Brisket newbie need help

[mikefinleyco]

Problem 1
Fatty side up or fatty side down?

Problem 2
Signature blend seems bland smoky taste, better pellet to use?

Problem 3
Set Traeger to 225 on super smoke
Placed brisket fatty side up on grate
Smoked to 160 using traeger probe (about 4-5 hours)
Wrapped in aluminum foil, added some beef broth
Set traeger probe alarm to 205
Brisket seemed to stall at 190 degrees never getting any hotter (4-5 hours)
Turned heat up to 350 after 4 hours, temp got up to 195 no higher, finally removed and let rest in foil for 1 hour
Brisket wasn't award winning, flavors were not mind blowing, wasn't super tender

Any tips, thoughts?

 

[Slimpicker]

You went by your Traeger probe!!!! That's your biggest problem out of that whole list.
$10 and my left nut says you were at 200 when you were at 190... AND, a brisket CAN actually be DONE at 190, you needed to do a "probe test" for tenderness...
A brisket is either DONE at 203° or it gets done when a probe goes in without any resistance, like butter.
That probably happened for you 4 hours ago!!! That was when you should have "probe tested" it. (when you stalled at 190)
You "beef jerkyed" your brisket at 350° and you trusted a piece of probe on your grill that is NEVER meant to be used.

You didn't know, that's why we are here...

So, I'm sorry this happened to you but, just one more example of why the Traeger Probe is not to be used...

I Spent All This Money on My Traeger and the Meat Probe is NOT Reliable?? Unfortunately, That's Correct!!

Stick around Mike, surf the site, way too much to learn indeed.

 

[JamesB]

When you say brisket, what kinda brisket was it. Pretty hard to imagine a brisket getting to 160 in 4 hours at 225 pit temp.
Even a 3 pound 2” thick chuck roast will take 6 hours or longer at that temp.
So something definitely was amiss.

As Slim said, the Traeger probe is worthless.

“Pellets to use”. Bear mountain or Pit Boss…Half the price of Traeger pellets, and contain wood instead of flavored oils…

 

[Timmy]

Problem 1. Fat side up, fat side down. Views here differ. I do fat side up or down.

Problem 2, Don’t use Traeger pellets.

Problem 3, Don’t trust the Traeger meat prob. And confirm actual pit temp with a good 3rd party thermometer.

 

[traeger860]

Super Smoke at 180-200 works a lot better than Super Smoke at 225 as well. If you have it set to 225 and it hits 226, no more Super Smoke. If you have it set to 200 and it hits 224, you still get Super Smoke.

 

[midwest]

I have only done 4 briskets so I am far from a pro. I follow Malcom Reeds recipe and put them on at 195 degrees to start. It usually takes them 8 hours or so to get to 160. Assuming you are talking about a full packer and not just a flat I don't think you would get to 160 that quick at 225. I myself do fat side down, to let the fat layer help protect the meat from the direction the heat is coming from. I am one of the fortunate few as my Traeger probes are pretty close, at least close enough I trust them and then finish off with my MK4. You need to either buy, or at least borrow some good probes and test your Traeger probes against them to get a baseline of where yours are at. My grate probe is 5-10 degrees off and my meat probe is within 3-5 degrees. There are people on here who are 20 degrees or more off.