when to pull Brisket??

mlc2013

I put the 15lb pre trimmed (I dont have a scale so cant really weigh it post trimming) brisket on 2:30am I slept through the temp alarm and didn't wrap the brisket till 1 hour after it hit 160 it was 8:00 am and the IT was 162 fat side and 172 thin side. now 1.5 hours later the thin side is at 200 and probes easily and the thick side is at 180-190 depending on where you probe but does not probe easily should I let it go longer or pull it and FTC?

kl8ton

I am assuming at that weight you have a full packer brisket.

You want to run until the thickest part of the flat probes easily.  203 internal is a temp some go to, but you should rely on feel and not temp.  

kl8ton

This is from somewhere on the forum.
Thickest part of the flat should probe like buttah.  Also, temp the thickest part of the flat.  Again, 203 is a target/guide.


Edit: also resist the urge to cut it up immediately when you pull it off.  If you want to eat ASAP, let that thing sit on the counter for at least a half hour rest.  @lousubcap
will be along shortly to tell you who is in charge of this cook.  (hint: it ain't you)

Thanks for posting your questions and good luck with the cook!  Please post pictures.  We like to look at them.

mlc2013

kl8ton said:

I am assuming at that weight you have a full packer brisket.

You want to run until the thickest part of the flat probes easily.  203 internal is a temp some go to, but you should rely on feel and not temp.  

Thanks for quick response!! Yes its a full packer brisket, the thin side feels great and very easy to probe but the thick side is still hard to probe. This is my first brisket so not sure what I should be feeling for other then ease of probing?

mlc2013

kl8ton 
Thank You, I was getting a little nervous. Who am I kidding I was extremely worried.

kl8ton

mlc2013 said:

kl8ton 
Thank You, I was getting a little nervous. Who am I kidding I was extremely worried.

No problem.  Things move quickly on this forum.  There are many eager to help.  Also, don't worry about when you wrapped it.  I have not wrapped a brisket yet.  I am not opposed to it.  You just need to listen to the cow.  

kl8ton

What temp is the egg running at?

mlc2013

240-255 all night. the drops are when I wrapped and when I added second probe the two times I probed with a thermapen in a panic

mlc2013

I moved probe 2 to the thickest part of the flat after it was reading 200+ in the point (as to not make me crazy worried) thats why you see a dip in temp on probe 2

The Cen-Tex Smoker

mlc2013 said:

I put the 15lb pre trimmed (I dont have a scale so cant really weigh it post trimming) brisket on 2:30am I slept through the temp alarm and didn't wrap the brisket till 1 hour after it hit 160 it was 8:00 am and the IT was 162 fat side and 172 thin side. now 1.5 hours later the thin side is at 200 and probes easily and the thick side is at 180-190 depending on where you probe but does not probe easily should I let it go longer or pull it and FTC?

You are getting close but not there yet. I pull when I can probe all the way through top to bottom in the thickest part with very little resistance. Feels like cake. There is resistance  there but not a lot. 

The Cen-Tex Smoker

If it’s not there by 200 pull it. You will have some carryover in the foil and I have found it comes together during the rest period more often than not. 

The Cen-Tex Smoker

How long can you rest it? Is this for lunch or later today? 

mlc2013

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

How long can you rest it? Is this for lunch or later today? 

dinner so we were planning 6:00 but can move that up or back an hour or so if needed

The Cen-Tex Smoker

That’s perfect. You’ll have a long rest and that’s what I was hoping for. This will smooth out a lotnofnthenrough edges. All the big brisket guys here (Franklin, Snows, Louie Mueller etc) all aay the rest is as important as the cook. When I learned that 5-6 years ago, it changed everything. Magic happens in that box.   

The Cen-Tex Smoker

Btw- once you are ready to rest it, let it sit out with a temp probe in it. Let it start to come down 5-10 degrees at least before putting it a cooler. You don’t want it in the upswing when you cooler it. That will make it overshoot your desired temp in the cooler. You want it still hot but on the way down. 

lousubcap

My input on your other thread-it's all about the feel.  

mlc2013

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

Btw- once you are ready to rest it, let it sit out with a temp probe in it. Let it start to come down 5-10 degrees at least before putting it a cooler. You don’t want it in the upswing when you cooler it. That will make it overshoot your desired temp in the cooler. You want it still hot but on the way down. 

Okay just to clarify the cooler aspect after letting the brisket come down 5-10 degrees I double rap in foil put in the bottom of the cooler then put towels over it to take up air space? Should I do anything to cooler before hand? should towels go under and over? should I remove the butcher paper before foiling?

mlc2013

Thanks everyone for all the help I am very happy I decided to go with the egg and found this forum I have learned a lot and im only just starting cant wait to see where this takes me!!!! I love all the help and ideas that I find everywhere on here.

JohnInCarolina

mlc2013 said:

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

Btw- once you are ready to rest it, let it sit out with a temp probe in it. Let it start to come down 5-10 degrees at least before putting it a cooler. You don’t want it in the upswing when you cooler it. That will make it overshoot your desired temp in the cooler. You want it still hot but on the way down. 

Okay just to clarify the cooler aspect after letting the brisket come down 5-10 degrees I double rap in foil put in the bottom of the cooler then put towels over it to take up air space? Should I do anything to cooler before hand? should towels go under and over? should I remove the butcher paper before foiling?

Wrap in foil, then put the brisket in the foil in the middle of a towel.  Wrap it up tightly and then put it in your cooler and close it.  The towel is taking up some of the air space but also protecting your cooler from the foil that can get very hot.  You can add additional towels on top if you want and that will help a little with holding until you're ready to serve.

The Cen-Tex Smoker

I never use foil or towels. I either leave it wrapped in paper or wrap in paper if I didn’t wrap during the cook. I wad up more paper and line the bottom of the cooler. If it’s going to be more than 2-3 hours, I wad up more paper and fill the top of the cooler over the brisket as well. Paper is an excellent insulator and I can throw it all away after and not have brisket flavored towels to deal with.

I have a lifetime supply of paper so that’s not a problem for me. If you don’t, you can use towels. If you do use towels, I would probably wrap the brisket in foil first just to help with the mess. 

mlc2013

Im going to leave it in the butcher paper it is in and wrap in until it cools and then foil, In the mean time I will layer the bottom of the cooler with scrap paper and then place the foiled brisket onto and add more paper as to not get my wife angry a if I happen to ruin any towels. I will see how this turns out thanks again

The Cen-Tex Smoker

mlc2013 said:

Im going to leave it in the butcher paper it is in and wrap in until it cools and then foil, In the mean time I will layer the bottom of the cooler with scrap paper and then place the foiled brisket onto and add more paper as to not get my wife angry a if I happen to ruin any towels. I will see how this turns out thanks again

It will ruin any towels you put in there. But, the good news is you’ll smell like brisket after every shower! 

Thatgrimguy

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

Btw- once you are ready to rest it, let it sit out with a temp probe in it. Let it start to come down 5-10 degrees at least before putting it a cooler. You don’t want it in the upswing when you cooler it. That will make it overshoot your desired temp in the cooler. You want it still hot but on the way down. 

100% this. Probing is very important but so much of the process and release happens in the rest. I shoot for 4 hours of rest and use 205 as my dead last temp before pulling. 

Magic happens during the rest.

mlc2013

okay I just removed the butchers paper so I can probe without any interference flat is at 190-195 depending on where I probe but it is not like butter yet but much easier then 185 hoping another 5 - 10 degrees might make a difference. Gotta tell you when I took off the paper the juices were plentiful and the smell is intoxicating and of course I licked my hands and the flavor of the juice is amazing I injected with 3.5 parts beef stock, 1.25 part apple juice, .75 part orange juice, .5 part apple cider vinegar. I have no idea where I got that concoction from but something in my gut was telling me to use it. I seasoned with montreal steak mix. Fingers crossed

lousubcap

Regarding the towels, I use clean garage quality towels for the packing material and the post wrap smell is great.  Of course, they end up back in the garage until wash time but the aroma lingers.  A down-stream bonus.  

mlc2013

well I can tell you I trimmed it wrong because when I just went to feel the brisket the flat and point separated. Should I remove the point and let cool cool and foil and leave the flat on until it is ready or just leave the point on until flat is good as well?
Sorry about the 2 threads I was panicking this morning and was impatient so started another with a direct question hoping to get immediate answers which I did. Had I waited 5 minutes longer I would have gotten the answer on first thread as well.

The Cen-Tex Smoker

Thatgrimguy said:

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

Btw- once you are ready to rest it, let it sit out with a temp probe in it. Let it start to come down 5-10 degrees at least before putting it a cooler. You don’t want it in the upswing when you cooler it. That will make it overshoot your desired temp in the cooler. You want it still hot but on the way down. 

100% this. Probing is very important but so much of the process and release happens in the rest. I shoot for 4 hours of rest and use 205 as my dead last temp before pulling. 

Magic happens during the rest.

Same here. 

The Cen-Tex Smoker

it will still be good. You can remove the point and cooler it now if its ready. 

The Cen-Tex Smoker

Nbd either way. It will be good. 

mlc2013

ill wait then so they come off together

Thatgrimguy

The flat should still have a little resistance. The point should feel like air when you probe it. Different feel