First Brisket going on!

[DaveW]

It was a little tough and didn't pull very easy. In your estimation would you guess under or over cooked based on that? What looks moist is the fat. The actual meat wasn't as tender. Smoke ring did look good.

Brisket that is dry, tough and doesn't pull very easily is undercooked. Brisket that is dry and crumbling is overcooked.

 

[DaveW]

Results are in!

So, the bad first.....Too much pepper in the rub has been confirmed. It is not a huge deal, but lesson learned for next time. Also, I think I either overtrimmed or undercooked. It is a tad dry in the thinner parts. So, either there was not enough fat to render, or I didn't give it enough time-but confused because I cooked fat-side down, and that layer is fall off good.

The good: Cut nice and tastes incredible! also, the fat layer was rendered nice, and it is delicious. the edges and ends have a nice bark and the pull test was pretty good- not super loose, but definitely pullable. it is pretty good, either plain, or with some sauce!

Overall, I am very pleased with the outcome! I think next time, I will try a couple things different: less pepper, a bit less trimming, and cook fat side up. Also, I will let it go a bit further before I take it off.

once I post up some pics, I will link them!

thanks all!

I think that there's a misunderstanding about brisket. The moisture or "juice" doesn't come from marbled fat like in a steak. Rather, it comes from the breaking down and rendering of the connective tissue between the muscle fibers.

Here's a slice of brisket that is undercooked:

The external fat has started to render and you can see it pooling on the cutting board. But, notice the grey lines that the arrows are pointing to. This is the connective tissue between the muscle fibers. It hasn't rendered yet which means that the brisket will be tough, and even with the external fat it will be kind of dry.



Here's a slice that is just slightly over cooked but almost spot on:

Notice the separation between the muscle fibers. The connective tissues have fully rendered and broken down. This brisket will pull nicely with a slight snap and will be very tender.

 

[jfortson]

Dave, a very good explanation/demonstration of a very often misunderstood critical and key point of brisket smoking. These pictures and explanation would be a big help if placed in the Reference section so we all could "reference" them often as needed.

 

[Mark Fitz]

excellent explanation- Makes a lot of sense now that I slept on it. I couldnt rationalize my thought that the thinner edgese pulled well and were juicy and the thicker part was not. After sleeping on it, I realized I must be missing something!