Brisket Foiling/rest question

[Brian O]

I'm planning on smoking a whole brisket and have a few questions about foiling and what people do.
My flat always seems dry, and have gone to injecting to try to increase the moisture. It helps, but...

I'm wondering what people do once you have foiled and the flat has gotten to 190.
I foil with some beef broth to get through the stall (or if i get a small brisket, use a foil tray and tent). When the flat gets to about 190, i take it off the smoker.
I have a cooler and blankets ready so the meat can rest for a few hours before the guests arrive.

So my questions:

I have this foil package of brisket and drippings/beef broth:

1. do you open the foil up and let the meat drop in temperature before wrapping and putting in the cooler?

2. do you leave the drippings in the foil package when you wrap in foil or or do you drain into a bowl/pan? Then put in the cooler to rest?

3. I read about making burnt ends, and after the flat gets to 190, and you take the brisket off the grill, how long do you wait before splitting the point from the flat? Its damn hot.
I've found that if i just let it all rest for a few hours, and when i start cutting, split the point then and cube and saute with bbq sauce on the stove top, they taste great, but on the fatty side. I want to cook on the smoker and hope to render the fat.

The first couple times i wrapped it tore and leaked all over the place. I use two or three layers of heavy duty foil now. Even with heavy duty foil it sometimes leaks, and if i can, I use a foil tray and cover the meat. Just curious what people do.

Thanks for your help

 

[Ryan STL]

I'm planning on smoking a whole brisket and have a few questions about foiling and what people do.
My flat always seems dry, and have gone to injecting to try to increase the moisture. It helps, but...

I'm wondering what people do once you have foiled and the flat has gotten to 190.
I foil with some beef broth to get through the stall (or if i get a small brisket, use a foil tray and tent). When the flat gets to about 190, i take it off the smoker.
I have a cooler and blankets ready so the meat can rest for a few hours before the guests arrive.

So my questions:

I have this foil package of brisket and drippings/beef broth:

1. do you open the foil up and let the meat drop in temperature before wrapping and putting in the cooler?

2. do you leave the drippings in the foil package when you wrap in foil or or do you drain into a bowl/pan? Then put in the cooler to rest?

3. I read about making burnt ends, and after the flat gets to 190, and you take the brisket off the grill, how long do you wait before splitting the point from the flat? Its damn hot.
I've found that if i just let it all rest for a few hours, and when i start cutting, split the point then and cube and saute with bbq sauce on the stove top, they taste great, but on the fatty side. I want to cook on the smoker and hope to render the fat.

The first couple times i wrapped it tore and leaked all over the place. I use two or three layers of heavy duty foil now. Even with heavy duty foil it sometimes leaks, and if i can, I use a foil tray and cover the meat. Just curious what people do.

Thanks for your help

So I can't speak to your situation exactly as I have never injected a brisket or added liquid to the foil. But a couple of things stand out when reading this.

I wrap a brisket once the bark has gotten the color and consistency I want, not a specific temp. I only rub, no injection. I use heavy duty foil - usually two sheets folded together to prevent leaks will do. I do not add liquid to the foil. 190 for the flat seems way low. The probe tenderness test is great. I find almost all of my briskets are tender in the flat when it reaches right around 203 degrees. If you take it off too early, no amount of liquid or injection will help. You have to let that meat and fat work its own magic.

Once it hits 203/probe tender, I take the brisket off the smoker and leave it in the foil. I usually open the foil for a few minutes to let some steam and heat out, then tighten it back up, wrap it in two big towels and throw it in the cooler. It will still leak some juice usually (usually from around the hole where the probe was). Those towels are dedicated to brisket now

I let mine rest for a couple hours (2-4) before opening and taking off the point to make burnt ends. Usually when I'm ready to cut the flat up for serving. The point will still be plenty hot. It will take another few hours to get good burnt ends off of that. Don't just simmer them in bbq sauce though. The point needs to go back on the smoker! You have to render down all that fat that is in the point to get great burnt ends. And make sure to add extra rub to it! I throw the whole point on myself, go for about 4 hours, then cube after resting. Then they can be tossed in sauce. That's just my way of doing it.

So to conclude your questions:

1) Yes, but just enough to keep it from rising in temp further. So a few minutes for me.

2) The natural drippings stay in the foil (I don't add broth or inject). Most of these get reabsorbed by the end of the resting period in my experience.

3) Two hours to four hours (as long as you are resting the flat for cutting - just take the point off then).

 

[MickHLR]

Brian, I agree with Ryan. I've not wrapped brisket at all for the most part, for the past 35 years...and just started wrapping recently with butcher paper, as it seems to let the brisket breathe, where foil doesn't. I also agree with Ryan that 190* seems awfully low temp to me as well. I try to get mine off about 202*-203*, but mainly go by how it feels, and my flat is normally moist and tender. By how it feels, I mean I want it to feel like a big ol hunk of Jello when I pick it up. One thing about brisket, if that flat is undercooked it will be dry and tough, and if it is overcooked it will be dry and tough...there's a fine line right in the middle. It's the only piece of meat I know of that is the same undercooked and overcooked. I have had the flat dry up somewhat when I put in an ice chest to rest too quickly, as it is still cooking and getting that internal temp too high if you stick it in the ice chest immediately...especially if wrapped in foil.