finished another brisket

[southgadawg]

So I smoked another brisket for a get together yesterday. This one turned out pretty good, can't say it was my best, but it was probably top 5 but I'm pretty critical of my cooks.

I'll explain what I did and maybe someone can give me some tips here. After having cooked it around 10 hours unwrapped at 225, I wrapped it up with an IT of 166 in the point and about 180 in the flat. Still some good tug on the meat with the probe. I then stuck the thermometer in the thickest part of the flat and put it back on. After several hours went by I went to check the IT and it was at 200. I probed around the flat and the point. The point felt like you would expect (soft butterish) but the flat still had some tug to it. I then left it for about another 30min. Came back and the IT was now 203 and I probed around. still the same feel, no real change slight tug in the flat. I then let it go another 30 min thinking it must need more time to render. At this point it was at 206. I probed around and it still gave a slight tug, but wasn't bad. I have always heard you can over cook a brisket, so I didn't want this to turn into a $50 mistake and so I pulled it and put it into a cooler thinking there would be some carry over and it would loosen up a little more since I wasn't serving it for another 4 hours.

I went to cut it and it passed the bed test, but I wouldn't give it an A+. It also passed the pull test, but still I wouldn't give it an A+... Probably a B+ on both. It was really good, but there were a couple of places in the flat where it seemed it was slightly tough and didn't just pull apart with a gentle tug when you bit it. The point was fantastic, however.

My question is: Was this brisket underdone or over done? My gut tells me it needed to go a little more, but I'm always afraid of overcooking a brisket and it being tough because of that. At 206 I was getting a little nervous that maybe this had already happened based off how it felt when probing.

Any advice on how to know when the flat is perfectly done, undercooked, or overcooked would be great. Is the flat ever going to feel like the true soft butter feel like the point does when you probe it? I mean it's a pretty thick piece of meat with not near the amount of fat in it, so I always have a hard time seeing how it could feel like soft butter.

 

[73saint]

I feel like your post was a recreation of so many brisket cooks I’ve done. So finally i stopped putting a thermo in the brisket while she cooks. I go by site and feel now. Sure I probe for temps after 7 hrs and beyond, but now it’s more what I see (bark and jiggle) and how the probe feels when entering the meat. I did this one yesterday for a party...I didn’t get any sliced pics but the group flipped over the brisket. And by the end of the cook the flat was probe tender for sure. When I cut a notch off the tip it was juicy and perfect.

I did a 60 day dry aged brisket that I was so worried about overcooking that I ended up doing the same thing, Taking it off too soon. I’d bet 90% of the brisket mistakes are undercooking not over.

My .02.

 

[gmc2003]

I went to cut it and it passed the bed test, but I wouldn't give it an A+. It also passed the pull test, but still I wouldn't give it an A+... Probably a B+ on both. It was really good, but there were a couple of places in the flat where it seemed it was slightly tough and didn't just pull apart with a gentle tug when you bit it. The point was fantastic, however.

Since it passed both your tests and wasn't crumbly I would say underdone, but not by that much. It may also just be that particular brisket.

Not sure I've ever heard of the bed test

Chris

 

[texomakid]

Using 200 +/- has worked well for me. A chunk of meat that size with such variances in thickness, fat, ect.... is challenging to get IT uniform. I typically rotate my briskets (I cook fat side down) since one end of the Yoder cooks at a higher temp that the other and I actually use that to my advantage. I start with the Point to the higher temp end, rotate the flat to the higher end after about 12 hrs, then swap it back again ending with the point at the hotter end of the cooker. I pull 'em when the IT reaches 200+ (200 to 210). wrap it up and let it rest a few hours then slice cross grain when cutting into slices. Those points make great burnt ends as well.

Pics are always a plus so don't be shy about posting some pics. We'd liked to see your finished product!!

 

[Bearcarver]

This one was just a Small Flat, but it came out Pretty Good:
How-To---Brisket Flat


Bear

 

[jokensmoken]

I'm no expert by any means, but I've smoked probably 20 briskets now and I've never over cooked one however I under cooked several in the beginning...that being said, my points are almost always "more done" when the flat is perfect... but not what I would call over done...more times than not, when my flat is perfect to my liking the point is almost "fall apart" done, much like a fully smoked ready to pull pork butt...
I always probe for doneness starting at about 195°-198°F and probe every 25-30 minutes (just like you did) until it reaches my desired doneness.
I won't pull a brisket until a kabob skewer slides right through the flat in two places...
One in the thickest portion of the flat (usually that is just under the point) and one about 1/3 the distance in from the thin end of the flat... for me, both places must probe tender with no "tug" as you described.
Walt.