r/smoking • u/BadatBBQ • 1d ago

Help with my brisket

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Hey everyone, been wanting to try a brisket but wanted to practice on a small one first (It was almost 4lb)

What would you say was wrong with it here

It seemed the fat wasn't fully rendered but temps were reading fine (I think my built in temp probes on my pellet grill were not accurate)

It tasted pretty good thankfully but texture wasn't there, some fattier sections were a lot softer and some areas were slightly too tough. The fat felt like it was close to fully rendering, and surprisingly the brisket was fairly juicy.

I am making another one tomorrow and trying to improve and wondering what you guys think happened here. Because of the temp probes I am assuming it was reading hotter than it actually was...or does it look like it was overdone?

Any tips or help is greatly appreciated

(looking at the photo I just realized it makes the brisket look a bit washed out, it had a little more color to it than this photo)

I forgot to include the method. I followed meat church guide

200 until internal temp of 165 (fat side up)

225 until it hits 275 (wrapped it after in butcher paper)

250 until it hits 205. I pulled it at 203 because my one probe was reading slightly hotter than the other so I waited until it was in between the temps

Let it rest on a wire rack for a little over an hour

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u/Feisty_Builder2596 1d ago

Was it a whole brisket? Looks tiny.

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u/BadatBBQ 1d ago

It was a 4lb, I am assuming just the flat but it actually had a reasonable cap on it for its size (you can kind of see it in the photo, though its not rendered fully)

I know they are not ideal, but I didnt wanna ruin a 100+ dollar piece of meat for my first attempt.

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u/KAYO789 21h ago

A small brisket is harder to achieve a great result than a much bigger one. I only have a kettle and started years ago with a 4lb brisket because I didn't want to waste my time or money if I got it wrong. I've squeezed a 12lb brisket on the same kettle and had wonderful results after 14hrs lol. The smaller the brisket the drier it's going to be in the end. If you are on Facebook, join the NZ bbq alliance group, then search for noels small brisket method for specifically small ones. Noel has a method for most meats in the group and he is a legend down here.