Brisket

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BB-que

Smoking Fanatic
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Nov 8, 2016
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I have a brisket I took to 195 and unfortunately my damn oven can only be at 125 or 170. Long story there but that’s the situation. I triple wrapped in foil and it’s gonna rest in at 125 for about 6 hours. No idea how this is gonna go. It definitely needs some carryover cook, it probed with slight resistance which is what I wanted since were not eating for 6-8 hours and I have a habit of carry-over cooking the hell out of them so wanted to try something new. Wish my oven could do 160 but no luck - I have to think there’s gonna be plenty of heat in that heavy wrap in a warm oven to finish her off.
 
I do mine at 170 . Works fine . I like to keep it above 140 myself .

Edit .
I did a better job of reading this time . I thought you were just holding it .
If I finish in the oven I use 275 . When it reaches temp I probe . If it's good I pull it out , let the oven cool down and the brisket IT to start to fall .
Then wrapp in paper and hold at 170 .
 
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I do mine at 170 . Works fine . I like to keep it above 140 myself .

Edit .
I did a better job of reading this time . I thought you were just holding it .
If I finish in the oven I use 275 . When it reaches temp I probe . If it's good I pull it out , let the oven cool down and the brisket IT to start to fall .
Then wrapp in paper and hold at 170 .
It came out really good. passed the tender and render tests, but more importantly passed the taste test. Some of the flat was a tad dry - so even pulling at 195 and resting for what ended up to be about 7 hours at 125 took it past where it would’ve been “perfect”. Having said that in the past I would have pulled when fully tender, call it 203, let it cool to stop the cooking, then coolered. Problem today was I knew it was gonna be a long time until sliced - I saw no way to keep it hot for that long outside of a heated hold. Due to my oven issues it was 125 or 170, and I know 170 for that long is gonna over cook it. Like I said, even pulling at 195 (and even less in some spots) and it still got a tad drier than ideal. But overall it was one of the more challenging positions I’ve been in on a brisket and had to make a call how to get tender and it came out a damn good brisket so happy with it. 10 years of cooking these things and you start to feel your way thru what to do in certain circumstances, cause as y’all know there’s no text book answer to brisket.

seasoned up with Holy Cow. Lots of CBP in this.
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I trim out alot of the kernel and fat seam so I can get seasoning and ultimately a nice bark on the top of the point. I remove all of the fat from the bottom of the point as well for the same reason. So much intramuscular fat you can get away with it.
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Know some are against it but I’m a wrapper once I have the bark I want. This one I waited until the 7 hr mark or so.
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very happy with it under the circumstances, couldn’t believe how fast it cooked. Looking back there was a confluence of factors that led to a quick cook.
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10 years of cooking these things and you start to feel your way thru what to do in certain circumstances, cause as y’all know there’s no text book answer to brisket.
Happy to hear it worked out , and that's the true sign of experience with this stuff . Shouldn't matter what you cook with if you know what you're doing . Nice work .
 
Some of the flat was a tad dry - so even pulling at 195 and resting for what ended up to be about 7 hours at 125 took it past where it would’ve been “perfect”

Brisket is not steak.

You are not going to believe me, but a tasty dry flat still has unmelted collagen. 195F is a bit on the low side. If you had used 170F for 3-5 hours (collagen melting temp when not submerged), then dropped to 125F (warming temp), that flat would have finished melting all the collagen.

An overcooked flat will crumble when attempting to slice it but still may be juicy. If it slices and tastes dry, it isn't done.
 
Brisket is not steak.

You are not going to believe me, but a tasty dry flat still has unmelted collagen. 195F is a bit on the low side. If you had used 170F for 3-5 hours (collagen melting temp when not submerged), then dropped to 125F (warming temp), that flat would have finished melting all the collagen.

An overcooked flat will crumble when attempting to slice it but still may be juicy. If it slices and tastes dry, it isn't done.
No I believe it, that actually makes alot of sense when I think about how the cook went. It finish up at 9am or whatever and I was scared to put it in a convection oven that high - I’ve overcooked so many carry over cooking snd I want gonna be there to tend to it . Thanks for the reply tho, I think you’re spot on now that I think of it. Just glad it was still good to the guests! However, I need to run to Costco tomorrow to get another one - man I love the challenge of brisket.
 
man I love the challenge of brisket.

Yep. It's a doozy until you figure it out. I pretty much go by feel alone in the flat on a packer. I got too many inconsistent results smoking to temp. Now I use the meat probe to tell me when it is tender IN THE FLAT, then take a look at the temp if I remember.

I did a foil-wrapped-at-175F brisket (the internal temp when I woke up) that at 207F internal temp still did not probe as tender as I like in the flat (yes, my probes are tested and accurate). Threw it wrapped in a 170F oven for 3.5 hours. Every inch of that packer sliced beautifully and literally melted in my mouth in a good way.
 
Yep. It's a doozy until you figure it out. I pretty much go by feel alone in the flat on a packer. I got too many inconsistent results smoking to temp. Now I use the meat probe to tell me when it is tender IN THE FLAT, then take a look at the temp if I remember.

I did a foil-wrapped-at-175F brisket (the internal temp when I woke up) that at 207F internal temp still did not probe as tender as I like in the flat (yes, my probes are tested and accurate). Threw it wrapped in a 170F oven for 3.5 hours. Every inch of that packer sliced beautifully and literally melted in my mouth in a good way.
Back to Costco for me to get it right. I was on a roll too for the past handful of em!
 
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