fridge resting brisket

I'm certainly no expert at cooking flats . Typically, a caterer, that has no knife help may cook them
.Small pieces are usually reserved for making a pot roast with vegetables.

They can pull it from the hot box and slice as needed-quickly.

I don't know what context the "recipe book" made their statement,as very few of us use the ?"recipe book". We suggest strongly that the forum is your actual recipe book for current techniques.

I can understand the letting any meat rest from 30 mins to several hrs to cool down and not spoil the milk,etc in the refrigerator.

Most experienced cooks will suggest letting any piece of meat rest around a half hour before slicing to let the juices settle/redistribute so they won't all run out onto the cutting board.

Many cooks find that letting it set foiled in a warm cooler,or beach towel for 2-3 hrs after removing from the cooker will allow it to continue to cook slowly and tenderize it even more.

You don't mention the size, quality,and temp you cooked the flat at ,so it is hard to guess at an answer to your questions.

Reference serving the next day,depends on how many slices.Although it is more difficult to slice a hard chilled brisket,3 or 4 slices microwave well on a low setting.

A whole ,or piece,of a flat can benefit by double foiling it tightly with 2-3 oz of low salt beef stock at around 250º until it reaches an interior temp of about 145º.

Hope this helps a little and welcome to the forum.

quote:

Originally posted by Oregon Dave:
I don't need to be a purist...I just want tender meat to serve for smaller gatherings.

If you want tender brisket, just cook it until it's tender.

The leftover comp brisket that I have is put in vacuum bags, around a pound per package, I then tell people to thaw them out and heat in a cover dish in the microwave at 70 power in 1 minute increments until warm. Most of the folks tell me that it's tender and some of the best brisket they have ate.

Like Tom was pointing out, I use whole packers, I'm not needing to feed a bunch of folks and we all like burnt ends around this part of the country.

Welcome to the forum.....

Thanks all. "cookbook" is one Cookshack sells, but it leaves a lot of ambiguity...perhaps because you need to know how to drive without the painted lines on the road! I'm using full choice flats (about 7-8# as I recall). I've been injecting the night before, and applying rub just before smoking at 200 on the rack til temp is about 140. At this point, I rub the top (fat side down) with squeeze margarine and tight double foil it with a little extra injection liquid. This I let go til around 195-200 and ensure it is tender to the poke (thermometer placement).
I've found it seems very tender often at around 165 (during "the stall"), but every resource I ever read says to let it go up to 195-205 to be the most tender. Did Tom really mean 145?

I'll certainly try letting it rest in a cooler for a couple of hours before slicing...my wife will freak out over spoilage, but I'll check the temp once or twice to ensure it stays above 140. Using the smoker for 140 degree holding hasn't been very convenient because of the residual heat inside...even when leaving the door open for a prolonged period of time.

Finally...I've got to do a packer and try those burnt ends!! Appreciate the input!
Dave

quote:

I've found it seems very tender often at around 165

Is this based on actual eating experience or conjecture?

I'm guessing the 145 o Tom referred to was in terms of reheating

Like Max says,you can cook a flat to 165º,let it rest and set a Hobart commercial slicer to 1/16 inch and slice across the grain and let it soak in the au jus from the foil.

Slice a bagette and put a slice of brisket and a little fresh horseradish on it and it is hard to beat.

Also ,as Max says,the government thinks you should reheat to 160º for safety,but most brisket cooks feel that properly handled brisket will be safe at 145º without the drying that 160º can give you.

Like I said,I'm no flat expert,but just my $0.02
worth.

Conjecture and a probe...never consumed at this temp...just felt the probe slid in easily.
Thanks for all of the input and experience!

A sharp probe tip such as a Thermapen can be deceiving. I like to use a wooden skewer (oversized toothpick) for testing tenderness.

Most experienced cooks will check for tender in 2-3 places.The probe should go all the way thru from top to bottom like thru warm butter.

Back in the day before folks thought of using therms to check for tender, when they cooked those hundred packers for the rodeo,I've heard them old cooks like Smokin' would stick a two tine meat fork thru the packer and if you couldn't pick it up without sliding off it was ready to go in the hot boxes.


Although flats don't often have fat pockets,which can deceive,they can have seams or cuts.

The oft times not quite legal immigrants that may live in the company town aren't always qualified surgeons and at the speed they work,they may not follow the company "manufacturers"standard cuts.