Would you foil this brisket?


 
K

Kirk Boorman

TVWBB Super Fan
I am doing a packer tonight with Texas BBQ rub and am wondering if I should foil at 160 and pull it at 190. The reason I ask is I'm not that familiar with the rub. They say you don't need to baste or mop with Texas BBQ rub, that it leaves the meat juicy, etc. all by itself. I made some spares with it last week using my usual 4-1-1 schedule with foil and they were pretty overdone. Not mushy, but all the meat came off each bone with one bite. This hasn't really happened before and I was wondering if the rub had anything to do with it. I've done one brisket with Texas BBQ rub (no foiling). It took just under 1.5 hrs/lb to reach 185 and I couldn't wait any longer, so I pulled it. I'm glad I did, because it was already falling apart and kind of dry. That's why I'm considering foiling this one. All opinions welcome, TIA!
 
Kirk:
I smoked my 2nd brisket last weekend and I used the Texas BBQ rub as well. Like you, my first brisket was good but a little dry. Last weekend I foiled the brisket and it was pretty close to perfect.

If you read Bill Cannon's (The guy who invented the Texas BBQ rub) recipe for smoking briskets, he recommends smoking the brisket for the first 2/3 of the cook without foil and the final 1/3 with foil. That's why I foiled mine last weekend.

Good luck with your brisket;
Bill
 
My two cents:

The rub has nothing to do with whether or not the meat ends up dry (brisket) or whether or not the meat ends up a bit too cooked (ribs). If your packer in nicely marbled cook it naked. If not, either expect to take it to a higher internal and cook it naked, foiling at finish, or foil it earlier in the cook. I tend to foil more often than not because I tend to find less than adequately marbled packers. I foiled a nice Choice one recently though to speed up the cook a bit, after it broke plateau. It came out great, moist, tender, good texture--not pot roast-y at all.

The brisket you start with largely determines the outcome and you can make changes in approach, if needed, by taking a good look at the cut.

Various issues can alter rib cooktime in subtle and not so subtle ways which is why I am not an advocate of time-based cooking for ribs. I look for deep color in the ribs before foiling (the time this takes varies due to the meat, and vagaries in the meat's temp at start and the cook temp), then I foil, then I start checking for doneness 45-50 min later. This varies as well--50 min to 1.25 hours till a probe inserts easily between the bones. Then I unfoil and return the ribs to firm up a bit, 10-25 min. (I, too, do not want fall-off-the-bone. I'm looking for 'done' just as you describe.) A strict time-based approach does not work consistently the same way because of the natural inconsistencies involved from the get-go. Using a visual and tactile approach gives me consistent results.
 
Kirk, If doing a flat i always foil them. If doing a packer then no foil required. I use nothing but Texas BBQ #2 on my briskets. Wonderfull stuff.
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EDIT: Just remember to take the temp of the brisket in the flat and not the point or you will wind up with dry over cooked brisket. The flat always gets done before the point.
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As always gentlemen, thank you for your input. I'll have a good look at the meat before I make a final decision as to wheter to foil or not. Bill, where did you get info on Bill Cannon's method? Chances are I'm going to foil this one if for no other reason but to experiment. The last three briskets I've done have been pretty much the same, tasty but dry and I want to be sure that this one's juicy and tender (hopefully not pot-roasty). This cook will also allow me to try out my new NU-701 thermometer. I had started a thread a while back in "New WSM Owners" about the trouble I've had with insta-read thermometers, hopefully this new unit will be the answer to my problem. Thanks again, Kirk.
 
'Preciate that Bryan, I thought I had seen that before, but couldn't remember where. I think I'm all set. I got a nice 12 lb packer and a little 6 lb butt to keep it company, now I'm off to get some sides together. A little coleslaw, some corn, potato salad, corn bread, and a tomato, cucumber and red onion salad ought to do it. Thanks again guys!
 
I did a 6.75# flat today, Texas rub also, and it got stuck at 150 for a while. I had to get her done so I just foiled it at 150 with a little broth in it. Went to 183 really fast. Turned out well, but I wish I could have let it on longer before I foiled. Bark wasn't great but the flavor was very good.
 
I just figured I'd let y'all know how it went. I intended to foil at 160 and pull it at 190 (unless the toothpick test said otherwise), but distractions had me foiling at about 167 and pulling at 197. The meat finished earlier than expected, so it rested in a warm oven, double wrapped in foil, for 5 hrs. Well, this was definately my best brisket yet. Definately more moist than any of my previous efforts, but I still think there's room for improvement. Next time I'll let the guests bring the sides so that I can just concentrate on the meat. I also need to come up with some type of finishing glaze for the sliced flat since it seems to dry out so fast after it's sliced. Any suggestions? Thanks again, Kirk
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">I also need to come up with some type of finishing glaze for the sliced flat since it seems to dry out so fast after it's sliced. Any suggestions? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
I like a combo of rendered beef or pork fat (you can render yourself from trimmings from various cooks and store it) and unsalted butter with just a touch of sauce and good quality low-salt beef stock (homemade is best but you can use store-bought; if you go the inexpensive canned route mix 3:1 l/s chicken and beef). Mix all; heat; stir well to emusify. What I want is a kind of fatty sauce. The fats will carry the flavors of the bit of sauce I include and the stock, the sauce will help it emulsify, but the end result will be paintable (I use a brush on the slices) and transparent but flecked slightly with spices from the sauce. I think it works well.
 
Thanks Kevin. How much rendered fat and sauce would you use say, per cup of broth?. I figured that I would wind up using some concoction of meat juices and sauce. There was a good bit of liquid and fat drippings left in the foil after this cook that I could have used. I think I'll experiment a bit next time with your sauce and maybe try to do something similar with the drippings, especially since they already have the full flavor of the meat.
 
You can try to learn to test the tenderness by the fork method.
Around 175 try sticking it crossways with an ice pick or fork.
Do this every 30 mins and you will see the difference in how easy it goes in when it starts to get tender. Once you can learn this feel you can check it later like after 185+.

If it was falling apart and dry then it would have been very easy to stick the fork in a long time ago.

I set my wireless thermometer for 185 and check by fork from then on. Usually once I feel tenderness I take it off and let it sit in foil in a cooler for 45mins and it is perfect.
 
If you've got good (adequate) drippings you can add just a little unsalted butter and a bit of sauce (you can skip the sauce if you want; I like a touch of sauce). Or you can go with straight drippings. I like the effect of unsalted butter.

Couple of ways to go if you choose the additions: You can mix the drippings with the butter (1 T butter to 1/2 c drippings plus 2-3 t sauce, or heat the drippings with the bit of sauce, if using, mixing well, then off-heat whisk in the butter a little piece at a time (I use a fork). Whisk well. The butter will melt slowly with the residual heat from the sauce and will thicken it slightly. If the sauce cools too much and the butter melts too slowly, return the pot to the heat briefly to rewarm it, take it off the heat again, and whisk in the butter.

If the drippings are meager or if you use them elsewhere (I use them in the sauces I'm making for the brisket) you can flesh out the drippings with an addition of stock and go from there, or if no drippings, build a baste with 1/2 c stock with 1 T rendered fat--mixed together and heated (with or without 2-3 t sauce) and then, off heat, whisk in 2-3 t butter a bit at a time.
 
Thanks again Kevin, your advice just went straight into my notebook. All this talk about brisket, sauce and all has got me hungry - I'm headin' for some leftovers!
 
I just noticed: I neglected to say that for the whisked-in butter approach use cold butter. That's important to get the emulsification effect and why I said to rewarm the sauce if it cools to much. If you cut a little cube of cold butter, stab it with a fork, then stir/whisk the sauce with the fork, the butter will slowly melt; the agitation will emulsify the sauce. If you use softened butter or tried it with the sauce still on the heat the butter would merely melt and the sauce would end up oily and broken (fats separated from other liquids).
 
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