Finish Temperatures of Various Cuts

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BeeRich

Sous Chef
Joined
May 20, 2009
Messages
583
Location
Toronto, Canada
Hi folks.

Can we get a consensus on the final temperatures for various cuts of meat? This is what I have so far:

Brisket, Pork Shoulder, Pork Butt, Picnic
Slicing: 185°F
Pulling: 200°F
Brisket at 1.6 hr/lb at 225°F

Ribs
172°F
Visual clues: Watch for meat to be pulling back from bone ends
6 hours is normal, 3-2-1 method

Chicken / Turkey
Thigh = 170
Legs will "shake hands" loose
estimate 30 minutes per pound

Cheers
 
Only one I know is ribs and they should not pull back from the end as they are drying out. There is not a temperature, you either use the bend test, wait for a small crack when you pick them up with tongs or a tooth pick should slide through the meat like it is going through warm butter. During the "Rib Round Table" one of the participants said you just want a small crack if you use the crack test, if you get a big crack they have dried out. I learned all of this right here when I posted a picture of a rib cook and I had the temperature prob of my Guru in the ribs .... I could almost hear the laughter :LOL: I have to say my ribs have been much better since that time. Well worth the humiliation :oops:
 
I use the 3-2-1, but I found the 1 to be a bit much. I might try some 3-2-0.25 trials. I mean, how bad could they be? Yeah, thanks for the input.
 
I think 185 for brisket is not done enough. I always start checking or I may foil around that temp but 180 is when the fat starts to break down.

Brisket may be done at 185 but it don't get tender till it hits 195-215.

I don't take it off till the probe slides in easy.
 
Well I agree with whut most of them other smart folks say. First off take brisket off the chart. It's only done for any purpose when it passes the poke test which normally puts the gauge at between 190-210. Have went as high as 215 on some that had got themselves shot up. Dry brisket on most pits is cured by tinfoil. Pork is slightly more forgiving and I can live with 185 for slicing and 200 or so for pushed pork. Standard answer is pork is sliceable at 180. Spare ribs..If you watch the meat pulling back from the bone ends chances are about 99.9999% you are either cooking them too fast or too slow. Too fast shrivels them up and too slow dries them out. Pit temp of 260 works well for the temp gauge watchers. Whole or split birds need to be brought to 175 in the thigh and allowed to rest in the hot box for at least an hour or you will have bloody joints sooner or later. You can get by with 170 sometimes but then sometimes it jump up and bite you like a pizzenous adder and squirt blood in the judges eye when he/she try to sample a chunk. Time vs temp formulas are for use in the Baker's trade. Works great on cakes and cookies. Way too many variables involved to be useful in cooking bbq. Hope this helps.

bigwheel

BeeRich said:
Hi folks.

Can we get a consensus on the final temperatures for various cuts of meat? This is what I have so far:

Brisket, Pork Shoulder, Pork Butt, Picnic
Slicing: 185°F
Pulling: 200°F
Brisket at 1.6 hr/lb at 225°F

Ribs
172°F
Visual clues: Watch for meat to be pulling back from bone ends
6 hours is normal, 3-2-1 method

Chicken / Turkey
Thigh = 170
Legs will "shake hands" loose
estimate 30 minutes per pound

Cheers
 
I say listen to Uncle Bigwheel! He sure do know what he's talking about. :shock: :D Now, sometimes you got to get past his jibber jabber, but I'm thinking he's been around the block a time or two and has things figured out. :mrgreen: Some of the best ribs I ever made were cooked upside down like bigwheel says to do. Now, of course that was done here at the house and not at a comp, but they still tasted good. ;) :D
 
First off take brisket off the chart. It's only done for any purpose when it passes the poke test which normally puts the gauge at between 190-210.

BW explain the "Poke Test?"
 
Nick Prochilo said:
Don't judge it soely on temp. I use temp as a guide to start testing for tenderness.

To be honest, I'd rather go for tenderness rather than a stated temperature, because I know beef is completely edible at lower temperatures. This is what I found for beef:

Code:
Rare			120 to 125 °F		center is bright red, pinkish toward the exterior portion
Medium Rare		130 to 135 °F		center is very pink, slightly brown toward the exterior portion
Medium			140 to 145 °F		center is light pink, outer portion is brown
Medium Well		150 to 155 °F		not pink
Well Done		160 °F and above		steak is uniformly brown throughout

So how do you test for tenderness? I don't edit the fat on any brisket. I keep it just the way it is. My best brisket was the point, not the flat. The flat is what people tend to submit at contests, but the point was the part that was the best, because it was so moist. It sounds like 150°F is the target I would want to have.
 
BeeRich,
I really don't think you can apply standard steak doneness gauges to a brisket. It is like making a pc of leather something moist and juicy.

Someone said that when you are paying close attention to time, temp and doneness, then when cooking brisket you leave done and go into tender.
 
Those temperatures are for microbiological applications, I'm assuming. All briskets, raw out of the fridge, are tender, but it isn't done. I'm still not sure what done for brisket means, nor tender. Nobody has said that yet.
 
Well the best description I ever heard of the brisket poke test come from an old comp chum named Bill Stone aka Stoney. He say when you stick the brisket in the top with your trusty Wally World instant read gauge with the large numerals and it accidentally passes through both sides of the foil and bumps the bottom of the pit..the brisket is ready. Now have known some folks who stick it with a fork. That just tears up too much meat for me. Will agree with you on the point being the best tasting part of the brisket.

bigwheel
 
There are "clues" to when a brisket is done. Temperature is a clue.

I have cooked brisket and more brisket every day until recently when I closed my restaurant and slowed down to just catering. My biggest "clue" as to when it is ready is much cheaper than a thermapen. That tool is a simple wooden toothpick. When you can stick a toothpick through the brisket with little or no resistance it is done. Then try another clue-temperature-anywhere from 190-210 depending on the meat.

People today want instant results and an instant recipe for championship BBQ---there are no instant answers--it is not a carved in stone recipe. Use your clues--cook and cook some more--experiment. Do not expect to read forums on the internet and go out and win a contest. Do not expect to buy a BBQ pit that is perfect and every square inch is the same temperature, and will stay at that temperature for 15 hours. Cook often-know your equipment and know your meat. Have fun, because when BBQ is not fun anymore it turns into work.
BBQ is a hobby to most and a business to some. The best way to make a small fortune in BBQ is to start out with a large fortune.
 
Chuck, believe me, my last industry made BBQ look like an instant fad. Brewing can take half a year for a single batch to show evidence of aim. BBQ is very very fast for me. But that doesn't mean I'm going to spend a season and $40/day tossing food out to see what is right, especially when there's a whole forum of experience available behind a question.

I am not giving into any contest. I am looking for theory. Not blind attempts as suggested. Beer competitions, I promise you, are well above any BBQ effort...at any place...at any time, period. Your mention of fun turning into work, is me about 25 years ago. And BBQ doesn't hold a candle to brewing with respect to cost and investment. Brewing makes BBQ look like a hobby...of every single piece of evidence I've seen. I'm not trying to win any competitions. I'm trying to get a grasp on how people approach a brisket, and other pieces of meat.
 
I think that you misunderstood my post.

I will make it simple

Get a toothpick and forget everything else I posted

I said nothing about a "Blind Attempt"

I did not mean to offend you I was trying to help you

Go make some beer if that is what you are proud of
 
I am confused, or my expectations are off. My temperatures are usually 190 or above and the flat has gone dryer than what I would really serve. I think I'm battling two things, which I think are reciprocal in nature: dryness and temperature. The hotter I go, the dryer it gets. I don't think I could get a toothpick through my flat at the end. So that means it's overcooked. I think I might start doing small pieces of brisket to test.

Cheers. I do like the toothpick method.
 
BeeRich- Probe the meat in the flat, wrap it in a couple layers of saran wrap and then foil when the internal temp hits 160*, continue to cook until tender. If you're leaving the fat on as you state, then you shouldn't have a problem with the flat drying out. Might also consider in injecting with something. The 4 B's work for me! Beer, Beef Broth, Butter and Bacon Grease.
 
Yeah I've injected and marinated. Marination seems to be doing best so far. You inject those 4 in a single mixture, I'm assuming?

Cheers
 
Try the high heat method for your brisket. Cook @350° (approx) until temp reads 165°-170°. Then double wrap with foil and back on the cooker. At around 3.5 hours, after your start time, begin checking for doneness by inserting a probe or fork. There should be no resistance or the fork should pull right out without lifting the meat with it. If there is resistance close up the foil and check again in 20-30 mins. Total time should be 3.5-4.5 hours.

Al
 

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