Another Brisket Post

[tpack]

This was my largest brisket to ever smoke. It was 21 lbs. before trimming and about 15.5 lbs. after. It was also my first ever brisket to wrap with "pink butcher paper" instead of foil. It was choice instead of prime because that`s what I had in the freezer. Seasoned with kosher salt, coarse ground black pepper, garlic and onion powder and a lil bit of chili powder. It was on the smoker for 12 hours and wrapped @ 160-165 internal temp. Four more hours and it was probe tender on the flat at 205 and 210 on the point. I let it rest wrapped in a towel in a ice chest for 6 hours before slicing. It did have a more noticeable bark and a good smoke ring but was a little dry compared to the ones I have done in the past wrapped in foil. It was very tender and tasted great by the seasoning, but just a lil dry. I used a 50/50 mix of Rec Tec competition pellets and B&B Mesquite pellets. Temperature was checked with a Thermapen® Mk4 Thermometer and the smoker was a Rec Tec-590.

My conclusion: I prefer a foil wrapped brisket over paper wrapped and prime is better than choice.

[J Loves Huntin]

Making me hungry! Good looking slab of meat

[Ætheling]

Looks good. I have cooked quite a few in the 18-20 pound range. Never trimmed a sub prime brisket that lean before though.

[apc10]

I'd guess that the dryness was more due to the brisket being a choice than from the pink paper over foil. It looks good either way though.

[TxBowHntr]

Try the butcher paper wrap using a Prime brisket, I think you may change your mind. Another difference in butcher paper vs foil is the texture. Foil briskets steam more and the texture of the meat can be a bit "pot roasty". ! thing I have found that is a really good bridge, is to wrap tightly in butcher paper to finish cooking, and then a layer of tightly wrapped foil on top of the butcher paper to rest. The key is to make the wraps as tightly as possible.

[Smart]

Nice trim work assuming the fat cap is on the bottom..... looks good. Makes for a great bark set up. Scraping off fat is a waste of good bark and flavor

Some pieces of meat just don't finish up right. We take that chance when we take on brisket..lol

You finished it a little hot for me normally, but I've had to take a handful of them to 205 to get them to probe tender.

[dirtybay]

I like to leave 1/3 inch fat around it. If not slightly more. The fat really helps with moisture for me. Fat is easy to remove after the cook if anyone doesn't like it. Your method mirrors mine exactly except I pull from cooler after 3 hrs of resting. I really like using the pink butcher paper.

[sendit]

There are the variables to consider.

Heavily trimmed vs leaving fat on
Choice vs prime
Paper wrapped vs tin foil

Each one has it’s pros and cons
So there are some trade off’s. You will have to decide on what you desire more and go from there. Briskets are like truck debates, there is no one right answer.

[recar]

I have never heard of 6 hours in the cooler. I have always done 2 or 3. Is there a big difference or advantage to a longer resting period?

[c3products20]

It looks like you trimmed off the entire fat cap? It also looks really good!

[sotx]

I'd guess that the dryness was more due to the brisket being a choice than from the pink paper over foil. It looks good either way though.

This 100%

[Burntorange Bowhunter]

Man I miss the days when there was only one quality of brisket and it was .99 a pound.

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[RobinHood]

I'd guess that the dryness was more due to the brisket being a choice than from the pink paper over foil. It looks good either way though.

I agree with this. The grade of meat and marbling makes a world of difference in the final result.


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[RobinHood]

I have never heard of 6 hours in the cooler. I have always done 2 or 3. Is there a big difference or advantage to a longer resting period?

I had a brisket get finished earlier than anticipated and then to top it off, the guests weren’t ready to eat till later than I anticipated. The brisket ended up resting in the cooler for a total of 7 hours. It was probably my best brisket to date. I used to rest for 1-2 hours, but after seeing that, I rest longer now.


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[tpack]

Nice trim work assuming the fat cap is on the bottom..... looks good. Makes for a great bark set up. Scraping off fat is a waste of good bark and flavor

Some pieces of meat just don't finish up right. We take that chance when we take on brisket..lol

You finished it a little hot for me normally, but I've had to take a handful of them to 205 to get them to probe tender.

The fat cap is on the bottom of the trimmed picture. I left 1/4 inch and little more on the point because it faces the hot side of the smoker. I also trim off 75% of the fat in between the flat and point(always have).

I wanted to pull closer to 200 but the flat was not probe tender till it reached 205ish. The point was done at 205 but I cooked it till the flat was tender. I separate the 2 muscles and make chopped out of the point anyway.

The last 3-4 briskets I smoked I let rest 6-7 hours mostly due to getting done earlier than we wanted to eat. They have been some of the best briskets I`ve cooked.