4th Brisket Question


 
Bruno

Bruno

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Doing my 4th brisket, a 13# prime brisket from Costco. My last came out pretty good, I wrapped in butcher paper at 165 and pulled around 201-202.

I really want this one to come out as moist as possible, should I wrap with foil and sacrifice a little bark? Am I sacrificing flavor?

Any thoughts would be great. I'm probably going with just pecan as my smoke wood, I have oak, mesquite and apple as well. I have mixed them in the past but, I'd like to learn more about the flavor of a single wood.

Any pointers appreciated, starting Saturday morning and hoping to have for dinner Sat. night. My previous smokes have been over night but I lose focus the later it gets.
 
Foil is going to make it as moist as possible. I'm a butcher paper guy myself and sometimes I don't wrap, but I'll admit if moisture is your main concern, foil is the way to go. Also key is when you take it off, vent it til it hits 170 internal and then rewrap in the juices if possible and rest it for a few hours. This makes all the difference. Also, the optimal thing is to wrap when the bark sets (when it's not easily removed by scraping with your thumbnail) not so much by temp. 165 works pretty darn well, but I've had a brisket stall at 160 for 4 hours and you definitely don't want to wait for 165 then.

I agree with using one wood at a time until you know what each one does. I love pecan on brisket.
 
same day brisket might be a bit crammed for time, but if you get up early enough, like have it on the smoker by 5-5:30 you should be able to eat before 7pm.
You don't sacrifice flavor by wrapping, just texture. Your bark will be softer.
I feel that pecan will be too mild of a wood for brisket. Save that for milder meat like chicken or pok. Same for the apple. I'd smoke it in oak or mesquite.
Pull your meat based on "tender" rather than temperature. 201-202 might be over cooked. Start checking for tender around 190-195 ish.


Looking at the Dustin's post above shows how just how personal smoking is. He is right though, try one wood at a time to find what YOU like.
 
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Dustin Dorsey said:
Also key is when you take it off, vent it til it hits 170 internal and then rewrap in the juices if possible and rest it for a few hours..
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when you say "vent" do you mean unwrap?? i'm guessing this would be to halt any carry over cooking, and then give the meat an opportunity to reabsorb some of the juices when re-wrapping. i would also guess the drop to 170 would be relatively quick
 
After more reading and web browsing, even though I love the smell of pecan and have made some great chicken, I am currently leaning towards mesquite.

Still torn on the paper v foil wrap. I may wait to see how the bark looks at 160.

As far as cramming it in to a one day cook I don't mind getting up at 4 and getting it on by 5 and would rathe eat later than do an overnight cook. My big mistakes have been when staying up late and of course having a few beers.

Should be fun I have a real nice brisket to work with, great marble and thickness is as even as I've come across on the flat.
 
Just open the foil you don't have to completely unwrap it, but yes. It can take up to 30 minutes. You don't want the meat too hot when you slice it. 140 is supposedly the optimum slicing temp. If you don't vent you'll have carry over like you said.
 
Dustin Dorsey said:
Just open the foil you don't have to completely unwrap it, but yes. It can take up to 30 minutes. You don't want the meat too hot when you slice it. 140 is supposedly the optimum slicing temp. If you don't vent you'll have carry over like you said.
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how about when using butcher paper? do you still vent? from what i understand it breathes better.

thanks, this is a new concept to me, and makes sense. looking to do my 1st brisket in the near future
 
Bruno said:
Still torn on the paper v foil wrap.
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To me, dilemmas as this make it more enjoyable. I'm a novice but it's fun to try new methods and keep a log. Some turn out better than others but we've never had a bad peace of meat during my learning and experimentations this past year.
 
Either one will work just fine. When i unwrap a brisket done up in butcher's paper, there's all sorts of juice swimming around. It's to the point where I have to be careful pulling the brisket from the smoker as I might end up bathing myself in juices. BTW, the most important thing is to pull the brisket when it it's done, not when it's hit an arbitrarily set temperature. Jab the brisket at the thickest part of the flat with a probe. When the probe goes in and out with almost no resistance, the brisket is ready regardless of the internal temp reading.
 
DaveW said:
BTW, the most important thing is to pull the brisket when it it's done, not when it's hit an arbitrarily set temperature. Jab the brisket at the thickest part of the flat with a probe. When the probe goes in and out with almost no resistance, the brisket is ready regardless of the internal temp reading.
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I will definitely do this. I've probably over cooked my first three briskets.

Thanks for all the input.
 
Matt in CT said:
how about when using butcher paper? do you still vent? from what i understand it breathes better.

thanks, this is a new concept to me, and makes sense. looking to do my 1st brisket in the near future
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Yes I do. Although I'll also rewrap in foil for the rest and pour the juice in from my paper. You could rest in the paper, but you need something like an aluminum pan to put in your cooler. The foil won't leak.
 
On she goes, salt and pepper rub with a little cayenne. Decided to stick with pecan. Pics to follow.
 
So much better than previous attempts. Went with pecan, wrapped in foil at 162, probed like butter at 190 so I pulled it.

The pic doesn't fo the moisture justice, it was really moist and tender.

It's a lot more fun bringing your neighbors brisket than it is throwing them away.

Thanks for all the input, I think I could do even better next time.

One huge difference was temp control I used Stubbs briquettes and it held rock solid. I'm sitting on a few hundred pounds of KBb and I love it but for special occasions like this brisket I may use more Stubbs.

 
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