46 year old man's first brisket

Let it REST.

My first brisket was just the flat like yours…leather and all. Then I read this. Bought a packer and haven’t had a bad one since.


It’s a long read but I learned a lot of useful stuff about brisket. The short of it is: smoke for color and flavor (bark), crutch for texture and moistness. Collagen in the meat breaks down around 203F which is where the moistness and tenderness comes from, so don’t be afraid to let it sit around 200 until the meat has some give to it. I’ve gotten to the point where I don’t even bother with worrying about internal temps on my brisket (and a bunch of other stuff for that matter). I’m looking for some give when I poke at it with my finger. I pull it out of the crutch when the texture is right.

Once you get that down, their burnt ends recipe is worth a shot too.

cmo71k said:

My first brisket was just the flat like yours…leather and all. Then I read this. Bought a packer and haven’t had a bad one since.

Authentic Texas Style Smoked Brisket Recipe | Meathead's AmazingRibs.com

Behold the best smoked brisket recipe ever! Texas style brisket is more than a recipe, it is a concept and a goal.

amazingribs.com

It’s a long read but I learned a lot of useful stuff about brisket. The short of it is: smoke for color and flavor (bark), crutch for texture and moistness. Collagen in the meat breaks down around 203F which is where the moistness and tenderness comes from, so don’t be afraid to let it sit around 200 until the meat has some give to it. I’ve gotten to the point where I don’t even bother with worrying about internal temps on my brisket (and a bunch of other stuff for that matter). I’m looking for some give when I poke at it with my finger. I pull it out of the crutch when the texture is right.

Once you get that down, their burnt ends recipe is worth a shot too.

Click to expand...

Pretty much this.

Temp doesn't matter. Unless I'm comp cooking I just throw it on with a Meater in it so I can see Egg temp from my phone and know a ballpark when it's getting close. The more time it's in there with the lid shut the better.

When the meat hits 160 it starts to "Sweat" just like humans do. So you have a cooling effect of the hot smoke passing over the meat. This is the stall, and a lot of people wrap with butcher paper during the stall with beef tallow poured on the meat. This can kill the bark if it's not set. Personally I don't really care about the bark and time constraints plan my wrap or not. When you wrap you're effectively steaming the meat, the smoke flavor is already in there.

When it feels right and has a jiggle to it 203-205 ish, sometimes more. I'll add beef tallow and leave it wrapped in towels in a cooler for at least an hour, sometimes 2-3. If I'm doing it at home I'll just put the oven on 150 and put it in there in a pan wrapped then shut the oven off. I've left it a whole work day multiple times and it's still hot on the gloved fingers cutting it.

The snake method is still pretty direct heat in a kettle. I always had better luck with a pile on one side in an ash basket. 90% of the time I cook on a kettle I use an ash basket on one side, they heat up and cool down so fast with the daisy wheels that it's easier to control cooking by moving the meat and whatever else around.

Round 2.
2.17 lb chuck roast, not sure how 5-7 lb roast ended up at 2 but here we are.

Same snake but with added water pan and wet oak wood chips.
Temp probe in meat and on grill surface in the center.
Seems like the analog temp gauge in the kettle is really close to the digital gauge, to cook at 250* is barely any opening on the bottom vent, just like before.

Somebody tust tagged me in here from earlier...
Here's what I was doing 20 minutes ago. .
Just got done resting it...

Success!
Cooked at 260-300 until 205 then pulled and foil wrapped in the cooler to rest for 2 hours.

Pretty dang good for "not brisket".