Montreal Beef
- Butterbean
- Moderator
- Posts: 1955
- Joined: Mon Mar 05, 2012 04:10
- Location: South Georgia
I think being tough or dry and stringy is the common problem with briskets and it took me a long time before I learned how to cook them properly on a consistent basis since there is a little margin for error. There seems to be a narrow window of goodness you have to find and outside of the window it goes to extremes.
What typically happens is the meat temp will rise to around 160-165F then it will go into a stall. Depending on the grade of meat or the manner it was trimmed will determine the amount of stall time. Sometimes it will stall for hours and if you get impatient and monkey with the heat it will come back to haunt you with a dry product. You just have to be patient because its during the stall that a lot of good is going on - I think.
In a way I do use steam because the wood has a fair amount of moisture in it so its not dry heat. Also, the rub forms a bark which serves as foil to some degree. IMO, the key is to be patient and get a good bark and shoot for an internal temp of around 196F. At this point its the most tender - the fat is rendered but not cooked out. Under this its not rendered enough but over 206F the fat will render out and it will be dry and stringy. But basically the sweet spot is between 190-204F internal temp but you have to be careful when it gets in this neighborhood because the temp changes quickly.
Another way you can test the doneness is picking the brisket up in the center. When done it should fold like a wet noodle and be very limp.
I still don't know how to slice it as thin as I see some people slice it for sandwiches because it so tender it just makes it difficult. I wonder if cooling it, slicing it and then steaming the sliced meat isn't the secret to those really thin slices you see. But it could be my lack of knife skills.
Redzed, with all the time in this and the insanely high prices of briskets which is a junk cut of meat - $20 isn't sounding that far out of line. Maybe a little. But I don't think you could come out selling them for less than $10.
Bob, I thought the addition of the dill in the rub was ingenious. It sort of primes you taste buds for the pickles.![Laughing :lol:](./images/smilies/icon_lol.gif)
What typically happens is the meat temp will rise to around 160-165F then it will go into a stall. Depending on the grade of meat or the manner it was trimmed will determine the amount of stall time. Sometimes it will stall for hours and if you get impatient and monkey with the heat it will come back to haunt you with a dry product. You just have to be patient because its during the stall that a lot of good is going on - I think.
In a way I do use steam because the wood has a fair amount of moisture in it so its not dry heat. Also, the rub forms a bark which serves as foil to some degree. IMO, the key is to be patient and get a good bark and shoot for an internal temp of around 196F. At this point its the most tender - the fat is rendered but not cooked out. Under this its not rendered enough but over 206F the fat will render out and it will be dry and stringy. But basically the sweet spot is between 190-204F internal temp but you have to be careful when it gets in this neighborhood because the temp changes quickly.
Another way you can test the doneness is picking the brisket up in the center. When done it should fold like a wet noodle and be very limp.
I still don't know how to slice it as thin as I see some people slice it for sandwiches because it so tender it just makes it difficult. I wonder if cooling it, slicing it and then steaming the sliced meat isn't the secret to those really thin slices you see. But it could be my lack of knife skills.
Redzed, with all the time in this and the insanely high prices of briskets which is a junk cut of meat - $20 isn't sounding that far out of line. Maybe a little. But I don't think you could come out selling them for less than $10.
Bob, I thought the addition of the dill in the rub was ingenious. It sort of primes you taste buds for the pickles.
![Laughing :lol:](./images/smilies/icon_lol.gif)
- Butterbean
- Moderator
- Posts: 1955
- Joined: Mon Mar 05, 2012 04:10
- Location: South Georgia
I hope it helps. These things can be a bugger to cook right. Another thing worth mentioning is the odd shape of the cut and the varying thicknesses. This adds to the difficulty and there is really no way to completely get around it but you can shore your bets by thinking averages.
As you know, in most meats you want to stick the meat probe in the thickest portion of the cut but with a brisket I think it more important to stick the probe at the point where its the average thickness of the whole cut. Dong this, you should be able to maximize the amount of meat that cooks to perfection because there will always be those thin areas which overcook and become burnt ends. Some prefer this but you'll always have them so no need in making more than necessary. The other thing is when trimming the brisket make a conscious effort to trim the fat in such a way to make the cut as even as possible in thickness. These are just things I try to keep in mind and I think are helpful. Good luck.
As you know, in most meats you want to stick the meat probe in the thickest portion of the cut but with a brisket I think it more important to stick the probe at the point where its the average thickness of the whole cut. Dong this, you should be able to maximize the amount of meat that cooks to perfection because there will always be those thin areas which overcook and become burnt ends. Some prefer this but you'll always have them so no need in making more than necessary. The other thing is when trimming the brisket make a conscious effort to trim the fat in such a way to make the cut as even as possible in thickness. These are just things I try to keep in mind and I think are helpful. Good luck.
Came here via the link by Bob, lots of good info here, especially the rub. I did a commercial corned beef point a few weeks back and it came out kinda meh. Smoked it for 2 hrs then into the pressure cooker, but it really didn't pick up any smoke flavor. I didn't attempt to cook it on the smoker, so no bark formation either. I think I'll have better luck with it with the above info. Thx BB!