Franklin's recommended brisket temp and times

[zwiller]

I think using your oven at 170F would be doable and as I mentioned SV. I have not seen any info on it but if you wrapped a brisket and placed in cooler it might stay in the proper range for 12hrs since you are putting it in around 200F. I see references of 10F lost in 4 hours so, for 12hrs that's 30F (200-30=170F). Some guys have compared the expensive coolers to cambrios and apparently coolers work quite well but the cambrio is designed for hotel pans etc.

 

[worm304]

I know it's on my list of equipment to buy, but I'm starting to build a food truck/mobile kitchen to have a dedicated workspace for business.

Yeah. They aren't cheap. I wasn't as serious as you but looked it up for the fun of it. Good luck with the future business venture! My crappy coleman will have to do. Or as mentioned I guess an over would do just fine if at home. For some reason I didn't think of that.

 

[jokensmoken]

Franklin? What does he know about brisket? LOL! I think he has some pretty good/informative YouTube videos.

If there's one thing I've leaned about any kind of cooking is if you cook to temperature you're never wrong.

Not caring if it's sacrilegious or not, I always separate the flat and point prior to smoking since they finish at different times.

I'll take "delicious" over "sacrilegious" any day of the week.

I've yet to use the "pink paper", but with the Amazon gift card I got from the kids at Christmas I've been considering to buy a roll...the 24", not the 18".

I humbly disagree about cooking to temperature.
I too was steadfast to temps but my results improved when I adopted the."probe tender" ideology.
Prior to that I had no real consiatancy...
A butt cooked to 203° one time would be perfect, the next off a bit...
Not true probing for tenderness...
Texture, moisture and pullability (is that even a word...lol) are much more constant...
With briskets I've found some to be perfect at 203 and some a bit tough (A BIT)...again not true if you probe...
I use IT a a gauge as to when to start paying close attention probing...
My IT target is 185° on briskets and buttsthen probe till done.

 

[hb99]

I humbly disagree about cooking to temperature.
I too was steadfast to temps but my results improved when I adopted the."probe tender" ideology.
Prior to that I had no real consiatancy...
A butt cooked to 203° one time would be perfect, the next off a bit...
Not true probing for tenderness...
Texture, moisture and pullability (is that even a word...lol) are much more constant...
With briskets I've found some to be perfect at 203 and some a bit tough (A BIT)...again not true if you probe...
I use IT a a gauge as to when to start paying close attention probing...
My IT target is 185° on briskets and buttsthen probe till done.

I hear you, but...we all get what we get and use what works for us. FWIW, I take my butts and briskets to 207F and let them sit at least 3 hours. No complaints yet...

 

[jokensmoken]

I hear you, but...we all get what we get and use what works for us. FWIW, I take my butts and briskets to 207F and let them sit at least 3 hours. No complaints yet...

I'm absolutely in agreement with "go with what you know" or what works...
I never tried letting the IT get that high when I was going by temp alone...203° was my target temp..
That could explain why I was inconsistent.
Now that I probe tenderness I dont check IT at the finish.
Based on what you're saying, I'm going to start...would sure be more convenient to have a "go to" temp that always worked.

 

[zwiller]

Do what you want but remember pulling brisket too early is the classic fail. Brisket is unique in that overdone is better than underdone.

 

[jokensmoken]

Do what you want but remember pulling brisket too early is the classic fail. Brisket is unique in that overdone is better than underdone.

That's why I probe now...since I started probing for tenderness to judge doneness my results have improved drastically and I'm never under cooked...
That being said, when I adopted probing for doneness I abandon checking IT beyond a certain point...
Based on hb99s comment about 207° never failing I am going to start measuring IT when my briskets are done using the probing technique to see if I can establish anything consistant...

 

[hb99]

To add to the above, I have never experienced that "mushy" meat (at 207F) that some people have mentioned.

In the beginning (being a newbie smoker), I was concerned about overcooking. I tried the rest at 1, 2, and 3 hours and 3 seems like the magic number to me. I think the longer 3 hour rest gives the meat time to stabilize itself.

 

[humdinger]

To add to the above, I have never experienced that "mushy" meat (at 207F) that some people have mentioned.

In the beginning (being a newbie smoker), I was concerned about overcooking. I tried the rest at 1, 2, and 3 hours and 3 seems like the magic number to me. I think the longer 3 hour rest gives the meat time to stabilize itself.

I agree, your extended rest time is probably the reason it doesn't end up mushy. When the meat is hot out of the cooker, the water in the meat is 'rushing' to escape (especially when cut or pulled), but a long rest allows the juices in the meat to stabilize and meat fibers to firm up a bit.

As always, stick with what works, but if time is ever an issue, maybe try cooking to a slightly lower finish temp and resting for only one hour. I'd be curious to see what the results were for that.

 

[bbqprep]

IMO, 12 hours at 165F while slowly coming down from 203...is still cooking.

Cooked meat in my Alto-Shaam on hold mode keeps the internal temperature of the meat about 10 degrees less than the setting. A setting of 165 will hold the meat at 155. I read somewhere that Aaron Franklin keeps his wrapped meats on cooling racks until the internal temperature drops low enough to put them into the hold over ovens. I cooked a 16 pound brisket last night on my Weber 16.75 using the Slow and Sear I just purchased. With vents adjusted correct the grate temp stayed at 225 from 8:30 pm until 5:00 am on one fill with briquets. I'm going to try the pull and open rest and then into the holdover after the internal hits 145.