When is brisket done?

[pjtexas1]

If probing thru paper cut a small slit over the thickest part of the flat to probe thru. Sometimes the paper will add some extra resistance.

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[Bob in St. Louis]

Smoke til 160 at the thickest part....
This is the last time you'll ever look at the meat temp. Because "officially", beef is edible at 125. But if you eat it now, it'll be the last time you ever smoke a brisket.

Wrap.
Pour entire thick/dark beer in the paper/foil.
Allow to continue to cook until the probe has no resistance. When I say "no resistance", I mean ZERO. RESISTANCE. Yes, despite what your brain says, this is actually possible.

Once it's this tender, (DO NOT UNWRAP) place the wrapped meat into a cambrio/cooler, and allow to rest. Like for a few hours. Three? Four? Yea. It's like that.

(Of course, if your "resting cooler" is outside and you live in Pennsylvania, and it's January and ten degrees, then (duh) you need to bring it in and rest at room temp).

Enjoy!

[Bob in St. Louis]

Oh.... The worst thing you can do is probe deep enough that you stab through the paper and drain the liquid gold.

[ebijack]

For me, probing is to inconsistent. Never checked a temp yet on brisket.
Similar to above posts. When I pick up a brisket, wrapped, unwrapped. It should be as flexible as when you first put it on. If the flat won't curve easily, it is not done. Easy to check while on the smoker.
The most important IMHO is the hold time. That is where the magic happens.

[sleebus.jones]

Originally Posted by SmittyJonz

Probe the thick part of the flat from the side. Ignore the point. If wrapped Open it up for 3-4 minutes when you pull it then wrap back up for hold.

Originally Posted by kevinstaggs

+1

Originally Posted by jermoQ

+2

Well crap. There's my problem. Now to see if there's a brisket in the freezer for this weekend.

[Taylormade]

Reminds me of the video posted here a while back where they asked the old pitmaster how long he cooks his ribs for. He said "hell, I don't know, they're done when they're done!"

[mstewart39]

This is my problem. I don't want to unwrap the brisket to probe it.
I unwrapped the last one and lost most of the "liquid gold". I typically like to probe a few areas, so I don't feel great about probing through the paper. And I don't feel great about unwrapping to probe.

From doing the unwrapped kamado briskets I know that it can / should get to probe with no resistance. I know what I'm looking for, I just can't get the logistics to work with a wrapped brisket!

So do people typically probe through the paper, or unwrap to probe?

[sudsandswine]

wrap the brisket and place it in a foil pan if you're that concerned about it..."liquid gold" doesn't matter a whole lot if you undercook your brisket anyway. One sheet of butcher paper doesn't measurably change the probing texture, especially once it's soaked in fat.

[pjtexas1]

You guys probing from the side...
What if the thickest part of the flat is too far in for your probe to reach? Not that I have ever had that issue.

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[Bob in St. Louis]

Probe through the paper.

[THoey1963]

Um, if your brisket comes out great on your kamado without wrapping, why are you wrapping it on the stick burner? Go nekkid young man, go nekkid...

If you want to collect the "liquid gold", put a pan below it...

[smoke ninja]

Originally Posted by THoey1963

Um, if your brisket comes out great on your kamado without wrapping, why are you wrapping it on the stick burner? Go nekkid young man, go nekkid...

If you want to collect the "liquid gold", put a pan below it...

kamodo style cookers have less airflow or convection. this makes bark form more slowly. sometimes it takes almost the whole cook to get the bark right.

[BuffettFan]

Originally Posted by 4ever3

“brisket is done at 172° but it’s a little tough to chew!

A little tough? A LITTLE???

Opening myself up to some ridicule here, but I didn't have a clue what I was doing at the time.
20 some years ago, I pulled my first brisket out of my brand new electric smoker at 140*.
It was the tastiest shoe I've ever eaten!

[THoey1963]

Originally Posted by smoke ninja

kamodo style cookers have less airflow or convection. this makes bark form more slowly. sometimes it takes almost the whole cook to get the bark right.

I can understand that, but not like you get too much bark on a stick burner. Why add an extra step when you are already trying a different cooker? I try to limit the number of complexities when trying something new. Small changes, figure out what works, what doesn't.

[mstewart39]

Originally Posted by THoey1963

Um, if your brisket comes out great on your kamado without wrapping, why are you wrapping it on the stick burner? Go nekkid young man, go nekkid...

If you want to collect the "liquid gold", put a pan below it...

The reason I tell myself for wrapping in the stick burner is that the air does not stay as moist as it does in the kamado.

The real reason is that I watched Aaron Franklin wrap brisket in his Youtube video. The problem is he just grabs it and wiggles it up & down in the video to determine when it is done, and I'm afraid I don't have that skill.

I guess I could try unwrapped in the stick burner, but so many people here seem to wrap. I just wish I had a good way to probe while it's wrapped. Maybe this weekend I'll try another brisket and either probe through the paper or try without.

Thanks for the input everyone!