentrates that [10:12] flavor [10:12] and then you're going to have a better [10:14] bark and a better brisket in the end [10:16] number four fat render this is something [10:18] i get asked about all the time [10:20] what i talk about when i say rendered [10:21] fat is when the fat on top of the [10:23] brisket turns yellow and when you poke [10:25] it [10:25] there's not resistance it doesn't bounce [10:27] back like rubber [10:28] it goes and your finger just pokes in it [10:31] you look at it it's yellow it's soft [10:33] that is rendered fat when the fat has [10:35] rendered that's another key [10:36] you have to look for before wrapping [10:38] your brisket and then finally number [10:40] five [10:40] is temperature now temperature isn't the [10:42] be-all end-all [10:44] of when it's time to wrap but it's one [10:47] component that i look for [10:48] and it's usually the one that i look for [10:49] last so basically i'll check those other [10:52] four things [10:52] and when they're all the way i want them [10:54] then i'll check the temperature [10:56] and it just tells me that i'm not crazy [10:59] you know it's just a kind of a fail-safe [11:01] for me to make sure that [11:02] i'm not just way off base with where i [11:04] think this brisket is in its cooking [11:06] process [11:06] so i will tempt the point and i'll tempt [11:08] the flat and usually the temperature [11:10] that comes up [11:11] is anywhere between 175 to 185 [11:15] that's when i usually end up wrapping [11:16] briskets i've wrapped them as low as [11:18] 161. [11:19] i've wrapped them as high as 195 but [11:22] usually [11:23] the way it works out when i've got to [11:24] cook everything's going right it's [11:26] between 175 and 185 [11:28] that all those four other things show up [11:30] and so if you're not [11:31] super confident about identifying those [11:33] other four characteristics [11:34] you can use temperature as a best guess [11:36] to figure out when it's time to wrap [11:39] bonus tip if you don't have a digital [11:41] instant read thermometer [11:43] get one it will save you money in meat [11:45] that you don't ruin [11:47] so a lot of people like to use leave-in [11:48] probes when i'm cooking say 20 briskets [11:50] on here [11:51] i'm not going to stick in 20 probes but [11:54] what you get with a digital instant read [11:57] thermometer that you just poke in [11:58] is two things number one is you don't [12:00] have to deal with a bunch of wires and a [12:01] bunch of [12:02] hassle to use it it's very simple it's [12:04] very compact [12:05] number two is when you actually poke in [12:07] the probe [12:08] you can get a feel for the texture of [12:10] the meat so there are going to be times [12:12] when you poke a brisket you're like oh [12:13] that feels great it's like [12:15] softened butter this guy is done then [12:17] other times you try to poke it in you're [12:18] like oh this is still really tough this [12:20] is going to need more time [12:21] i don't even care what the thermometer [12:22] says i know by virtue of the feel of [12:24] this brisket [12:25] that it's not ready yet and by the way [12:27] my favorite digital instrument [12:28] thermometer is the thermapen [12:29] i've had a bunch of them in the past and [12:32] i've spent more money [12:33] on those other cheap ones because they [12:34] break or they rust [12:36] or they get wet then i spent on one [12:38] thermal pen that has lasted me [12:40] without any problems at all so if you're [12:42] interested in one of those i'll put a [12:43] link in the description down below [12:45] brisket mistake number seven this is a [12:46] quick one when you're spraying your [12:48] brisket [12:49] don't spray the fat because you want the [12:51] fat to get hot you want it to render [12:53] you spray the meat to protect it the fat [12:55] doesn't need any protecting so spray the [12:57] meat if you get some of the spray on the [12:58] fat it's not the end of the world [13:00] it's just counterproductive to the [13:01] ultimate ends of rendered fat and moist [13:03] brisket [13:04] without burning any of the meat so spray [13:06] the meat not the fat [13:08] brisket mistake number eight over [13:09] smoking or under smoking [13:11] the meat now this comes down to knowing [13:14] your cooker and how much wood you can [13:15] use [13:16] before you get too much smoke flavor and [13:19] it starts to taste [13:20] bitter and not enjoyable so on something [13:22] like an offset like this [13:24] there's no amount of smoke flavor that [13:25] i've ever had come off of this thing [13:28] that i would say is too much or [13:29] anything other than oh that tastes [13:31] really good i want more of it [13:32] there are other smokers so if you're [13:34] using something that kind of smolders [13:35] wood chunks you can [13:36] definitely oversmoke the meat i know [13:38] when i first started barbecuing i did [13:40] that because i thought if smoke is good [13:41] more smoke is better [13:43] but that's not always the case so use [13:45] those other clues [13:46] like the color of the brisket and the [13:48] kind of bark you're forming to figure [13:50] out how much smoke you're actually [13:51] putting on the meat and don't over smoke [13:53] it [13:53] mistake number nine wild temperature [13:56] swings now they're going to be some [13:57] cookers where this isn't a problem if [13:58] you've got a pellet smoker [13:59] you're not going to be having huge [14:01] temperature swings you're good you can [14:02] skip this one move on to the next tip [14:05] but if you have an offset smoker it's so [14:08] so important that you [14:09] keep the temperature consistent because [14:12] if you let your fire die down [14:13] not only are you not cooking during that [14:15] time the brisket is cooling off [14:16] so say you fall asleep for an hour not [14:18] only were you not cooking that brisket [14:20] for that hour [14:20] for an hour the brisket was going down [14:22] in temperature so you've lost more than [14:24] just the hour you fell asleep [14:25] so keep the temperature consistent for [14:27] that reason number two [14:28] is if you have wild temperature swings [14:30] way up and way down [14:31] you're going to end up burning parts of [14:33] the brisket and you're not going to get [14:34] the consistent level of doneness from [14:36] one side to the other [14:37] that you want so if you can stay you [14:39] know plus or minus probably [14:41] 20 degrees you'll be good right on uh [14:44] 500 like this you can stay [14:45] plus or minus 10. uh on a thousand [14:48] gallon you could probably stay plus or [14:49] minus five [14:50] but the smaller the smoker the harder [14:52] that battle is but the more you work at [14:54] it the better your results are going to [14:55] be [14:56] brisket mistake number 10 getting low [14:58] quality meat now [14:59] as in many things in life you get what [15:02] you pay for [15:03] when you buy meat so get the best [15:06] brisket you can afford now if you can [15:08] afford [15:09] you know wagyu beef then by all means [15:11] get wag view beef [15:12] but that's really expensive you don't [15:14] have to get wagyu beef to make great [15:16] brisket [15:17] so i would say get at least choice [15:20] because otherwise you're setting [15:21] yourself up for failure if you get [15:22] select brisket it's going to be really [15:23] really really tough to make great [15:25] brisket you have to really know what [15:26] you're doing [15:27] and so these are common mistakes to [15:28] avoid so i'm guessing that the people [15:30] who are watching this [15:31] don't have tons and tons and tons of [15:33] experience cooking brisket so i'd say [15:34] get at least choice if you can get prime [15:37] get prime [15:38] so most people have access to a costco [15:39] where they live and at costco you can [15:41] get prime briskets for [15:43] not too much money so you can probably [15:44] spend about 60 bucks and get a prime [15:47] brisket now with that you can actually [15:49] make tremendously good barbecue [15:51] and you don't have to feel like you're [15:53] sacrificing or compromising on meat [15:54] quality [15:55] and you give yourself the best chance to [15:56] make a good brisket in the end by [15:58] starting off [15:59] with the best meat from the beginning [16:02] now that rule for meat quality [16:03] generally holds true for all kinds of [16:05] meat no matter what it is [16:07] but sometimes there are exceptions for [16:08] instance the best beef rib that i've [16:10] ever made and my wife's favorite that [16:11] i've ever made [16:12] was a choice beef rib but we had the [16:14] benefit there of it being a beef short [16:15] rib that's already packed with fat and [16:17] it just happened to be [16:18] the stars aligned to make that a perfect [16:21] beef rib so [16:22] you don't have to give up on making [16:24] great brisket if you can't find prime [16:26] but prime is going to give you the best [16:27] chance of making good stuff in the end [16:29] mistake number 11 is wrapping improperly [16:32] and what i mean by that is [16:34] pretty simple when you wrap the brisket [16:36] whatever you're using to wrap [16:37] do it well so if you're using foil make [16:40] it nice and tight you don't want a bunch [16:42] of steam escaping [16:43] because if you're using foil you're [16:45] doing it specifically to trap all that [16:46] steam in there [16:47] don't let it escape or else the wrapping [16:49] isn't going to do exactly what you want [16:50] it to do [16:51] with paper a lot of times people will [16:53] wrap it loosely the first time i tried [16:54] to wrap it in paper i just wrapped it [16:55] loosely and [16:56] it was leaking everywhere and it didn't [16:59] really work [17:00] it kind of protected the meat a little [17:01] bit but it was awful i would not [17:03] recommend it so i'd say [17:05] wrap it tightly and wrap it well because [17:08] that way you're going to achieve exactly [17:10] what the purpose of the wrap [17:11] is in the end last but not least [17:14] mistake number 12 improperly trimming [17:17] your brisket now there are two extremes [17:19] with this one as well [17:20] some people try to trim off every bit of [17:22] fat on the whole brisket [17:23] and then they put it in the smoker and [17:25] it comes out dry and they can't figure [17:26] it out [17:27] they're like what is wrong because maybe [17:28] they saw somebody else do it don't [17:30] do that if you're trying to smoke your [17:32] brisket that's a bad idea also some [17:34] people [17:34] are very very reluctant to trim off [17:37] parts of the brisket [17:38] because you spent good money on this [17:39] thing you don't want to waste any of it [17:41] but what i would say is this [17:42] you're going to be better off trimming [17:44] pieces off and then using it for burgers [17:46] or sausages [17:46] or some purpose where it's really going [17:48] to shine instead of leaving it on the [17:50] brisket [17:50] where it could burn or dry out in the [17:52] end you don't want to have any part of [17:53] that brisket [17:54] be something that's dried or crusty or [17:56] burnt what you want is delicious [17:58] succulent brisket in the end and one [18:00] more thing i want to say about people [18:01] who are too reluctant to trim [18:04] my advice to you is be merciless when [18:07] you're trimming the flat [18:08] so if you see a big chunk of meat that [18:10] juts out from the flat and you think i [18:12] can probably survive i would say be [18:14] merciless take it off [18:16] and you're probably going to have a [18:17] better result in the end i hope these [18:18] tips helped you guys out [18:20] and good luck if you're smoking a [18:21] brisket for labor day i'm going to be [18:23] doing it too [18:24] and maybe i'll post some pictures on [18:25] instagram also you can follow me on [18:27] instagram [18:27] mad scientist barbecue and if you [18:29] enjoyed the video hit the like button [18:30] subscribe down below and turn the [18:32] notifications on so you get updated [18:33] every time i put out new content [18:35] i'll see you guys next time hey reggie [18:39] the 12 most common brisket mistakes [18:43] now i'm trying again the thing in the [18:45] way [18:48] there are lots of things that are [18:49] changing the him okay [18:51] ready this is number six okay [18:54] okay okay okay but prime is gonna get [18:58] okay last but not the knees try again [19:02] ready