Brisket done early... now what?

[S Wagner]

So I'm cooking what should be my first successful brisket, and the internal temp is around 194. It's not quite probe tender yet, but I figure it should be within about an hour or so. Unfortunately, guests won't be arriving for at least another 4 or 5 hours, so I'm not sure what to do at this point. I was planning on wrapping it in foil, and storing it in a cooler with towels until guests arrive, but would 4 - 5 hours be too long for a cooler rest? I should add, I was planning on separating the point and making burnt ends. Should I do that right away when I pull it from the smoker, or should I wrap the whole packer, and separate the point later? Any help is appreciated. I've screwed up my previous two brisket attempts, and I don't want it to be three in a row!

 

[Monty House]

My approach is foil (I triple wrapped brisket yesterday), two beach towels and fill all dead air with scrunched up newspaper. Oh, and I pre-heated cooler with boiling water.

 

[S Wagner]

My approach is foil (I triple wrapped brisket yesterday), two beach towels and fill all dead air with scrunched up newspaper. Oh, and I pre-heated cooler with boiling water.

Thanks for the advice! Any thoughts on separating the point? Not sure if I should wrap and towel it whole, or separate the point right away and just foil the flat.

I should also mention, it seems to be stalling at around 190 right now. The probe starts to go into the side of the flat nice and easy, but it meets some fair resistance when pushing into the center. I'm assuming this is normal, and it will become tender all the way through, but I'm worried that It might dry out before its probe tender. If I pulled it from the smoker before it's completely probe tender, would it finish cooking through in the cooler?

 

[V_Rocco]

I had the same problem. Lucky there where no guests, so I just had an early dinner.

 

[Tony R]

Wrap in foil and put in a cooler and put towels. You should be fine.

 

[Monty House]

I pulled at 193-195 yesterday. Probed tender pretty much throughout with slight resistance a couple of places. My experience is that it loosens up while resting. I was super happy with how it turned out.

 

[S Wagner]

That looks amazing Monty! I ended up pulling mine at around 195 yesterday, and I let it rest in the cooler for almost 4 hours. It came out perfect, super happy to have made my first good brisket!

 

[CLasko]

I have been reading some posts about people getting crazy temp readings yesterday. I did too. My Redi-Check probe I inserted at beginning of the smoke was registering a little cooler. When I probed it was higher in spots, lower in others. I'm chalking it up to it being my first brisket.

My point probed like butter, and then flat was probing nicely in most spots with a little resistance in other. Not wanting to go too overboard, I pulled it...most of it when it was reading in the 195-198 ranged. I separated the flat from the point. I cubed the point and put into a foil pan and covered. I foiled the flat and put it into a cooler wrapped in towel.

 

[S Wagner]

Mine was acting the same way. I actually pulled and foiled the whole packer and put it in the cooler, and I separated the flat from the point after letting it rest for a few hours. I did the burnt ends hot and fast for about 15 minutes on my OTG, turned out great. I wish I could upload pictures, I have some that are really nice, but I don't have any online photo sharing accounts. Dang it!