Question for those of you who smoke meat

I'm obsessed with smoking meat! It's my new favorite hobby and I do it on the daily.

So far I've found that one of my favorite thing to smoke is beef dino ribs.

I cook them for about 8 or so hours at 250 and spritz them with either beef broth or apple cider vinegar every 45 minutes.

Every time I cook them the meat is fall off the bone tender, just the way I like it.

Recently I've started cooking prime brisket flats (usually about 4 lb cuts). I follow the same procedure as when I cook the beef ribs.

So far I have not yet been able to get the brisket meat to even come close to being as tender as the ribs. It doesn't fall apart on your fork like I am going for.

I've tried smoking them both wrapped (in high quality butcher paper) and unwrapped, and still no luck.

The meat is always a bit tougher (more like steak). I probe the hell out of the brisket flats and generally cook it to an internal temp around 203 to 205 degrees.

Again, no such luck! I stopped paying attention to the temperature and instead just started focusing on tenderness. If I can stick a fork in them and it slides in like butter I know they are the way I want them.

Sadly that never happens. I try over-and-over again and they just never reach that level.

Last night I tried again and the brisket flat got up to 205 degrees and even then it still wasn't soft and tender. Should I have cooked it even longer?

Anyways, hopefully some of you pros will be able to tell me what I am doing wrong here.

The below photo is my beef ribs which always turn out perfect.

Apparition said:

I'd cook it hotter, last one I pulled off the smoker at 210°.

Are you resting it? For how long and how are you doing it?

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Higher temp or let the internal temp go past 205?

I let it rest for about 45 minutes in a cooler before cutting it. Generally I wrap it in butchers paper, place it in the cooler, then let it sit for 45 minutes to an hour while it rests.

R3ID05TJ said:

The way I smoke brisket is specific to my smoker. The Pit Barrel Cooker. But I cut off most of the fat. Not all. Smoke until the internal temp is 160-170 which takes about 3-4hrs. Roughly 225 degrees. I don't measure external temp but that's about what it is. I only use charcoal. Kingsford Original nothing else. Then I take it off, wrap it, lay it back in the smoker fat side down. You can add your beef broth or apple cider vinegar or apple juice or whatever you want to this. It'll go for about another 2 hours until the internal temp is 200 degrees. Pull it off and let it sit for at least an hour.

Internal temps are the key. Different smokers smoke differently. I won't get into why the Pit Barrel Cooker or similar concept smokers are the best. Just get good temp probes and monitor the shit out of that. Once you dial in the internal temps you will see how long it takes for each step. Rinse and repeat.

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I think where I struggle is that these beef ribs are always perfect with an internal temp of 203.

The brisket though, I've brought it up to an internal temp of 205 and it's still not fall-of-the-bone tender. I guess maybe I need to bring the temp even higher next time.

R3ID05TJ said:

Use higher external temps. The longer you let a brisket sit the better. You could put in a cooler for 6 hours if you wanted to.

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So you think cooking it at 250 on my smoker is still not hot enough? I've always heard people telling me "low and slow" which is why I settled at 250 for the cook temp.

FWIW, this is the smoker I use:

https://www.recteq.com/products/rt-1250-wood-pellet-grill

R3ID05TJ said:

Do you have probes in the meat to watch how it gets up to temp? I've messed up before and let meat smoke too fast and measured the temps on the way back down not realizing it had already got to temp. 250 does seem kind of high. I don't know how Rec Teq works but I know theyre quality smokers.

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Yes, I have two probes that I put in the thickest parts of the meat. I use the probes as a general guidance so I know when the meat is cooked enough to take it off and wrap it with butcher's paper. Once it's getting close I use an instant read thermometer.

Maybe I'll try lowering the temp to 225 as oppose to 250. Those ribs are almost effortless to cook, this brisket is driving me nuts and I have a sneaky feeling it's because it's actually going to take a much higher internal temp than I'm used to.

R3ID05TJ said:

Internal temp for brisket is ~200. No matter how you smoke it. How many times have you tried this? Do you always get the same brisket from the same place? Could be the meat. I've found inconsistences with different meats and also with the charcoal if it's been left outside in the bag too long during monsoon season.

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well, that’s what I thought as well. However, it reached an internal temperature of 205° last night and still wasn’t fall off the bone. It tasted more like a well done top sirloin.

I always get the same cut from the same butcher. They’re a very reputable, high quality butcher for what it’s worth.

When I was cooking it last night I was using my fork every 20 minutes to stick into the brisket to see if it ever got tender. When that never happened and the internal temp hit 205 I figured I probably ought to just remove it.

JP_in_STL said:

I think the "rest" period is what you are missing and possibly your 250 temp is actually a bit higher?

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You may be right. I am letting it rest in the cooler wrapped in butchers paper for 45 minutes on average. That’s right after removing it from the smoker at about 203-205 internal temp. Maybe I should let it rest longer and knock the cooking temp down to 225.

Apparition said:

On my Mak it seems I’m smoking most things at 245 as the way the variable speed fan works it allows the most smoke at 245 or less and 245 gives me the most speed.

I’d rest it longer.

How’s the fat rendering out?

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Yeah, next time I’ll try a longer rest period. Fat seems fine to me. In fact when you cut into it it looks the way you’d expect minus the meat not being as tender and moist as you want.

Apparition said:

Try that and see what happens. As said above it can always be the meat.

This one was butcher paper wrapped, no spritz or tallow, at 170 and taken to I think 210 on one of the probes because one side was stubborn. Probed like butter. Rested for a couple hours in my party stacker cooler.

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Yep, that’s what I am going for there. It could be the meat. Next time I am at the butcher I’ll ask them if they have any thoughts on this.

I’m doing everything right. The only thing I can think of at this point is either the resting time or the meat itself.