Not sure what I did right Brisket

My wife and I had given up on brisket. Local restaurant had good brisket, then not. Did 2 or 3 on my Treager, we were both less than impressed. Last week I ran cross a small brisket that we got in our quarter beef. With a pretty much cook it and get it over with attitude. It was trimmed proper by the butcher. So, I gave it a light salt rub, seasoned it with some Danos and my usual lots of garlic pepper. Ran the tenderizer over it. Wrapped it in plastic overnight. In the morning threw it on @225. At 4 hours I was supposed to meet my brother for lunch, a half hour away. I stuck it and it was dead nuts 170 degrees. I wrapped it in foil and threw it back on. When I got home 3 hours later. It was dead nuts 204. I pulled it and wrapped it in another layer of foil and towels in the cooler. It was done so early it got a 2-and-a-half-hour rest before supper. It was the best we’ve ever eaten. Very moist, tender and besides the cap the meat itself did not have an overabundance of fat. Not sure if it’s because we know who raised and butchered the beef or maybe the size. I’ve seen guys do 12#ers from Cosco with good luck. Wish I knew what was different?

Attachments:

1. 

   20230720_180250-scaled.jpg
   

I bet it was the lengthy rest you did. That allows all the moisture to go back into the meat. A lot of guys say to do it for several hours but so many people are impatient or short on time.

Yup getting it up to 204 and letting it rest was the ticket. Getting local beef that is probably a little leaner and letting what fat there is render is probably why it didn’t seem fattier too. Tough to beat a good brisket!

Took 4 attempts to post this. The second wrap of foil stopped the leaking when I pulled. Kept all he juices in.

Attachments:

1. 

   20230720_170036-scaled.jpg
   

That looks fantastic!

Brisket is so much less forgiving than pork or other bbq cuts. I went through quite a few average cooks before feeling like I got the hang of the brisket. A few things that have really helped me though:

Wrap in butcher paper partway through the cook. This won’t impede crust formation too much, but does help it cook a bit faster and seems to keep some moisture in. This will help push through the stall a bit too, which is nice.

The most important tip though, is NOT to rely on a temperature to take the brisket off the smoker. There is no magic number for brisket temperature wise. ‘The fork test’ is absolutely the best way to check whether a brisket is finished or not. Or use the temperature probe itself, that works too. Basically, insert it into the meat and it should go in smoothly, with little to no resistance. It should be like going through hot butter basically. If it’s tough, then let that thing cook for another 20-30 minutes and check it again. You may have to do this quite a few times before it’s done. I’ve taken brisket off at anything between like 196 and 210.

When doing the fork test, make sure you are checking both the flat AND the point, a lot of times one will be done before the other.

After that, resting is super important as others said. A couple wraps of foil, then wrap in a towel, and then throw in a cooler and that thing will stay piping hot for hours. I’d do your best to rest at least an hour if you can manage it.

stevenoak wrote:

seasoned it with some Danos

I was reading this quickly and thought you seasoned it with Drano.
It would probably be fork tender though!!

Glad you found out what you need to do!! Good briskets are sooooo good.

Nailed it. I agree with the others that the long rest was the ticket. I stopped going by temp other than just to see how it’s progressing. I wrap when I get the right bark and sticky fat on the outside and pull it when it’s tender. There should be minimal resistance going in and no resistance coming out. Rest at least an hour or longer if you have time.

Also, I’m not ashamed to admit that once I wrap I typically finish it in a 220* oven. I get prime briskets from Costco and they seem to cook faster than choice grade of the same size. I’ve had #15 ones butter tender anywhere from 6.5-9.5hrs. I usually keep my Smoky Mtn around 250*.

There is really few things better than brisket. Leftover brisket breakfast tacos or adding it to chili are a couple other favorites of mine.