Probe test on foiled brisket?

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bmoorhouse

Knows what a fatty is.
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Cooking my first brisket this weekend on my KJ and have read page after page of different opinions on how best to do it.

One common point is that the brisket is done when it is probe tender, regardless of time or temp. For those of you that use the Texas Crutch method, how do you do this test? Do you just shoot for a target temperature or do you unwrap the foil, probe, and rewrap if necessary?

I plan on applying a salt free rub tonight and letting it sit overnight. Tomorrow morning, I will inject it with a beef broth/worcester sauce mixture and sprinkle with some salt before putting it on the grill at 225.

The only thing I have not decided yet is whether or not to foil it. If I can't use the probe test, I will probabyl just cook through the stall without foil.
 
When I have a large piece of meat foiled and need to probe it. I just probe right through the foil. You can feel when it pierces the foil and when it starts to push into the meat.
 
+1 Go ahead and jab that probe right through the foil.
 
When I wrap I put the brisket in an aluminum pan and wrap the top. When I probe I pull the foil back check it then if it needs more cook time I just wrap it back up and pop it back on the smoker. This helps me save all the juices and make handling the brisket a bit easier.
 
I also would suggest that you run the smoker at 250 instead of 225 degrees. Brisket can take a little more heat.
 
I probe through the foil, too. I take the tip of my Themapen and make a small hole, and then slid the probe in. I started doing it this way after my wife found a small sliver of foil embedded in a slice of brisket as we were getting out box ready at a competition. Apparently the probe tip pushed it into the meat. If she hadn't seen it, and the judges had, we would have been DQ'd, and that day we took first place in brisket with a perfect 180!
 
Thanks, everyone. I had read somewhere that breaking the foil seal was bad as it released the moisture it was trapping. Obviously, based on your experience, that won't be a problem.

One other thing I just thought of, if I apply the rub tonight, and inject tomorrow morning before cooking, will the injection wash away the rub? I just saw another video of someone injecting a brisket and the juices were seaping back out all over the place :( If that is a risk, perhaps I should inject and rub tonight. Any reason not to?
 
All very good advise. A BBQ judge once told he uses a foil pan with an open top. Then he covers for the last three hours. I have tried it and it works very well. But the probe test is what I use along with the temp.

Don't try too many methods. Stick with whatever you decide and then see if you like it. It's beef so how could you not like it? then change just one thing for the next one, and so on until you have perfected it. Takes a little time but it's worth it.

Best of luck with it.
 
One other thing I just thought of, if I apply the rub tonight, and inject tomorrow morning before cooking, will the injection wash away the rub? I just saw another video of someone injecting a brisket and the juices were seaping back out all over the place :( If that is a risk, perhaps I should inject and rub tonight. Any reason not to?
Click to expand...

I would inject tonight wrap in plastic put in the fridge and then first thing in the morning apply your rub before you start your smoker. Your brisket can come up to room temp while your smoker comes to temp.
 
bmoorhouse said:
One other thing I just thought of, if I apply the rub tonight, and inject tomorrow morning before cooking, will the injection wash away the rub? I just saw another video of someone injecting a brisket and the juices were seaping back out all over the place :( If that is a risk, perhaps I should inject and rub tonight. Any reason not to?
Click to expand...

You should probably inject before rubbing, not sure if it will rinse the rubb off, but it will be a lot cleaner process. If I inject I like to let the injection redistribute overnight and then rub just before going onto the smoker.
 
I used to jab a probe through the foil to check doneness.

Recently I have changed to using those disposable aluminum pans with a layer of foil over the top. When I do it this way it is easy to just open the foil lid and check then re-seal if needed.

When I was just wrapping in foil, it seemed I was always using 2-3 layers of HD foil and I still managed to rip a hole in the bottom of it somehow.
 
funugy said:
When I was just wrapping in foil, it seemed I was always using 2-3 layers of HD foil and I still managed to rip a hole in the bottom of it somehow.
Click to expand...

I think that is one of Murphy's Laws of BBQ :-D

funugy said:
Recently I have changed to using those disposable aluminum pans with a layer of foil over the top. When I do it this way it is easy to just open the foil lid and check then re-seal if needed.
Click to expand...

Do you notice a difference in the finished product? I foil very tightly to avoid steaming and in a pan it seems that is would steam the meat.
 
Do you notice a difference in the finished product? I foil very tightly to avoid steaming and in a pan it seems that is would steam the meat
Click to expand...

I don't see a difference and it seems to me once the meat is in an enclosed area with liquid some degree of steaming is going to happen anyway. Either way the meat is sitting in hot liquid.
 
Ron_L said:
Do you notice a difference in the finished product? I foil very tightly to avoid steaming and in a pan it seems that is would steam the meat.
Click to expand...

It's like what John Bowen said. I have not noticed a difference at all. I do try to get an appropriate sized pan though. Ya know, not use a 25lb turkey pan for a 5lb butt.

I have 4 different sized pans. They are cheap and thin. I get them at the dollar store, they cost a dollar.:tongue:
 
Personally, I use butcher paper instead of foil. The reason is that foil will ruin your bark, whereas Butcher paper will allow the meat to "breathe" better and keep your bark nice and crispy crunchy. To test, just ram that probe right through, but don't go all the way through. Post pictures of your cook too.
 
It's a horrible picture, but it is on the grill. I injected last night, applied the rub this morning, and had it on the grill by 0630.

Next step is to foil it at 150 degrees with some of the left over beef broth from the injection.

image.jpeg
 
Last edited:
Thanks. The meats internal temp is rising steadily. It rose right through 150 with no sign of stall, so I did not foil it. I read several posts from people who tent at 175, so I might do it then.

My only other problem is that I opened the grill to check the water level in the drip pan about 20 minutes ago, and though the temp of the grill came back up, it has steadied out at 210. I have opened the vents more, but it still isn't rising.
 
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