Brisket done too soon...

[ArsenalFan]

I got a 10# packer brisket today and did a bit of trimming...didn't cut off a whole lot, so I estimate final weight was about 8.5 lbs.  Put it in a cold smoker at 1am, set it for 230°...and much to my surprise, my Maverick started ringing at 430am...I let it go for a bit because there's no way it hit 190 in that short of time...at 530, it started beeping that it hit 200. I moved the probe around several times and every location was over 200. The timer on the auber said it was only 4.4 hours into the smoke, which seems like a REALLY fast smoke for a full brisket. Any ideas on why it only took such a short time. It's still resting so I don't know how it turned out yet.

 

[old sarge]

Ben - What did the the 3D meat probe register for an IT?  Or am I missing something?

 

[DivotMaker]

I'm with Dave, Ben...what did the 3D meat probe say?  Surely you were using the meat probe, with it programmed to internal temp, right?  You haven't posted the results yet, but I can guarantee that brisket was not done, right?  Sounds like time to replace a Maverick probe, to me.

 

[ArsenalFan]

No, I didn't use the 3D meat probe - I used my Maverick.  I think the problem was that when I slid the brisket in, the smoke box temp probe got inserted into the brisket (which was cold from the fridge) - and that was the temperature that the auber understood as the smoke box temperature...so I think it just sat there and cranked up the heat to high since the "temp of the smoke box" was actually the temp of the meat.  At max temp from the heating element, it's no wonder it cooked so fast.

The results were good - juicy and done.

I'm really disappointed that the smoke box temperature probe extends right at the level of the next-to-top position and that it extends so far into the smoke box.  It's far too easy to accidentally push a piece of meat onto the temp probe so that the auber isn't reading the proper smoke box temp.

 

[Sodaking27]

I'm with DivotMaker. Sounds like a bad probe for sure.

 

[ccase39]

I have had some 13lbers come off at the 10 hour mark lately. i thought that was quick at 225. i most always pull it out at 203. In the past I had some on at around 16 hours pretty regularly. I was going to make a post asking whats up but since you asked.

 

[DivotMaker]

Ben, if you have one of the early 3Ds, the probe was located too low.  Moving it is not hard.  Go to the Auber Instructions section on how to mount a permanent probe.  If you move it up, and also add the 1" nylon spacer behind the back wall, you won't run into that problem again.  Until then, you have to be conscious of where that probe is!