Brisket moistness


 
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Gary Hafer

TVWBB Member
I live in the Northeast where brisket is not commonly available in supermarkets, even gourmet ones. But I did find two in crivoc--8 pounds-- at the local Wegmans and made one with a DigiQ II cooker. I used Jim Minion's recipe as found in Jamie Purviance's Weber Charcoal Grilling cookbook.

Well, even though the temp was 230 degrees throughout, the brisket was finished in only 8 hours--190 degrees. I wrapped the brisket in foil and placed in a thermal cooler. After a few hours I tried it; good bark, but it sliced tougher than I expected and wasn't as moist as I expected either.

Did I pull the brisket too early? Should I have injected it? I liked the seasoning but, again, I think it could have been moister.
 
Gary, BBQ is not like baking where it's all time and temp. BBQ is done when it's done. What do I mean by that. Well,brisket is done when it's tender to the touch(sometimes it shakes like jello) or when inserting a fork or knife in the thick portion of the flat and it goes in like soft butter. Temps are(in my opinion)for guides only. Learn to feel the meat when it's done and you'll produce some great bbq. Same thing for pork butt and ribs. Each piece of meat and each individual cook is a little different. They'll cook approximately the same but not exactly.Some take longer times, some take less. As someone else has said on this forum BBQ is not a science it's an art. Hang in there. you'll learn. For me, I like the hot and fast cook for brisket. It always comes out moist and tender.
 
Thanks, Paul. Your approach makes sense. I'm pretty isolated here in the Northeast from BBQ colleagues, so all my feedback is online.

I have a spare brisket in the freezer; I'll try following more of the butter knife test next time.

Thanks again.

Gary
 
Gary, after rereading your post I had the thought,I know this may sound dumb,did you slice the brisket across or with the grain?
 
Yes I did Paul, and, no, that isn't a dumb question.

In the WEBER CHARCOAL book, Jim Minion reportedly cuts the brisket in two: slicing the bottom half across the grain and chopping the top half. But at 8 pounds, this brisket is too thin for that.

I have a buddy who ordered a brisket from his butcher: he was shocked when it arrived: all 14 pounds of it. I'm obviously not a meat cutter, but that's an incredibly discrepancy!

Gary
 
Gary, I'm assuming what you are talking about is separating the point from the flat. The point slices up way different that the flat. I don't separate point form flat on my high heat cooks. I trim the areas where there is a lot of fat and take out the korn(?)between the point and flat. Rub her down with mustard or worcestshire sauce, coat with plenty of rub and throw it on. When the temp hits around 175,foil and put back on. Check after about and hour to an hour and a half. If not done every half hour after. When done siphon off most of the juices in the foil and save. To tighten the bark put brisket back on for about 45 minutes. Then refoil and put in cooler for minimum of two hours. Oh, I cook bewteen 320-350 lid. You can do higher but this works ok for me.
 
Thanks, Paul. Do you have any trouble with the mustard burning at the higher temps or does the foil shield the brisket? I'll try what you recommend next time. Thanks for taking the time to respond.

Gary
 
No mustard taste to speak of. Used the worchestshire sauce and A-1 steak sauce last time. Bark came out pretty decent. One thing I forgot to mention is that I score the meat on top prior to putting on the mustard and rub. Gary, have fun experimenting with all kinds of different binders and rubs. Heck, I use ground coffee in one of my rubs. I thought one guy was gonna die when I told him he's been eating coffee grounds
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Hi Gary,

I just smoked my 2nd brisket this weekend and it came out very good. It was an amazing improvement over the 1st. My wife bought the first brisket (flat only with almost all of the fat trimmed off) and it came out incredibly tough and dry. I bought this one from a butcher. It was right out of the cryovac and I actually had the butcher cut it down from 13 to 8 pounds simply because I had no use for a 13 pounder. I brought it home, trimmed the fat to about 1/4", which means I probably removed another 1.5 lbs, applied the rub and put it in the fridge for the night. Next morning I got up at 4:30, fired up the smoker, put the brisket on at 5:15 and went back to sleep. I waited until it hit 180 (about 11.5 hours) and put the thermometer "away". From there I simply checked it every 20 minutes or so using the tip of the thermometer until it went in as i I was putting a knife through room temp butter. I pulled it, wrapped it in foil and waited about 45 minutes before cutting it across the grain. Other than the 13.5 hour wait it was simple. The first, 2nd and every subsequent bite was worth it.
 
If you doubt that the thermo goes in without resistance, look at how the meat jiggles - sounds dumb but it helps me - and I need all the help I can get
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Gary, Where are you at in C PA? Wegman's for me is either Downingtown or the new one right outside Harrisburg. Either one is not so local for me.
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Have you looked at a Super Wal-Mart for them? Karn's on 22 might have them if your in the Harrisburg area.
 
I've done brisket three or four times now. All have been similar experiences to yours except for the last time, where it was one of the best things I've ever eaten.

I let my last one go to an internal of 205 and it was absolutely perfect, moist and very tender. I know everyone says it's done when it's done, but I've always pulled it off when I thought it was done and it's been tough. Maybe this can give you a better target to work at.
 
I also live in the Northeast (Long Island) and understand what you mean about not finding the "right" brisket or piece of meat. Last week, I did a 9.5lb flat. It bbq'd for ten and a half hours. I pulled it at an internal temp of 182. I wrapped it in foil and blankets and then placed it in a cooler for an hour and forty five minutes. It came out awesome. Great bark, very moist and tender. There is hope for good bbq up here.
 
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