Crunchy bark on brisket with resting?

[husker3in4]

Hi guys.. Ive been doing my briskets with decent success by just smoking them at 225 until done without wrapping. usually probe around 195 and they are usually done around 200+ degrees. The bark is nice and crunchy, but when I rest it I wrap it in foil, or I put it in a foil pan and cover tightly with foil and put in a cooler with towels. An hour or two later I will take it out to slice it but the bark isnt crunchy anymore (because it was in foil during the rest.). So how do you rest it and still get crunchy bark?

 

[chilerelleno]

Toss it in a 500° oven for a few minutes.

 

[chef jimmyj]

Why are you resting the brisket if it's done to your liking? Perfectly cooked meat,brisket, butt, loin, needs only 20-30 minutes on the counter. Foiling, coolers and all that rest time, is for meat done early, has to be transported or is not quite done. Smoke until perfectly done, probe tender, etc. Rest on the counter and eat!
Restaurants and comp guys foil and such because they either make huge quantities they have to hold or are hedging to have the meat ready for a deadline. And everyone of them slightly undercooked the meat and let carryover during the rest finish the cooking .
Resting in a cooler doesn't make Done meat MORE Done or any better. Unless you want mushy Brisket or Butt...JJ

 

[husker3in4]

Well thats half the problem! Large chunks of meat are a crapshoot as to when they are done, so more than likely I will put it on early so that it will be for sure done by game time. That means I will likely have to put it in a cambo to keep it hot for game time.

 

[petehalsted]

Give it 5 or 10 minutes uncovered before foiling, to let it cool a bit and halt the cooking. Immediately foiling is causing it to steam a bit much and softening your bark.

 

[husker3in4]

Oh, and Im smoking on a MES. Water pan or no?

 

[petehalsted]

99% of the time I don't use a water pan in my MES, the last coupe of times I did beef ribs in it I did, I felt beef needed the extra moisture.

With pork in the MES I NEVER use water, the MES is so tight and Pork has so much moisture to start with, that if you fill it up with pork, you can get a steam effect for the first bit of the smoke even without the water pan.

Bottom line I say if you are happy with your brisket and the bark didn't get to crispy then no need for water. I started adding with my beef ribs because I felt they were drying out a touch before finishing. Spritzing would help but the MES doesn't recover as well from opening the door, so that is why I used the water pan instead.

 

[husker3in4]

So do you fill it with water? sand? do you cover it after its full of whatever you are putting in it?

 

[petehalsted]

It all depends on what model MES and your preference. Bear has lots of info on the different models and setups. Mine is the Gen 2.5. When I got it I removed the water pan completely, and added some slate tiles to act as a heat shield/sink. Many fill with sand and cover with foil to act as heat sink. Others just cover with foil, nothing for heat sink. We I feel I need water, I use a small foil pan on the rack below what I am cooking.

 

[husker3in4]

I have a 20070910, its one of the older models.. maybe gen 1? It looks like this:

 

[petehalsted]

Definitely looks like Gen 1, definitely follow Bear's advice, he is the MES guru.

https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/threads/masterbuilt-smokers-bear’s-thoughts-findings.235820/
https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t...cognition-pictures-info-digital-units.246300/
https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/threads/avoid-temp-swings-in-mes-by-bear.208552/

 

[husker3in4]

.

 

[chef jimmyj]

Nice part of the MES is, you can turn the temp to 140 and hold the meat hot, with bark, no foiling, until ready to eat...JJ

 

[husker3in4]

So when its ready to be pulled, instead of wrapping and resting I can just leave it in there and drop the temp to 140?

 

[mike243]

Yes 140 is a standard temp for safe food holding but you can dry it out depending on how long,at this point a water pan might be your best buddy,crunchy bark is not my favorite ,nice dark med soft is my preference ,ymmv

 

[tallbm]

I smoke at 275F and never have an issue with bark going away after resting for hours. I often put my brisket on overnight and have it come off with plenty of spare time for lunch (usually comes off about 7-9am). So I rest until lunch time double foiled and wrapped in 3 bath towels and set it on the counter.

I'm wondering if the hotter temp helps with more bark. I often times have a patch or 2 that doesn't want to cut with the knife and often just pulls off as a chunk of bark. The bark people that come to eat love those super barky pieces, I could pass on them but they are edible and I do eat them when they cross the path of my mouth :D

Best of luck with it!

 

[chef jimmyj]

Higher temps causes more dehydration and a thicker bark. Stands up better to foil resting.
Holding at 140 is common in restaurants. There is some moisture loss over many hours, heck meat dries at room temp, but the bark holds better than foiling because most of the evaporation is only at the surface...JJ

 

[KrisUpInSmoke]

I'd like to follow the IT both through being wrapped in a cooler for 2 hours and sitting on the counter for a half hour.
Wrapping and resting reliably increases the IT of the meat by 5℉ to 10℉, which makes it more tender without risking drying it out by continuing to cook it. When you think about it, we really like it after it's gone to a higher temp than the one we pull it at.