Why doesn't brisket internal temp matter?


 
OK, since I'm feeling generous (it being near Christmas), I'll offer to settle this.
1. Everyone cook a brisket and send it to me.
2. I'll feed them to the horde of locusts I call "the in-laws" and we'll see which is best.
3. If one is markedly better than all the rest, then the person who cooked it gets to say his way is the correct way, and call everyone else "Grasshopper", and in turn be called Master Q'er (pronounce that however you like). If not, then if one is markedly worse than all the rest, everyone gets to point to the person who cooked it, and laugh derisively.
4. If they are all good, then I get to tell you all to cook your briskets the way that gets you the best results - live long, and prosper.

Any takers?
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Holy Jackie Martling what a post!

Here's my .02, when I first started doing briskets they sucked, dry, tough, over cooked, under cooked you name it I could do it; I even almost gave-up doing them, but at the urging and encouraging of guys like Larry, Kevin, Bryan and other's I stuck with it, a tweak here, a tweak there (all learned from this website and from the above mentioned) and I'll be honest with you, I do a damn fine brisket now . . . and even enjoy doing them. I've even branched out and started doing high heat cooks. I probably do a thing or two that would drive the more experienced cooks on this site nutz (like sometimes separating my point from my flat mid cook) but for me and on that particular cook, it worked and produced excellent results.

The knowledge that's available and readily shared on this site is amazing, I belong to a couple other forms for another cooker I have and there's no where near the amount of information shared (and shared in real time) as on this site.

And just to drive everyone nutz you want to know what I'm trying on my next cook . . . I'm going to go right from the cooker to foil to a rapid cool either in ice or my "power freeze." I read on another site that a guy tried doing this with his logic being if he rapid cooled the brisket the meat would retain the juices vs. loosing them in the foil. He loved the results. I'll keep you posted.
 
Thanks Kevin, Damn, and Just when I thought I was going to bring something to the site that was unchartered territory. Good info!
 
Originally posted by Larry Wolfe:
[
Al,
Jim's methods are both flawed......you can't cook with Kingsford that's not ashed over, it will leave an off taste to your food and is harmful if you eat food that is cooked with partially lit briquettes.
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Larry,

Maybe I've been doing it so long my taste buds are numb, but I don't get any off taste on any of my Q (and as a judge I - unfortunately - do get some off-taste sometimes, although I always presume it to be lighter fluid), & I've not gotten adverse comments at work, etc.

That being said, I'm willing to try lump for a couple cooks as an experiment. My concern and thus question: With the BBQGuru on the WSM, I have no problem getting 12+ hours unattended by stacking (layering?) unlit briquets under lit (fully ashed over to start). Will lump allow this same approach or is it too combustible (I hope the answer is yes I can, because I am REALLY into uninterrupted sleep!).

Thanks for the on-going lessons towards mastery!
 
Steve,

Larry was just making a joke. You can certainly use lump for the Minion Method, I always do. I use Kingsford to get it going. (I have two bags of the old kingsford left.) I hope you were kidding about using lighter fluid!!! If you are, stop !!!! and get a weber chimney to light the briquets.

Al
 
AL - I'm completely with you - NEVER would I use lighter fluid... I get upset when someone else in the neighborhood even uses it (the stench seems to float so far!!). I meant that as a competition judge I occasionally still find someone (often a new team is my assumption) using it.

I didn't think about starting with completely ashed over briquets and adding over unlit lump. Doing a 6.5 lb butt over Tues. night to Wed and then 2 bone-in turkey breasts (will have brined) Thursday AM to take into office for Christmas party Thursday. I'll try the briquets plus lump combo.

Thank you!
 
steve, with a full ring packed tight of lump and just touching a few coals on top with my torch, i can get 16-20 hour burns using my pitminder. usually on over nighters before i go to bed i take my all purpose stay outside coal stirring spatula and tap the legs a few times to dislodge any ash build up, then in the morning i'll do the same thing. i use 2 coal grates at 90º of each other to make sure any smaller pieces of lump guet used instead of just falling unburnt to the bottom of the WSM. you may not have to do that if you only use 1 grate
 
Thanks Tony. Two questions:
1. When you say full ring packed tight with lump, do you have an estimate of how much that is? Need to pick some up at hardware store.
2. I'm assuming when you say torch you are talking a "weed burner." (?) I don't have any kind of flame thrower so I'm wondering if a small propane 'soldering' type torch would work?

THANKS!
 
Originally posted by Steve Feller:
Thanks Tony. Two questions:
1. When you say full ring packed tight with lump, do you have an estimate of how much that is? Need to pick some up at hardware store.
2. I'm assuming when you say torch you are talking a "weed burner." (?) I don't have any kind of flame thrower so I'm wondering if a small propane 'soldering' type torch would work?

THANKS!
Click to expand...

i would estimate 3/4 of a 10 pound bag of royal oak usually fills the ring up so high it nearly touches the water pan when i put it in. and all i use is a maap gas cylinder with a little torch head on it. i tried the propane bottles, but they don't work as wel las the maap gas. usually the angle you have to hold the bottle at causes the propane torch to put itself out.
 
All- New to site,

I'm Ken Wood -cook team (Thillerz on the Grillerz)- I'm changing the name this year to Charcoal Cowboys from Nashville, TN.

My experience with brisket. This has been the hardest meat to cook during BBQ competitions. I competed for my first year in 2008. I placed in Ribs and Pork but couldn't get out of last place during BBQ contest on brisket until I started the slow and low cook in a Aluminum Pan with 8-9 lb whole brisket from Sam's Wholesale.

I currently cook with a temp probe on the brisket it allows me to understand the breaking down of the fibers in the meat. I have had briskets start freezing in 130 degrees upto 150 degrees. The last contest the brisket stayed at 138 degrees for 4 hours- it made me think I didn't need to cook to 190 degrees because it started to breakdown earlier than previous briskets.

I cook at 225 degrees with the brisket in a large aluminum roasting pan. I like to foil in the 155 degree range. I have been told Texas cookers will wrap in newspaper first then wrap with foil around the newspaper. I double wrap and cook until internal is 190 degrees if the probe comes out easily. I always want the brisket to rest in a hot box for at least 1.5 hours.

My time table is normally in the 18 hr range

The best BBQ is cooked with Love, Time, and Beer

Good Luck,
Ken Wood
 
Welcome to the board and thanks for your write-up.

Connective tissue starts breaking down near 140 regardless, but it is not often one notices till later, when the process of it causes the temps to stall or to fall. Probe placement can affect when you'll start noticing.

Texas cookers are all over the map then it comes to barbecue. Some slow/low, some foil or wrap (often with butcher paper), others, like several of the more famous central Tex places, cook at high heat and wrap.

Would love to hear about your comp forays some time.
 
I know alot of Texas cookers, and the whole newspaper thing is "news" to me. I would NEVER use newspaper right next to something I was going to eat! Enough germs and chemicals on one to make you sick (and enough bad news on the front to do the same)! I have heard of using PVC food wrap, and that still seems weird because you would think it would melt! I use foil. Welcome. Woodman
 
I have heard of using PVC food wrap, and that still seems weird because you would think it would melt!
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It will with temps over 250*. Most people use plastic wrap post-cooking where temps are lower.

Living in central TX, I have not come across anyone using newspaper to wrap their meat in while cooking; not sure what that would accomplish. I guess it could be used to wrap the finished meat as an insulator, but I would recommend wrapping in foil or plastic 1st.

Paul
 
Hey Ken,

Welcome to the board!

Couple books I've read have talked about wrapping meat in paper first. Both referenced butcher's paper... one of them was very specific that it had to be the red-hued paper so it would absorb steam just right (or something!).

What does your team use for a smoker(s) Ken?
 
All,

My team cooks with two NB offsets about 750 of cooking space - we cook the brisket and pork in the NB. I use a method I created I load in the fire box a alum. roasting pan then I load it with unlit hardwood lump and briq charcoal. I start a mix of briq in the bottom of a Weber chimney and top it with lump. I use BB charcoal lump and Kingsford or BigBriq briquets. I get the chimney good and hot and drop the lit into the pan of unlit. The NB are very hard to control and this allows me to add chucks of dry and soak wood to create smoke and heat -running around 225 degrees for about 10 hrs. Then I dump the pan and add more fuel. This will get me thru the BBQ contest night with only adding chunks about every hour.


We use one 18 WSM for cooking the baby back ribs. We cook the ribs for about 5hrs at 225 degrees and rest for 1 hr.

We use Weber kettle for chicken thighs. I usually start the chickens on the NB offset until we find 6 pieces that we like how they look then I move them to the kettle at high temp - resting them in a alum. pan of chicken stock, red sauce, and bbq sauce.

We also use a Green Egg for special cook items during contest - like pizzas.

When we do desserts at contest we will bring Dutch Ovens and cook desserts in them. Last contest we did creme brulee in the dutch oven.

here is my blog from last year:
http://thrillerzonthegrillerz.blogspot.com/

Ken Wood
Charcoal Cowboys
 
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