I will try to save you some but no promises.

^^ I'd suggest ignoring temperature when it comes to when to pull brisket.  When it's tender and jiggles, it's done.  My recent experience is that it's also key to let it rest for at least an hour before slicing.  YMMV, good luck, and all that. 

15 minutes ago, n_maher said:

^^ I'd suggest ignoring temperature when it comes to when to pull brisket.  When it's tender and jiggles, it's done.  My recent experience is that it's also key to let it rest for at least an hour before slicing.  YMMV, good luck, and all that. 

I've been watching the Aaron Franklin Masterclass series and he says the same thing. Go by feel for doneness and rest is crucial. He only takes the temp in that latter part of the process, because he wants to let the meat come back down to 140ish before slicing. That way he knows everything has relaxed appropriately.

Mmmm, brisket, aaarrrggghhhh.

Just now, Hopstretch said:

I've been watching the Aaron Franklin Masterclass series and he says the same thing. Go by feel for doneness and rest is crucial. He only takes the temp in that latter part of the process, because he wants to let the meat come back down to 140ish before slicing. That way he knows everything has relaxed appropriately.

Mmmm, brisket, aaarrrggghhhh.

I can confirm that the approach also works with beef short ribs.  In related news, this is what I grilled tonight.

45 day dry aged top sirloin from my favorite butcher. I took 1/3 of the 2lb monster and tried a reverse sear which came out quite nicely.  The regularly seared portion was also quite tasty, but took an insanely long time to come up to even medium.  More tweaking of the process. Most important lesson learned, the Traeger probe is crap at low temps. I will rely only on the Fireboard from now on.

I have difficulties with the jiggling method and tend to undercook when relying solely on that. So I chose the hybrid approach of jiggle+temp@182 and it came out pretty awesome if I do say so myself. Let it rest for 1 hour and it paired perfectly with the Grenache. I now feel ready to apply for my HC grilling team membership.

33 minutes ago, Augsburger said:

I have difficulties with the jiggling method and tend to undercook when relying solely on that. So I chose the hybrid approach of jiggle+temp@182 and it came out pretty awesome if I do say so myself. Let it rest for 1 hour and it paired perfectly with the Grenache. I now feel ready to apply for my HC grilling team membership.

Bottom line, do what works for you! 

Me: I've never pulled one before 200F internal.  The short ribs I cooked Friday ended upon just a little long (stupid work phone call) and were at nearly 210F by the time I yanked them but they did get the benefit of a 2hr rest.  They were quite possibly the softest beef that I've smoked.  One more thing that I've found is that tenderness is (not surprisingly) heavily influenced by the quality of the meat. I had a brisket a couple weeks ago that only got so tender, there was nothing else to be done about it. It still tasted great, but was nowhere near as fall-apart soft as others I've done. Such is life.

We lucked out.  This brisket was part of a nine pound slab that Mary picked out and after the 16 hours of cooking and one hour resting is super tender slice it with a fork tender good. Some tri tips we have had never got to tender no matter how much prep and attention we gave them. But yes quality does matter.

Back at it today w/ [2] 5lb brisket flats and a small amount of point I trimmed off one (for burnt ends). 

It's cold here (36F) so it'll be interesting to see how much fuel the Traeger burns and how things come up to temp.  Started things off at 190F, will push up to 225F when the meat hits ~120F, naturally in Super Smoke mode the entire time.  Then it'll be the wait-and-see watch for the stall process which is where the Fireboard really earns its keep. 

My invite must have gotten lost in the mail.

Damn that DeJoy!

If you ever make your way out to NH, Steve, I'll make sure brisket is on the menu.

Rotisserie leg of lamb. Going to chop up and eat in pitas with tzatziki and Greek salad.

3 minutes ago, Hopstretch said:

Rotisserie leg of lamb. Going to chop up and eat in pitas with tzatziki and Greek salad.

Ho. Lee. Shit.  I'm hella jealous of your pending gyro.  Not that my dinner was lacking.

This is the one and only time I've felt trepidation showing my own meat.

19 minutes ago, swt61 said:

This is the one and only time I've felt trepidation showing my own meat.

We are given to understand the trepidation is usually on the other side of the interaction?

All of those delicious posts from Nate and Stretch have made me jealous so I took a 2.5 kilo brisket and did a quick 8.5 hour roast. We shall see if it is tender yet. At least the Booker wine is setting the stage for something epic.

11 minutes ago, Augsburger said:

... so I took a 2.5 kilo brisket ...

I'm sorry, what is that in Freedom Units please?

I'm sorry, what is that in Freedom Units please?

It represents One Whole Freedom.

Did a bone-in turkey breast on the Traeger today because life required more turkey.

I cooked it just a little long (was not at home when the temp probe fired) and it was still moist and juicy on the inside.

Low and slow smoking is very forgiving

3 hours ago, Aimless1 said:

Low and slow smoking is very forgiving

Agreed, but this was at 350F and it was at 172 internal before I got it off the grill.  Not horribly high, but the hope was to pull it at no more than 165 since it would continue to rise a bit.  

It's that time again...

Separated the point from the flat so that I could do burnt ends tomorrow night from the point. Flat will be split across both nights since untrimmed this was a 14lb monster (not converting to kilos). I'd bet that I trimmed a good 4-5lbs of fat off of it.

Have had a 10 lb rib roast in the smoker at 150 for 5-1/2 hours so far. Will pull at 125-ish, rest a 1/2 hour then nuke in the big gas grill for a few minutes at 750+ to get a nice crust.

yum

It's that time again...
http://content.head-case.org/monthly_2020_12/1B493196-5893-490D-A75A-C5405F8C151A_1_105_c.thumb.jpeg.55820dd64ec3850712eff1674acb1acd.jpeg
Separated the point from the flat so that I could do burnt ends tomorrow night from the point. Flat will be split across both nights since untrimmed this was a 14lb monster (not converting to kilos). I'd bet that I trimmed a good 4-5lbs of fat off of it.

Nate, what do you use in the tray? I haven’t had much luck with pellets staying lit in mine (nuking them in the microwave helps, but not much overall smoke volume) and wanted to see what you happened to be using.

@luvdunhill - I've just been using standard pellets (whatever I have on hand) in the tray with some chips on top. I usually hit it with the torch at the start to the point where it's burning  comfortably on it's own and difficult to blow out. That seems to create enough of a smoldering fire that it will burn through the pellets and chips at a nice steady rate.  I really only care that it burns/smokes well for the first few hours.