Tale of a brisket and two newbies

[Guest]

A friend and I have cooked ribs (both kinds) a few times on our WSMs. Today we collaborated on a brisket. It was a 7.3 pound whole brisket, fat cap and all (difficult to find here; had to get a meat market to special order it). It cooked 8 hr 40 min from cold at lid temps from 225-250, up to 270 near the end. Very little spraying of apple juice (first time was at least four hours into the cook). Most of the time it cooked fat side up. The internal meat temp at the end was from 188 to 195 as shown on a Thermapen. We let it sit uncovered for 30 minutes after we took it off the fire. The result was ...

1. Tender and tasty

2. The flat was definitely too dry. (We assume it was the flat; it was flatter than the other piece.)

3. The point was juicy and very fatty.

Can we get some suggestions for how to make the flat not dry?

Are we correct that the flatter, dryer piece was the flat?

Thanks,

Mick Ruthven

 

[Chris Allingham]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Mick R:
[qb]Are we correct that the flatter, dryer piece was the flat?[/qb] <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>Yes, that's the flat. This is one of the hardest cuts to barbecue, they're highly variable from one cut to another, so don't feel bad. You could cook 10 of them the same way, and they'll probably all come out different.

In general, the flat tends to dry out quickly once it's sliced. Some folks will wrap a finished brisket in foil and maybe pour in a bit of low-sodium beef stock before sealing the foil, then place in an empty cooler for a couple of hours before removing and slicing.

Regards,
Chris