Brisket Help

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Nick Prochilo

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I did a brisket last night in preperation for a challenge somebody made to me. I wasn't real happy with the results.




The first picture shows it the best. From the narrow part of the flat end, the brisket was dry. The second picture does the picture too much justice, it was much dryer than it looked. The third picture was from the point end and it was nice and moist. I left the point on during the cook and I'm thinking that may have helped keep it from drying out as much as the other end. I cooked it in a foil pan until it hit 165*, then I wrapped the whole thing up in foil and cooked until it hit 190*. I seperated the point and flat at that point and double wrapped the flat in foil and put it in a cooler for 7 hours. The point went back on and stayed until it hit 205 and I had some nice burnt ends. I know Larry seperates the point before he cooks, does anybody else? Larry, does this help with your end result? Any advise will be greatly appriciated!
 
I'm no expert, but that hunk of meat looks like it's from an old steer that walked too much. I seperate the point now. Was the brisket very floppy before cooking? I think you got a bad chunk of meat myself.. What else could it be?
 
The problem with foiling at 165* is you rush it thru the stall….when the magic happens. How did it feel at 190* did you probe temp it…Just a few ideas. Sometimes a dry brisket...hasn't been cooked long enough..others its been cooked to long...how was the texture/ tenderness? What about the tug test?
Just going by the pics...it looks like the collegen didn't break down...
Just my .02 take it for what its worth..which is less then .02
 
Whitt is on to something it is the breakdown of the connective tissue that supplies the moisture. You can get a moist brisket with foil but your margin for error is very small when you rush a cook.
 
Opinions will always vary when it comes to foiling or at what point of the cook to foil. Foiling does speed up the cook time, but as long as your temps aren't too low or too high foiling should give you a perfect brisket everytime and in my opnion greatly decreases the room for error. Temps too low the tissues and collagen won't break down, too high you boil the juices out of the meat. I agree with Witt, it does not look like the collagen broke down.

Doneness should be determined by tenderness, not temperature alone. I've had briskets tender at 180º and some not until close to 200º. Temperatures are guides not rules.
 
wittdog said:
The problem with foiling at 165* is you rush it thru the stall….when the magic happens. How did it feel at 190* did you probe temp it…Just a few ideas. Sometimes a dry brisket...hasn't been cooked long enough..others its been cooked to long...how was the texture/ tenderness? What about the tug test?
Just going by the pics...it looks like the collegen didn't break down...
Just my .02 take it for what its worth..which is less then .02

Probe was about average for going in. I did test it in a few areas and it went in easy enough. Tenderness was a little tough (very little), texture fine. It was only dry at the thin end of the flat. I did cook it in a foil pan until it hit 165*. Could that be the problem?
 
My 2 cents. (disclaimer of course) I don't wrap until it finishes plateau which means watch the temp for the rise after the stall. Don't get jumpy as it might back up a degree then go again. 3 degrees on the up side in a row and you have it.

Looked really good though!
 
Meat really looked quite good so I'll take your word that it was dry.

I would NOT separate the point from the flat. No reason to do it except to save space, IMHO. Maybe because I like the meat best when there is some point on top of the flat with that awesome layer of fat between.

I also notice that sometimes the edges of the flat are dry but the middle of the flat has wonderfully juicy meat in it - so I take the first couple of cuts (as in your first pic) as snack or loss.

Also, I never wrap until 190. I agree with Witt - rushes through the prime internal cooking temp.

But hey, what the hell do I know. Again, I thought the meat looked great!
 
Well, the sandwich looked great. About 1 out 5 of my briskets end up going straight to chili meat and I have no idea why. Consequently, I have no advice for you.
 
I am looking at the first two pics. Is the first pic the flat or the point. It looks like a really, really thick flat.

It just don't look right to me.
 
Cliff H. said:
I am looking at the first two pics. Is the first pic the flat or the point. It looks like a really, really thick flat.

It just don't look right to me.

It's the flat. This thing really shrunk up funny!
 
Unless we are short on time I don't ever wrap my brisket until about 185=210 depends on how it feels. Then we wrap it very very tight in foil then into a redneck cambro. Sometimes if I notice the brisket looks a little dry I will wrap it with some au jus or some beef broth. It all depends. The slower you take it through the breakdown point the better the result will be in tenderness.
 
In the first two pics of the flat I don't see any fat-cap. The smoke ring going all the way around also indicates to me the lack of a fat cap on the flat. I might be seeing this wrong but if the flat was over trimmed, that may be a reason for the dryness. (?)
 
Make another one and see what happens... I still think it was an old steer...I cook all mine the same and every once in awhile they come out bad no matter what.. BBQ another one and end the suspense!!!! :shock: :shock: :shock:
 
Well my next one will be in two weeks. That will be for the challenge I was given. Some of you guys better be on the lookout for a pm or 2, I'll need some more help! Thanks
 
oompappy said:
In the first two pics of the flat I don't see any fat-cap. The smoke ring going all the way around also indicates to me the lack of a fat cap on the flat. I might be seeing this wrong but if the flat was over trimmed, that may be a reason for the dryness. (?)

How did you get a smoke ring all the way around Nick ?
 
Cliff H. said:
oompappy said:
In the first two pics of the flat I don't see any fat-cap. The smoke ring going all the way around also indicates to me the lack of a fat cap on the flat. I might be seeing this wrong but if the flat was over trimmed, that may be a reason for the dryness. (?)

How did you get a smoke ring all the way around Nick ?

It was trimmed pretty tight!
 
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