2 Questions on Brisket

[Scooba]

1. Fat cap up or down? And why?

2. When you pull brisket off of the smoker, do you let it cool down a bit then wrap it in foil to rest in a cooler or do you pull it and put it in cooler right away?

 

[Rings Я Us]

Scooba howdy.. my thinking is that the fat drips over the meat to baste it. Some people say the fat will be a barrier to keep it from drying out. If you don't have heat directly under and blasting upward directly on the meat , You can keep fat up so it drips over the meat. You can flip the brisket at some point if you want. You should take the brisket off for a few minutes and leave the foil open for a rest and then hold it in "wrapped" foil. 175 or 180 wrapped up is good. 190 or 200 may take it into the still cooking zone.

 

[ynot2k]

Fat cap up or down depends on what type of smoker you are using. With an offset pit it's usually best to place the point towards the firebox and fat cap up. With a vertical smoker I usually smoke fat cap down and then change to fat cap up when I wrap (I use butcher paper). The fat is left on there to protect the muscle - put the fat towards the heat source.

 

[Scooba]

Scooba howdy.. my thinking is that the fat drips over the meat to baste it. Some people say the fat will be a barrier to keep it from drying out. If you don't have heat directly under and blasting upward directly on the meat , You can keep fat up so it drips over the meat. You can flip the brisket at some point if you want. You should take the brisket off for a few minutes and leave the foil open for a rest and then hold it in "wrapped" foil. 175 or 180 wrapped up is good. 190 or 200 may take it into the still cooking zone.

I’m using a Rec Tec Pellet Smoker

 

[Scooba]

Fat cap up or down depends on what type of smoker you are using. With an offset pit it's usually best to place the point towards the firebox and fat cap up. With a vertical smoker I usually smoke fat cap down and then change to fat cap up when I wrap (I use butcher paper). The fat is left on there to protect the muscle - put the fat towards the heat source.

I’m using a Rec Tec Pellet Smoker

 

[ynot2k]

The Rec Tec is a vertical smoker - I recommend fat cap down to start the cook. When you get close to the stall, wrap fat cap up. I've gotten the best results this way.
To answer your other question - I (re)wrap right away and place it in hot holding. It was a long slow climb of internal temperature to get the brisket done and I don't want to rush it down to serving temperature of 150 or so. I want the temperature graph to look the same on the way down as it did on the way up - gradual, not steep. My 2 cents.

 

[Scooba]

The Rec Tec is a vertical smoker - I recommend fat cap down to start the cook. When you get close to the stall, wrap fat cap up. I've gotten the best results this way.
To answer your other question - I (re)wrap right away and place it in hot holding. It was a long slow climb of internal temperature to get the brisket done and I don't want to rush it down to serving temperature of 150 or so. I want the temperature graph to look the same on the way down as it did on the way up - gradual, not steep. My 2 cents.

Awesome! Thanks for the helpful info. I’m going to wrap with pink butcher paper during the cook. After it’s done, do I rewrap with a new sheet of pink butcher paper or use foil?

 

[ynot2k]

We re-wrap with pink butcher paper here at my BBQ joint for a better presentation to customers. It also doesn't make as big a mess in the hot holding cabinet. Re-wrapping or not won't change the brisket.

 

[Rings Я Us]

http://smokingmeatforums.com/index.php?threads/pellet-smoker-brisket-fat-cap.259193/#post-1674327

 

[Scooba]

Thanks so much everyone! I will let y’all know how it goes after this weekend!