[BBQchef33]

200 degrees is a cooked, or overcooked brisket.... briskets can be done anywhere from 185 degrees to 205 degrees. but a 200 degree brisket, wrappped and cooler for 4 hours WILL be an overcooked brisket.


I would NEVER cooler a 200 degree brisket. Chances are that thing climbed to 210-215 degrees while it sat for 4 hours, overcooked, dried out and thats what you had.

If for some reason I ever had to cook to 200, i will tent and let it rest until temps started to drop, then (maybe) foil to hold.

for me, Temp is ONLY a guide as to when to start checking for doneness. I start checking with the probe at about 180-185 and judge from there, taking into account my projected hold time. If I need to hold for 4 hours, I would be taking a brisket out that still had some firmness/resistance to the probe test knowing its got 4 hours to finish under its own thermal load. That finishing/resting time is important to develop tenderness without drying out. i prefer to have them finish on their own heat load than under a heat source unless we will be eating it right away.