I seem to be missing something here. I like my Beef Brisket in the rare to medium rare range. I have 20 pounds of them in the smoker now. Medium rare would be about 140 Degees internal. I usually put them on, and once they get close to 140, I turn the temp down to 140, and let them sit. I am seeing posts that say 180 to 200 degrees internal. Wouldn't this be in the well done range? I have done them at 180, so they got a good smoke, before they got to 140, I turned them down to 140, and let them cook for 18 hours or so.

I am just wondering if the internal temp makes a difference?

When I've pulled mine off before the temps got up to at least the 180 mark. The meat ended up more like shoe leather

I do like my steaks and roasts on the medium to medium rare side. But brisket just doesn't seem to ready at that low a temp.

I agree with Randy, it seems like that is a high temp but for this meat it is actually 10 times more tender with a higher temp rather than a lower.

Yep, I agree with the other gents here.

I'm no expert,but I always figured low and slow cooking is about breaking down collagen and rendering fat.

Not sure how an onery piece o' cow would accomplish that, at 140º internal.

Now old time, volume brisket cooks used to cook packers at 180º for 24 hrs.

How thin do you slice that 140º brisket?

I let the brisket set at 140 degrees internal temp for 12 hours. I took them out at 7:00 AM, and they were perfect. They had a good crust on the outside, and were tender, moist, and medium rare. Since these were for a lunch that my wife is doing, I wrapped them in foil, and added just a little apple cider, and put them back in the smoker. I took them out about 15 minutes ago, and the foil was dripping juice. They are on the way to the lunch. I told my Wife to take pictures of them both before and after they are sliced. I usually slice them a little less then 1/2" thick. The lunch is for one of my Wife's customers that is a Rancher and rodeo cowboy. I would immagine that he knows BBQ, so I should have a better Idea of how they turned out when I hear back.

Well now,I'm alway appreciative of any technique that produces good results.

Thanks for sharing the process.