Last weekend I smoked my first brisket after smoking a number of other meats. First the good. The flavor was awesome. I used mustard as a binder and then a salt, pepper, garlic seasoning and another with some chili pepper and other seasonings. I also used lumberjack pellets for the first time and all that together led to some awesome flavor. Very happy with the new pellets.

That said, my flat was more tough and dry than I wanted. My point was ok, but still less juicy than I would have liked. I had two temp probes, one in the flat and one in the point. I pulled when the flat was at 203 and the point at 199. I had wrapped in paper around 170. I smoked it overnight at 200 until I woke up, 225 until I wrapped, and then 250 until done. I let it rest on the counter for 45 minutes before putting it into a cooler. I rested it for several hours before cutting it up for dinner. I tried to follow the Meat Church video on YouTube for smoking a brisket in a pellet smoker.

I’ve read a number of things online and I’m honestly a little confused. I’m not sure if I over cooked it (because of the lack of juices) or under cooked it (and didn’t let the fat break down properly). Some folks say to pull off at 195 and others say they go as high as 210 degrees. Anyone with some wisdom to share on this? I was quite encouraged and made a lot of folks happy, even with it being dry. But I’d like to figure out how to do better next time.