Brisket Done Temp?

[SmokinGuitarPlayer]

Smoking a brisket (full packer) now ...can somebody tell me WHERE on the brisket to take the temp ? There seems to be about a 15 degree variance in different parts of the meat ... I have a tendency to overcook them and want to get it right this time.
thanks in advance.

[sfbbqguy]

I'm surprised no one has chimmed in here yet...

I'll give you what I've read from others on this site as I'm certainly no expert.

I think the general concencus is that the bisket is done when it's done. You know it's done when you stick a probe in and it slides in and out like the meat was soft butter.
Guys here refer to it as "budda"
From a temp stand point I think folks start checking for the budda feel around 180* or so with the understanding that a lot of the time it takes 200+ to get the budda feel.
Hope this helps.

[Markbb]

Originally Posted by sfbbqguy

I'm surprised no one has chimmed in here yet...

I'll give you what I've read from others on this site as I'm certainly no expert.

I think the general concencus is that the bisket is done when it's done. You know it's done when you stick a probe in and it slides in and out like the meat was soft butter.
Guys here refer to it as "budda"
From a temp stand point I think folks start checking for the budda feel around 180* or so with the understanding that a lot of the time it takes 200+ to get the budda feel.
Hope this helps.

This.....and you take your temp and probe test in the flat..

[Ron_L]

The best place to check for feel (and temp) is the thickest part of the flat.

[SmokinGuitarPlayer]

OK.....thanks ...yes, the flat was about 15 degrees lower in temp than the point... I'm at 188 in the flat now and it still seems tough...I overcooked the last couple I did ..I think I'll pull it and foil it and rest it at 190 in the flat and see what happens..thanks for the input.

[sfbbqguy]

Maybe someone else will chime in here but I think the concencus would be to LEAVE IT ON UNTIL IT GET LIKE BUDDA.

Take it off too soon and the collogen (sp) will not have broken down and it'll be tough.

[Digi]

you keep mentioning that you've "over" cooked them the last few times... I think the problem here is that you are actually under cooking them... if the collagen does not get a chance to break down then you will have tougher dryer meat that will give the appearance that it is over cooked... believe me when i say that it took a while to understand this and make myself leave a brisket on for much longer than it seems it should have been on there... I waited and waited for that "budda feel" that i kept hearing about... once i found it, i understood what they were talking about... here is what i do:

i monitor temps until i see the "stall zone"... once i see it break, then i check for feel because at this point temp is not important (the meat is essentially cooked thru). if the probe sliding in the flat does not feel almost the same as sliding in the point, i leave it for another hour and then check again. rinse, lather, repeat, until the "budda feel" has arrived. i know it feels like a hard thing to just let it sit there, but once the feel is there, it will be there for quite a while... so it's not likely that you will over cook it if checking it once an hour...

i start checking after the "stall zone break" because i've had a few that were done right away, and a few that have taken almost another 3 hrs to break down the collagen...

good luck to you... brisket is a funny thing...

[SmokinGuitarPlayer]

I'm pretty sure I haven't been undercooking them ....when sliced the meat fell apart (the flat) into crumples ... the points always are great ..love that fat!

[Big Poppa]

fred why didnt you ask the other guitar player?

[SmokinGuitarPlayer]

I figured you were too busy MAKIN guitars!

[Digi]

Originally Posted by SmokinGuitarPlayer

I'm pretty sure I haven't been undercooking them ....when sliced the meat fell apart (the flat) into crumples ... the points always are great ..love that fat!

that will still happen even though it's "under cooked"... meat falls apart but it's dry... i've been there...

[bbqfans]

Guys, I may be wrong,but I put my probe in the Point,the thickes part,and pull when it gets to 190*F. Flat is always sliceably firm,juicy and the fat in the point is mostly rendered out leaving great meat for brundt ends.(however the burndt ends are a consequence of the slicing of the meat as it is served-traditionally). But we usually don't have thay much meat to slice
If you are having a problem with dryness, try to add some beef broth and wrap it in aluminium foil and heat for an additional hour , then wrap and rest in a cooler.Should help
You can get your Bark back by a high heat sear for 5-10min.More hands on ,but I've saved some that way. I hate foil, but it does serve a purposeMostly cleanup
Hope I have helped, and
SMOKE HAPPY

[Cahusky]

Originally Posted by bbqfans

Guys, I may be wrong,but I put my probe in the Point,the thickes part,and pull when it gets to 190*F.

In my limited experience, if you did that you would have a flat that was closer to 170-175 and not near done.

[BigJimsBBQ]

On a Full Packer .. I always have my probe in the Flat like Ron. I "START" checking the point when the Flat probe reads 190' for probe friction. The other thing is what temp are you cooking at? My normal is 225-235' with no farkin peakin to add to the long cook time as it is...

P.S. - If you just want sliced ... my humble opinion is to just cook flats if you are serveing sliced.

[Bob E Que]

On my brisket, I aimed for 1 hour per pound when at 250F. i didn't even look at it before the end of the time.
I jabbed the probe in the middle of the side of the flat. It had the soft-as-butter texture. I checked the temp, in my case 195F.

I had it wrapped in a cooler for 2 hours, for the last hour with a dozen ears of smoked corn.
It was tender and moist.

Now you got me thinking I need to do another one this weekend.
Just to verify my results.