?s from this weekend's cook

So I cooked on Saturday for a joint sister's wedding/grandmother's 80th birthday bash. Did brisket, shoulders, baby backs, and salmon in a driving rain storm . 2 questions that I have from my latest Q experience....

1. The rain jacked my probes completely up. I was running one of those Weber remote jobs and a 'normal' unit (non-remote). When they got wet, they sent the temp readings through the roof. I kept having to dry them off and re-set them in the meat. Complete fiasco. Someone needs to invent a remote transmitter that you can leave IN the smoker. What do you all do to keep your probes dry in inclement weather?

2. This is probably the more difficult of the two.... Between my thermometer fiasco and lack of a pit bitch to help monitor things, my brisket didn't get pulled until it was 200+ degrees. I coolered it for 3 hours and when the rain really started coming down had to put it back into the smoker to stop the temp slide. Pulled it back out around 185 degrees. When I unfoiled it, it started to fall apart! Of course, the meat was too dry for my taste. Most of the people loved it (they're from South Florida.... so consider the audience!:lol. My question is, I farking loved the fall apart brisket that was beyond fork tender, but how can I get there without sacrificing the moisture? Can I run a scenario of heat-cooler-heat-cooler-heat-cooler always keeping the temp between say 170 and 180? Would 3-4 hours in that range allow all the collagen to break down but not cook the juices out?

Any advice/direction is much appreciated. :biggrin:

Mark said:

After your brisket is done smoking boil the $hit out of it overnight.

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Yeah, boiled brisket is always a fave at many Q restaurants that I frequent.

TexasGuppie said:

Fall-apart, moist brisket 12# for 14 hours, wrap in foil for two, place in ice-chest for two more. Always works for me...nice and moist and fall-apart tender.

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Herein lies my dilemma... When I began Q'ing I used to do the X hours per pound method and jerk the meat out once that time limit was up. Of course, as each piece of meat is different, I got huge variations in the quality of my Q (even during the same cook). Experience has taught me to be more a judge by feel than by time (although time does provide the guidelines). But I've never cooked a fall apart brisket (I mean this thing had NO connective tissue left and came apart in shreds at the slightest touch of a knife), so I guess I don't know what one 'feels like'. Of course, I've never cooked one to 200+ degrees either! Paul Kirk says you can do it and maintain juice, but I'm somewhat skeptical......

I accidently brought my brisket to 205 internal on Saturday. Coolered for 2 1/2 hours and was real tender. Was slightly dry due to the overcook.

CarbonToe said:

Well over here rain is the norm, and ziploc bags do the trick on waterproofing the probe transmitters. Be careful that the bags don't touch your pit!!!

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Yeah, I have a set where the display has a magnetic back that I stick to the side of the 'Dera. Works great and stays away from the smoke stack. I encountered a rain storm and put it in a ziploc and stuck it back to the side of the dera.... Holy melted plastic batman! At least now my smoker has a unique battle scar.....

MilitantSquatter said:

At the bash this weekend, Chad (Dave) and I got to discussing brisket techniques... He made a number of good points regarding the use of coolers after pulling from the pit...My biggest takeaway in that conversation was try to keep wrapped in foil and towel/blanket for a while without the cooler. After 30min- 1hr, then move to the cooler if that is what you plan to do. This should allow the brisket to come down a bit and then rest at a lower thermal load in the cooler, especially if other meats will be added.

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So my thinking would be.... Just as butts tend to be more tender the longer you can hold them in that 180-190 range while the collagen breaks down, would the same not hold true for brisket? Isn't coolering done for precisely that reason? So, if I were to attempt to cooler for upwards of 4-5 hours and hold the temps in that 180 range, wouldn't the brisket achieve that fall apart state while not getting dried out as tends to happen at 200+? I don't know if a cooler could hold that thermal load for such a time.... So my thought was to stick back in the smoker (or even an oven) once the temp falls below 180 to bring it back up.

I'm thinking an experiment is in order......

Solidkick said:

I got to visiting at the last contest and totally walked away from the pit at the most crucial time (too many libations mod) and came back to one at 203* and the other at 206*, would make really great brisket chili, but was no farking way to get a slice in the box, so I can relate! LOL

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And then that's the contrast to this whole dilemma.... Even if you could get a brisket to fall apart AND remain juicy, would you even want to? In my mind, the classic brisket is those beautiful 1/4 slices with a thick smoke ring, nice bark, and laying on a bed of greens in a turn-in box. Shreds of beef, although tasty, just isn't quite right. (The Omen remake mod.....) :roll: