Mike From R.I.
Well-known member
Temperature and feel.
Brisket Isn’t Tender
- Thread starter Walt
- Start date
Walt
New member
Thank you
gooose53
Active member
Time is a factor but, only part of cooking. Experience is a better factor. For example, I know most cases my pork butts are going to take about 10 hours at 240 degrees. I start checking them at 8 hours. I also use thermoworks or my meater temp gauges to help monitor my cook. You can't trust time only.Thank you
One other thing I do. The day before I rub the brisket, I apply course seal salt to the brisket all over and allow that to work the meat for 24 hours. I then wash the excess off and apply the rub. I always let the rub work for 2 days. Cook at 225-250 , wrap at internal temp of 160, then cook until I reach 195 and start checking the tenderness, Like the other guys said, that might not happen until it reaches 210. And most of all, be patient, it's worth the wait.
At 190 you're pulling a bit early. Get to 200 IT, and do the probe check and the wobble check (takes a little time to learn that one), see where you are on tenderness, when ready wrap in double layer of foil with a cup or so of liquid (apple juice, root beer, beef stock, etc.). Wrap that in a heavy towel and drop in a cooler and LET IT REST. That's when the magic happens. 2 hours at least, 3 better, and it will stay warm for 4 or more. I've done probably close to 90 briskets in my time and, except for the first couple, have always been a hit. It's my favorite cut of meat.
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The first thing I do when I get a brisket is I hold it up and balance it on my hands and see how it bends and then I'll grab both ends and manually bend it and just kind of see how flimsy it is. And then I don't go by any time on my pellet smoker I set it at 250 and when the brisket reached between 165 and 170 I wrap it and when it gets to 205 I start probing it with my meat thermometer not to really check the temperature but just to see how tender it is. If it feels sticky as I'm pushing the program I let it sit for another 10-15 minutes and once I push the probe in and there's no resistance then I take it out and let it set for an hour. Remember when you put it on your smoker if you're looking you ain't cooking get a probe that has Bluetooth on Wi-Fi and don't open your smoker until you need to or spray with apple juice.
Roadkillav8r
New member
For brisket, particularly choice or select I would cook it to 205 - 210. Another trick my brother does and it seems to work is if you have trouble getting past 190 he will pull it off wrap it in a towel and put it in a cooler for 5-6 hours. My son in law did the same thing and it was best ever.
Mack43
New member
I've only done one brisket at Christmas last that had a marvelous fat cap, smoked it at 250 till it hit 165(about 6 hours) then gave the apple/apple cider vinegar spritz and then wrapped it then brought to 205/210 degrees then wrapped the whole mess in one of those plastic grocery sacks and put in a cooler to rest for a couple hours and you could tear it with your fingers but I suggest slicing with a knife.
jshotsky
New member
Brisket needs to be over 200 to fully melt the connective tissue. Wrapping aside, you can tell when the brisket is 'done' by feel, or by sticking a fork or probe into it. If it slides in and out, it is done. If it doesn't, it is not done. It is really that simple.
cameraguy55
New member
I have oly cooked 1 brisket I only applied a rub did not marinate it .I did a 3 hour smoke on smoke setting first then increased temp to 250f and when it reached 165f internal I wrapped it and let it get to a IT of 203f then I removed it from my smoker wrapped it in a towel and put it in a cooler for 4 hours.When ready to skice I removed brisket from cooler unwrapped it the sliced across the grain doing this is very important because if one does not slice across the grain of the meat it will be tough.Not bragging but mine was pull apart tender
I always smoke at 250 for 3 hrs fat side up after 3 hrs wrap in peach butcher paper with a temperature probe at 200 degrees take it of and leave wrapped in butcher paper resting for 1 hour then slice opposite of the grain about a 1/4"or so thick
When choosing a brisket I fold it and if the ends touch its a winner
I go low n slow. 225 degrees until I reach my desired internal temperature
I also wrap after around 6 hours.
Hopefully this helps you
BBQnwithbitches
New member
Smoke 12 lb brisket at 175 for 6 hrs. Heavy smoke at that temp. Internal should be close to 120. Increase to 300 till 150 internal, wrap up and leave on till 185-190. It’s in cooler for an hour. So goooooooood n tender.
Unlikely.
If you are cooking properly, all grades should come out OK.. We usually smoke 6-8 briskets at a time and we work with a lot of grades. During covid, we hit a time when we could not even get Select - only Standard grade and a few Commercial, (and we could only get those through some fancy finagling), and they turned out OK. They had less marbling (as you would expect), but they were tender enough (connective tissues had broken down) because they were properly cooked.
When you are doing brisket (or chuck, other "tougher" cuts), you are looking for two kinds of "tenderness". One is from all the tough connective tissues breaking down, which is achieved by cooking the meat until it is hot enough for long enough for the tissue to break down. Nothing else will do it. The other kind of tenderness is primarily from marbling. The differences between grades will be much less pronounced than in in something like a steak because of the long, slow cooking process.
Our rule is cook to 205f then check for resistance (the probe and shake tests mentioned by others will do). Once the brisket is done, we take it off the heat, rewrap it and let it rest/cool for at least half an hour before putting it in a hotbox (or whatever you do) so it doesn't get overdone (and fall apart).
Once in a while you may find a brisket that is OK at 190, but it is not common. Keep in mind that time matters too - if it just barely hit 190 (wasn't there for very long), it just won't work.
Also - one other tip. Once you wrap, you might as well take it off the smoker and put it in the oven. It isn't picking up more smoke flavor through the wrap, and it will be easier to monitor in the oven. Also, it is cheaper in terms of fuel.
patrick.illingworth
New member
I follow very similar methods as ANT0407. Probably a few things I do different: I will typically wrap the end of my flat in foil after about 3 hours. I watch for my bark to set up and then wrap it in butchers paper, I will also add tallow. I have some Wagyu tallow I bought on Amazon but will also render the fat I trim into tallow as well. From what I’ve read, seen on YouTube and learned from talking to pit masters here in Austin, resting your brisket is critical to the out come and one of the bigger mistakes made. I rest mine over night, probably about 12-14 hours. I’ll rest it in the oven (leaving it wrapped) at 170 and then move it to a yeti overnight. I would recommend watching some videos from the mad scientist or Chud bbq. Also I smoke with fat cap down since our burner is at the bottom. Hope this helps
