Keeping briskets & butts moist after smoking?

Studly, those are interesting questions. One thing to bear in mind, if you wrap that cooked beast in foil, it will stay moist...by definition.

Mops and spritzes, like apple juice, add a little moisture to the outside of the carcass, and maybe some pleasant flavors. When they say finishing sauce, I generally think of a glaze. Something maybe with tomatoe sauce and honey that will caramalize, and add an extra element to your bark.

I think I recall Tom adding bbq sauce, or a vinegar sauce, to pulled pork, and then wrapping and storing.

Let's see what the others say.

Yep,I add a vinegar/apple juice mix [much like Smokin' Okie's]as I pull the pork for home consumption.

As long as the butts/briskets are in plastic and foil they will stay moist,like i2 said.

A lot of folks add just apple juice and it is neutral.

On briskets,I add 1/2 cup or so of beef broth,black coffee,apple juice,etc. to the plastic before I seal them up.

The vinegar cuts any minor greasy mouth feel and kinda accents the pork.

You can tell when the meat is taking up the liquid and not drowning.

I then add in a little of the rub to adjust the seasoning.

If the pork is being held in a pan and starting to dry,drbbq has taught us to use 50/50 apple juice and bbq sauce.

The brisket dries almost instantly,as you cut it.

Naturally ,the more times you have to do this,the further from the original product you become.

Hope this helps a little.

A mop is used to baste the meat while it is cooking. For pork I use a vinegar and brown sugar mixture that I also add some of my rub to for spice. As far as keeping the meat moist after you have smoked it, the folks above are correct. It will stay moist all on its own if stored properly. I make my own BBQ sauce, which has a lot of vinegar in it, and I always add this to my pork after I pull it. I only add enough to just coat the meat, I don't want it swimming in it. This also helps keep the meat moist.

I have heard that some people inject liquid into meats before and after cooking to preserve moisture and enhance flavor. Is this worth the time?

You see precooking injections a lot from MIM cooks,since they must show the meat on the grill to the judge.

They don't have the chance to sauce or season, before the judge samples it.

Poultry takes on flavors easily from injections.

Precooked hams can also be helped with flavor injections.

Brisket is tricky to cook in competition and dries quickly after slicing,so you see a number of comp cooks injecting before cooking.

Comp cooks have improved so much over the last few years that only a percentage point may seperate them.

In this case doubling the effort may be worth the minor difference.

Hope this helps a little.

Hey, Mark, that injection business is a bit of a surprise. I'm not sure I prefer it as a method, but it sure is worth a try. Try a chicken. Try a pork butt. See what you think. It works, but it seems like cheating or something...

Here is the injection used by John Radcliff,pitmaster for Smokey Bones cook team,as an an example.

Smokey Bones Shoulder Injection

I would agree that it seems like cheating but I guess the end result is does it taste good. Personally, moist and juicy is of critical importance to my taste buds. If it's dry it just doesn't seem to "taste" as flavorful. Brisket in particular seems to be the worst about drying out. I will try the injecting to see what happens.
Thanks Tom for the Pork injection recipe!

By the way when do y'all pull your brisket for slicing. I think I am overcooking a little. I pull it at 194 in the thickest part of the meat. Tender but I lose a good part of the end (flat) because it is too dry. Thanks

I assume you are placing your probe in the thick,wide part of the flat.

I assume you are cooking around 225� in your CS.

Temp is just a guide,especially on briskets.
When you get to the mid 180�s,you may want to run your probe through the flat a couple places.

If the probe goes through top to bottom real easy,it is probably ready.

If it won't pick up with a meat fork, ,it may be done.

If you are cooking choice or better,it may not take as high a temp.

Cookshacks do brisket pretty well, without foil.

But ,you might try one ,using the awful "crutch".

drbbq taught me that experience will cause you to adjust for each brisket,but cook at 225 �to 165�-175� internal,foil tightly,add 1/4 cup of beef stock,and cook to 195�- 200� internal.

Let rest a minimum of 1 hr[3 is better]in a dry cooler.

Some briskets may or may not need foil or liquid,but this is a starting point.

Hope this helps a little.

Thanks Tom,

I have been placing my probe in the flat where it meets the deckle (perpendicular to the meat) trying to avoid the fat in between the two.

Cooking at around 200-210 in my homemade smoker which is not near "air-tight" and is probably not holding steam in very well. Cookshack has informed me that my catalog is on the way though so maybe my brisket woes will be lessened if I can pull the trigger and buy a CS.

I am using CAB Whole Briskets, not trimming any fat, and marinating with a rub/vinegar/oil combo. Your suggestion about not needing to cook better cuts as long sounds good and I think that I'll try foiling the way you suggested next time.

Thanks,
Mark

Yep,those CAB s ,especially, can cook up quick.

I go for the probe in the heart of the flat,since that is what you are really concerned with.

I often cook down around 200� for overnight and boost temps in the morning.

The Cookshack stays especially moist,as it was designed for briskets.

If not in a cookshack,and cooking at that temp,I'd say maybe you are overcooking and even mops don't help the flat that much.

You are flowing a lot more air over the meat than a CS and that tends to dry.

All that said,it sounds like you are pretty close to where you want to be and have a pretty good handle on it.

For the Briskets, I use Minor's Beef Base- its essentially a beef bullion in a paste form. I dilute it down in some warm water and add to the meat. I also add I tablespoon of Q sauce and then I vacpac them in my food saver in 6 OZ portions. If you put too much fluid in them, you'll need to freeze them overnight in the bag before vacuuming and sealing, so that you don't suck out all the juice into the machine.

Works great- enough for 2 samiches during the week after a hard day at the office...

For the butts- I generally add my a tblsp of my vinegar sauce and one of Q sauce, but I bet the Minor's would be o.k. on that too....don't know if they make a Pork base.

Zacher