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Brisket Temp Spike
Having brisket spikes in temperature can be a Worrying part of any barbecue.
That’s because cooking a brisket is no cheap or easy task to begin with, and it can present quite a bit of frustration if things don’t go your way.
There are perhaps a variety of reasons as to why you can experience a temperature Spike very rapidly.
The most notable of which, it’s not paying attention to the fire that you were smoking a brisket with. Occasionally, a lot of the meat drippings from brisket will seep down into the Firebox and actually start to cause flare-ups which can significantly cause temperature spikes that can really mess up your brisket cook.
This happens to me quite a bit on my offset smoker, and it’s something that you should always consider. That’s also why I like to place the brisket away from the Firebox to help protect against this really weird phenomenon.
Brisket internal temp is that 220 degrees Fahrenheit
If you have a brisket internal temperature reading of 225 degrees Fahrenheit, just know that you may have a severely over cooked brisket.
To ensure that the brisket is actually done though and that you don’t have an inaccurate thermometer, grab a toothpick and test for doneness which basically means testing for resistance as it slides in and out of the meat.
If there is no resistance then the brisket is most likely done and probably way over cooked.
If there is resistance, that may actually be good news because your temperature thermometer may just be very inaccurate.
If it is inaccurate, at a later point in time, grab a boiling flask of hot water and measure the variance between the boiling water temperature and what the temperature thermometer is reading at.
That is how you can determine if your thermometer is inaccurate and by what degree it is inaccurate by.
Brisket cooking faster than expected
If your brisket is cooking faster than expected, then there are a variety of ways to slow it down. The most notable way to slow a brisket down is to basically start manipulating your smoker vents to not let as much oxygen in to hit the fire.
This should start to slowly but surely decrease the ambient temperature and can help slow down your overall brisket cook.
This is something that I do quite often and is very effective in slowing down how quickly your brisket can be cooking. If your brisket is still cooking faster than expected, then consider opening the smoker grade to let a lot of the ambient heat escape.
Why is my brisket temperature so high
Your brisket temperature can be high because of two factors. The first one is that you were frankly just cooking it at too hot of a temperature. I’m a huge proponent of smoking briskets hot and fast at around 300 degrees Fahrenheit and ambient temperature, but if you don’t monitor the ambient temperature and let it soar past even that amount with no control at all, then you can certainly cook your brisket a lot quicker than you would normally want to.
Another reason why your brisket temperature can be very high is because you are wrapping it and the internal temperature is increasing at a rate quicker than expected. If that is the case, then just take the wrapping off and let it smoke with no rapping at all. This should also have the effect of creating an amazing bark for your barbecue.
What temperature should a get reach
The temperature that a particular brisket should reach is anywhere from 200 degrees Fahrenheit to about 205 degrees Fahrenheit. That is when all of the connective tissues within the meat have had a chance to substantially render down which then makes the meat very juicy and moist.
How fast should a brisket temp rise?
Depending on how hot and fast or low and slow you are cooking a brisket, the average brisket should have a cooking rate of about one hour per pound or 2 hours per pound.
If you are smoking at around 300 degrees Fahrenheit, that is known as a Hot & fast cook and should cook your brisket at a rate of 2 pounds per hour.
For low & slow cooks at around 225 degrees Fahrenheit, you can count on your brisket temperature rising at a rate of one pound per hour. Take this as Guidelines to follow.
Is 300 degrees too hot for brisket?
300 degrees is definitely not too hot to be smoking a brisket at. In fact, I regularly smoke all of my brisket at at least 300 degrees Fahrenheit because of the quick cook times.
It Cuts your cooking time in half, which can save you a lot of time compared to cooking a brisket low and slow at around 225 degrees Fahrenheit.
Just know though, that this can have the propensity to have your internal temperatures rise very quickly for your brisket. So if you don’t pay attention, you can really run the risk of severely over cooking your meat.
What temp is too high for brisket?
Generally speaking, you will want to smoke a brisket at very high temperatures due to how fast they can cook and how much time you can save. Despite that though, you don’t want to cook it too hot.
Cooking it too hot has the propensity of over cooking a brisket which would not be a very pleasant experience.
The temperature range that I would try to stay below is below 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Anything above that temperature, and you can run the risk of having an uncontrollable fire in the Firebox.
Final thoughts
Having wide temperature spikes while cooking your brisket is very worrying indeed. Just know that as you start to increase the ambient temperature, the propensity for a large temperature Spike can begin to increase because the fire is so raging hot.
Not only that, but if you happen to be unwrapping your brisket, you have to really pay attention to how much grease is dripping back on to the fire.
Having a grease fire is very dangerous, but once you can sort of plan ahead and start to pay attention to these little details, you can safely smoke your brisket at very hot temperatures without having to worry about any temperature spikes.
Robert is a certified Pitmaster, with over a decade of experience in smoking the best meats you’ll ever feast upon. He also has a Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Texas at San Antonio. When he’s not researching technical topics, he’s most likely barbecuing in his backyard.