A Tale of Two Briskets.....sorta

[john3198]

It was the best of briskets.......
It was the worst of briskets......

OK, enough with the cheesy litterature references......

Some of you may remember a couple of weeks ago I was doing a brisket - first one I have done in years - and did a post about what seemed like an exceptionally long stall. Got a lot of good advice. Thanks.

Well, as the late Paul Harvey used to say, here's the rest of the story.

You can read through the slides below. The 10 cent tour version is that the prep was normal - rubbed sitting overnight. No injection. The brisket finally came out of the stall and I foiled a little under 170. Then took it to 190. Separated the point and chopped for burnt ends and let the flat rest.

The BE's were awsome. The flat, after 1 1/2 hours foiled, toweled, in a cold oven, was toast. Dry and tough.

I've come to the conclusion that smoking is a bit like fishing. You don't have to catch a fish every cast, every hour, or even every trip. You only need to catch one often enough that the periodic positive reinforcement keeps you coming back.

The BE's are my positive reinforcement, so I will try again. Appreciate your throughts and suggestions of what might have gone wrong.

Thanks.

 

[ronp]

One reason I like chuckes better.

 

[countrysmoked]

I am not that experienced with briskets having only done 10 or so but I foil mine at 130 and pull at 160 to 170. If i have to hold for any length of time i wrap tightly and put in a cooler to keep temps even for up to 5 hours before serving. I like my brisket medium well and sliced. I have had it cooked to 190 and pulled but thought that was to dry. Hope this helps and keep smoking.

 

[bassman]

I take mine to 160-165 and wrap in foil with a good splash of apple juice/rum mop. at 192 degrees if comes off and gets wrapped in several old towels and in the cooler for at least 1 hour (usually 2-3 hours) to let the meat absorb the juice. Hope this helps. This one was extremely juicy and tender.

 

[Bearcarver]

Sorry to hear about your brisket, but at least your BEs were great.

I gotta give you points for the super illustrations you put out.

Wish I could do that!

Bearcarver

 

[mballi3011]

I don't know what happened to your brisket but I always have foiled mine at about 165-170 and then backinto the smoker till about 200 and then into the cooler for a couple of hours. I did the time do some burnt ends and my brisket way alittle dry but not much and surly not dog food dry either. Just not pouring juicies as usual. So I guess the moural is to sepperate the point and the flat in the begining.

 

[stubborn]

May I ask probably a dumb question? When you "foil" your brisket, are you actually wrapping it in foil, or putting it in a pan and foiling over the top of it?

I've only done 5 or 6, and haven't been impressed with any of them. I'm reading through posts here trying to get some insight from the more experienced folks.

Thanks.

 

[bbqhead]

its your choice, all foil or alum pan covered with foil. sometimes just foil could leak. its not a dumb question by the way, any questions, we try to help.