Tender Brisket

If you cook the brisket to 190* and start checking it with a temp probe with sliding in easily meaning the brisket's done, I believe you'll achieve better moisture and tenderness. If you feel some resistance, cook some more and retest. In my mind, falling apart is overdone and would probably wind up on the dry side. That said, keep the Mrs. happy.

quote:

Originally posted by Ken B.:
...I know there's a lot posts on this but it's hard to keep straight. Could someone offfer me some pointers for Mother's day?

What's hard to keep straight about 800+ post and 7000+ replies about Brisket

It's tough, but there is a lot of info there.

The best is to just cook a lot and ask a lot.

Key first is larger briskets to better. Flats (trimmed) don't

Next know what grade you're cooking. Select has less internal fat

Lots of tips, I'll let some of the forum pop in and help and I'll add some more info later.

quote:

Originally posted by Ken B.
I read about going to 205F but worry about drying it out. Should I wrap it in foil at 160F and take it up to 205-210F? Should I also marinade or inject the brisket? I'm using a cookshack 20. I know there's a lot posts on this but it's hard to keep straight. Could someone offfer me some pointers for Mother's day?

Lots of good questions there, but no easy answers or than it depends.

Dryness will depend more on the quality of your brisket, so maybe inject, maybe not.

Tenderness will depend on quality of brisket or if you foil, along with finial finishing temps.

Finish temp will depend on quality of brisket and if you want slices or pulled.

I think you may start seeing a pattern about quality of brisket?...Yes?

I've found that I can take a select flat, cook without injection or foil to very tender(210-15*), take some broth and bring to boil on the stove in a small pan. Take this broth and pour over the brisket and in the bottom of the foil that I'm gonna rest the brisket for a few hours and then use the liquids to add with the pulled brisket after the rest.

Not the best way, but I can have a little bark by doing this and still have decent pulled brisket for pulled brisket sandwiches.

Most under cooked briskets will be dryer, than ones cooked just a little over done, but that also will depend on quality of the brisket.

Yeah, I'd cook to a higher finished temp and use Pag's advice on the feel of very little resistance.

All good points mentioned above.

I would suggest Choice full packers to begin with. 11 - 12 lbs is a good range.

Falling apart: Once you get to an internal of 192, probe top to bottom, flat and point with a wooden skewer. "Falling apart" means the skewer will slide right through...no resistance. When it does, temp the flat and point seperately and note those temps...write 'em down. This will give you a ballpark of what your temps need to be but keep in mind, temps are always a guideline...your skewer is the final jundge.

The point will tend to reach "slide thru" before the flat will. Let the flat be the final judge as when to pull the meat off the smoker.

After a couple of briskets, you'll achieve the fall apart goal. Next question, is the meat dry at that stage? Chance are the point will be juicy, the flat may or may not be.

Solutions: try injecting the flat (point too if you wish) A Phosphate based injection (Butchers BBQ, Kosmos, etc) will assist in moisture retention during and after the smoking process.

If those two suggestions do the trick for you, mission accomplished. If the meat still isn't moist enough for you, try foiling a brisket around 160. Some say it helps, others say it doesn't. One caution if you foil, it tends to speed up the finish time once the meat comes out of plateau...easy to overcook...but in your case it may be a good thing