Smoked a brisket all night at 175 degrees. Am going to finish it by bringing it up to 205 internal temperature. My question is should I just do that dry, wrap it, or wrap it with moisture to finish? What do you all do?
I DON'T smoke a brisket overnight! ๐ A brisket needs to be tender, but it also needs some texture.
I "BBQ" a brisket (high temp) for the first 2 hours, turning and basting it every 30 minutes. Once it gets a good exterior coating, I wrap it in three (my OCD thing! LOL!) layers of foil and maintain a temp of 250ยฐ (+/-) for up to 5 hours(+/-), or basically until the potato salad and baked beans are ready. The foil is to keep moisture in. Dry brisket is a travesty! If you haven't figured it out, I don't pay any attention to "internal temps"! Four or five hours at 250ยฐ (+/-) and internal temps will be sufficient.
Bought a pound of sliced brisket once that had no texture. It was like chewing a mouth full of BBQ flavored cotton! The bigger you chewed it the longer it got! ๐
If I ever go to Texas....Snow's is where I am going.
Louie Mueller's BBQ - Taylor, Texas One of THE top 10 BBQ joints in Texas. Be there at 11:00AM. Once they run out of meat; and they always do; they shut it down. Don't expect to have supper there.
The "Copeland Inn" right down the road at Copeland, Texas is another good bet!
Stay away from "Straight Eight" eateries. They serve meat right off the pit. Groovy presentation, but the meat isn't removed when it's "done". The meat is overcooked or dry. Goes back to that "texture" thang!
Did you smoke it with the smoker temp at 175*, or is 175* the temp of the meat right now?
Whatโs is the meat temp right now?
I usually smoke at 225* until the internal temp if the meat reaches 155-165*, this temp coincides with โ The Stallโ.
Then it gets wrapped in either butcher paper or foil and Cooke to 203*
Foil will reduce cooking time but also lessen the smoke ring. Only an issue in competition.
Butcher paper will allow for a better smoke ring, but it will add significantly to the time .
Smoke ring happens in the first four hours. Wrapping it towards the end shouldnโt make any difference. I go at 210 the whole time. Start looking for doneness after internal temp breaks 200.
I have done a few Briskets both in foil and in paper, my experience shows that smoking in paper increases the size of the ring, while foil stops it in its tracks. YMMV
Here is one of many videos that show same.
Give a man a fish and he eats for a day. Give a man a welfare check, a forty ounce malt liquor, a crack pipe, an Obama phone, free health insurance. and some Air Jordan's and he votes Democrat for a lifetime.
I use butcher paper you get a better bark with it.
God bless Texas----------------------- Old 300 I will remain what i am until the day I die- A HUNTER......Sitting Bull Its not how you pick the booger.. but where you put it !! Roger V Hunter
If I ever go to Texas....Snow's is where I am going.
Louie Mueller's BBQ - Taylor, Texas One of THE top 10 BBQ joints in Texas. Be there at 11:00AM. Once they run out of meat; and they always do; they shut it down. Don't expect to have supper there.
The "Copeland Inn" right down the road at Copeland, Texas is another good bet!
Stay away from "Straight Eight" eateries. They serve meat right off the pit. Groovy presentation, but the meat isn't removed when it's "done". The meat is overcooked or dry. Goes back to that "texture" thang!
The Coupland inn does have good BBQ, we go to the dancehall next door often. They make great catfish too.
Oh this is in my wheelhouse. I have a yoder smoker and have cooked brisket every way conceivable. From 225-350 degrees, wrapped, unwrapped, foil , butcher paper. All have been good. The faster you cook them the higher the final temperature up to 210F in 4 hours. I usually run a water pan in the smoker especially if its a low humidity day. I put it over the fire on the low rack and cook the brisket on the top rack. They are bottom up cookers you need to flip the meat a few times.
Typically I select the temperature based on when I want it to be done. Most of them I put them on early in the morning and cook them 10-12 hours wrap at 160ish foil if you want to catch the juice or butchers paper if you want the good firm bark. Rest them in a cooler for and hour or 2. I donโt do the overnight cooks anymore so iโm cooking 275-300 degrees and have it rested and ready for supper 6pm ish. I like to put pickle juice on them or worchestershire sauce before the dry rub. Sometimes I do both and i usually wrap them and they are done when they are done.
I donโt own a thermometer. Never used one. I go by feel and looks. Im not trying to win any contest. And I donโt go out and buy BBQ when I can make it myself. Most overpriced meat there is! Guess its the hard headed Scot and German mix. I dunno???
I cook all my stuff to where I can chew it with my bad choppers. Fallinโ apart tender. If you donโt like it like that, well Iโm sorry. ๐. Grandkids fight over my pork ribs! They are the same way.
Founder Ancient Order of the 1895 Winchester
"Come, shall we go and kill us venison? And yet it irks me the poor dappled fools, Being native burghers of this desert city, Should in their own confines with forked heads Have their round haunches gored."
I wrap in brown 30lb uncoated paper about half way thru stall , run it till goes limp 198-205 window then into a foil tray tented with foil and then into a sleeping bag till we're ready! No coolers for brisket if your pulling at 205 etc ...its done ..the cooler will over cook it ...it cost me The Jack in 2010
Temp is o.k. as a guideline for brisket, but when it hits 200* start checking it with a probe. When it goes in and out like butter......it's time. I've had some briskets go as high as 210-212 before they give it up.
This.
Temp probes just let you know when youโre getting there. Lift it up and see how it feels.
I wrap mine in foil and add a cup of coffee. It helps to tenderize it further. Sounds odd, but it works.
From a Dr. Barbecue tip?
Yep.
I've been in on a couple of briskets done that way. Excellent results. I don't know about tenderizing, but we used dark roast Louisiana coffee brewed strong and it added a nice dimension to the flavor of the au jus collected in the foil boat.
I use a lot of mesquite because itโs what I have here on the place. But I really donโt care for it much. I prefer post oak or live oak. In that order. If youโre not careful your mesquite will get way too hot. It doesnโt take much wood when using mesquite. I prefer the flavor of post oak and live oak too. Sometimes too much mesquite smoke to me, can leave a funky taste. I will cut it with pecan when I can get it. Or even gum bumelia wood. Some folks around here call it blackjack gum.
Just my musings.
Founder Ancient Order of the 1895 Winchester
"Come, shall we go and kill us venison? And yet it irks me the poor dappled fools, Being native burghers of this desert city, Should in their own confines with forked heads Have their round haunches gored."
Yes, for me mesquite is an accent rather than a primary wood.
Yeah!
Founder Ancient Order of the 1895 Winchester
"Come, shall we go and kill us venison? And yet it irks me the poor dappled fools, Being native burghers of this desert city, Should in their own confines with forked heads Have their round haunches gored."
Yes, for me mesquite is an accent rather than a primary wood.
Used to think if you didn't cook with mesquite, you didn't know squat about BBQ. Mesquite is fine, but too much and it leaves a bitter smoke taste in the meat. For taste, I'll take pecan wood. Great smoke rind, great smoke flavor and a much smoother flavor.
When I'm in south Texas, I cook exclusively with mesquite....because that's what's available! ๐
Some folks around here call it blackjack gum. Been using what I am told is Blackjack Oak. Really like it the best. Is that the same wood?
Blackjack oak is very similar to Post oak. Like first cousin. The bumelia tree I referenced is a type of gum. Some also call it gum elastic. Some even call it chittumwood. Donโt know where you are in Louisiana. But there should be some Tupelo Bumelia around you. A very similar tree to the one I was referencing.
Last edited by kaywoodie; 05/19/22.
Founder Ancient Order of the 1895 Winchester
"Come, shall we go and kill us venison? And yet it irks me the poor dappled fools, Being native burghers of this desert city, Should in their own confines with forked heads Have their round haunches gored."
