Finish Temperatures of Various Cuts

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OK, I've never done a high heat method before. I'm assuming all vents open on my WSM?

I bought two small brisket pieces and will be doing trials inside my oven, which goes as low as 170°F. I will be aiming for 220°F and needling it with toothpicks, wrapping at 160, injecting/rubbing.
 
Bee Rich
I have to cook 4 briskets for tomorrow's KCBS judging class in Sacramento. I understand the problem with dryness in the flat because I have had that happen also. I think it might have something to do with the thickness of the flat VS the thickness and fat content of the point. I am going to try an experiment ---I will cook 2 briskets side by side with the flats overlapping each other so that the thickness cooking is the same throughout. I have never tried this before--but I will let you know what happens. Trouble with this method if it works---then 2 briskets must be cooked instead of just one. I will post tomorrow after the newly trained judges sample the meat.
 
The point that I liked had a good cap on it. Yeah I have 2 trial briskets in my oven right now at 225, and they're up to 170 at the moment. Foiled. Injected with beer/butter/broth/bacon grease. Rubbed. Small bits, and a bit of fat on one.

I'd love to see how this works for you. Good luck! Take some pictures!
 
BeeRich said:
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.

To test for tenderness, when sticking the thermometer in, do you need a hammer or does it go in like a hot knife threw butter? You can also use a fork, knife, 10D nail, coat hanger (Metal) .....................
 
Well turns out one piece was a flat, the other was a point.

The flat being smaller, I put the thermometer in that piece and tested every 10°F above 160 where I used my handy Taylor thermoprobe (damn thing doesn't work) to poke for resistance. At 190, definitely some reduction in resistance, but only then. She wouldn't go much higher, but I haven't calibrated my oven. Should do that now actually.

Took them out of the oven, but didn't keep them hot. Just foiled them for 30 minutes, then sliced them with my new handy dandy Rapala electric knife.

Ironically, the flat was more tender than the point. During probing, I poked the bottom of the foil and all the juice dripped out. Didn't think much about that, until later. The point had a good pool of juices going on in there, but the meat looked like it was boiled. You know that tough grey appearance?

Sorry, no pics.

A big smoke tomorrow morning...3 Boston Butts, total 23 pounds, and 3 large turkey legs.
 

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