Shouldn't have an impact on your bark.

Not resting meat is a definite no no. You need to give meat time to rest and reabsorb all of its juices and work through the fat.

Let it rest and cook it as low as possible. I cook mine at 225 tops and also inject it with a beef broth and rub combo.

But you have the space to keep your cattle for dinner. :D

This is about how I do it. I've had them reach temp and pulled wrapped and put in cooler with towels 4 hours ahead of dinner. Pull from cooler unwrap perfect temp for slicing and eating moist and juicy.

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The bigger the hunk of meat, the longer it needs to rest. If you didn't give it an hour or more, that's likely the reason it dried out on you.

As for this comment above on low and slow - that's arguable. My PBC cooks around 300. I've used propane smokers, offset stick burners, electric smokers, and the only thing that they give you better than my PBC is a better smoke ring (which is all aesthetic). The benefit of my PBC at 300 is I finish my brisket in half the time.

There have been a lot of comparative tests done and even some of the professional pit-masters have weighed in saying that there's really no discerinible difference between 225 and 275 when you're looking at things like tenderness and moisture retention.

My preference is to split the difference and sit in the 250/260 range. I've just not seen any credible evidence to support the idea that 225 is the ideal target temp for brisket.

Agreed.

I have noticed a difference in the smoke ring, though. From what I've read, that's more a reflection on the lower temp.

My PBC cooks between 300-315, depending on how much wood vs. charcoal I use. And I'll tell you, brisket and pulled pork in 5-6 hours rules.

Yeah, that's generally conceded. A thicker smoke ring will form at 225. And you might get a little more intense smoke flavor if you keep it low all the way through 145 degrees internal temp. But meat stops taking smoke above that so at that point, the flavor of the meat is all but set. And really, bark sets better at slightly higher temperatures.

So just thinking out loud, the best solution may be 225 until you hit the stall and then taking it up to 275 to get through the stall and set the bark well. Should give you the most smoke flavor you're going to get and probably still give you a roughly similar smoke ring (as I believe that the ring is similar; that chemical penetration that occurs to create the ring essentially stops when you hit the stall). In the process you probably cut your cook time by a couple of hours at least while also getting that nice 'briquette' style bark.

Anybody have any tips for a flat brisket? I just ruined my first one about 2 weeks ago. Internal temp was 190 when I pulled it off. I foiled and rested for an 1 hr and 45 minutes. Maybe I let it rest too long? It was about 6 lbs.

What was wrong with it? I just let one go to 200 over the weekend, and it turned out pretty good.

I wrapped in foil around 165 with like a 1/4 to 1/2 c. of Pepsi (I had Pepsi in the sauce, so it made sense).

Too small.

Not enough mass and not enough liquid for the fat to render and internal fibers to soften before it dries out.

Double it, cook that, freeze the other half.

I disagree. The brisket I did a month ago (or so) was only 7 pounds. Mine wasn't dry.

Oh, but one thing I have trouble with around here is finding one that's not super lean. If Inmem's was really well trimmed, that could be a problem. I have held out for ones that have a decent amount of fat on the cap still.

I bought it from Costco, they have good quality beef. I didn't trim much at all. After I sliced it, it just completely dried up, very fast. It had the look and texture of jerky on the outsides. I wrapped mine in foil around 170 and cooked until 190ish. Not sure what happened.

Eh guess I am a cooking noob that doesn't keep up with the times :)

Test you thermometer in a pan of water see what it reads at boil 212 is when water boils. If the thermometer cant be calibrated make note of the difference and adjust.


Oh and welcome back!


Dont submerge whole thing use tongs and dip sensor in.