At last, tender brisket

The Naked Whiz

Well, I have at last cooked a "fork tender" brisket. So, I can return these monk robes to amazon.com and I don't have to move to a monastery. I pulled it at 201 internal temp, wrapped in foil and placed in a cooler with towels for about 75 minutes, and it came out wonderful. I cooked at at 250-275 instead of 200-230 and the 6 pound flat was done in 9 hours. Whew, I thought I was going to have to get out the high school Latin books and start brushing up...[p]TNW

djm5x9

Whiz:[p]Here are my two recent brisket experiences in the past week with smoked cherry wood: [p]I did a 14 pound brisket last weekend with a couple of butts for a 22 hour cook. It was misty, cool and humid last weekend and I was able to stabilize the temperature in the 180º range. The butts were on the main grill and the brisket on an elevated grill above the butts. During the last three hours I raised the temperature to bout 225º to raise the internal of the brisket to 190º. The butts were about 200º internal. Both came out excellent.[p]Yesterday, cooked three 10 pound briskets on an elevated grill. Two were on the grill laying parallel with the thin portion of the brisket on the same side. The third was laid on top so it fit like a puzzle. There was space for smoke to reach all areas except the contact points of the upper brisket and the lower two. 200º dome was maintained for this cook and the temperature was raised a bit for the last three hours for an internal temperature of 190º in the thicker portion of the brisket. Again, an excellent sliceable, tender brisket with an excellent smoke ring.[p]Both cooks were done direct, but in the first cook the butts did shield the brisket to a degree. I think the success of the two cooks was in utilizing the upper dome of the cooker.[p]By the way, although I never took Latin in high school, I heard of folks that did . . . We are still looking for them . . .

WooDoggies

djm5x9,[p]Nice post, mang. I'm an advocate for cooking higher into the dome as well.... and I think it was you who first brought the concept to my attention.
Just makes sense for the longer cooks.[p]So what did you end up doing with those three 10lb briskets? [p]

djm5x9

WooDoggies:[p]One of the briskets done yesterday was for a friend. The remaining two and butts and brisket from last weekend were for future Brunswick stew cooks. Boy, the foodsaver is a real handy kitchen gadget for things like this.[p]
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WooDoggies

djm5x9,[p]Nice. Do you keep your deep freeze padlocked? :~)

AndyR

djm5x9,[p]Friend??!!?? Yeah, right.

djm5x9

Andy:[p]You are right . . . It was a Clifton command . . .
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The Naked Whiz

djm5x9,
Would you explain a little more about why you think the dome contributes to the success of the cook? [p]Thanks! TNW

djm5x9

Whiz:[p]In ceramic cookers the heat and moisture created by the burning lump charcoal does not go straight up the inside of the cooker and out the dome vent. There is a kind of slow upward swirling motion inside the empty cooker before the heat exits through the dome vent depending on how the vents are set. Meat placed on an elevated grill cooked direct capitalizes on this upper dome convection activity.[p]Try this with your next low and slow cook be it ribs, butts, or briskets and let me know what you think. By the way, cooking a couple of butts or briskets always turns out better for me than cooking just one. Butts of six pounds or greater and briskets ten pounds or more work best for me.

AndyR

djm5x9,[p]I knew it! [p]