Will this Brisket be done in time for dinner tonight?

[OU812]

Ya, do it again, do it again.  ;D

I start the brisket the night before.

When the smoke time is done, dump the drip pan refill with HOT water, put a 8" x 11" foil pan, half full with room temp beer, on the rack under the rack the brisket is on and go to bed.

[SnellySmokesEm]

When the smoke time is done, dump the drip pan refill with HOT water, put a 8" x 11" foil pan, half full with room temp beer, on the rack under the rack the brisket is on and go to bed.

Beer makes EVERTHING better  ;)

[OU812]

When the smoke time is done, dump the drip pan refill with HOT water, put a 8" x 11" foil pan, half full with room temp beer, on the rack under the rack the brisket is on and go to bed.

Beer makes EVERTHING better  ;)

You got that right, along with a little help from my friend JD

[SnellySmokesEm]

You got that right, along with a little help from my friend JD

Now lets not leave out our friend Mr. Beam.  We would not want to upset anyone.

[Caneyscud]

 Not there in Co (darn it) so just my Bubba Gump Guesstimating.

12.75 hours on a 6.5 flat is likely - very likely way toooooooooooooo long - especially the 5.25 hours wrapped up in foil at 250.  So the combination of the long cook time and it being a flat (lean) contributed to the dryness.  Just remember, you can boil a piece a meat too long and it can get dry also - sounds illogical, but it happens.

The lack of smokiness was probably due to the time in the foil and the apple juice. 

First most of my briskets, if you can maintain 225 are done in 1 to 1.5 hours per pound.  Last Sept. did 9 in a trailer mounted smoking rotisserie (theory is that all rotate through all zones of the cooker therefore theoretically all are cooked at same temp).  All were 11 to 12 pounds.  But they started being done from 11 hours out to about 16 or maybe it was 18 hours.  I was having problems keeping temp steady as I fell asleep and did not set my alarm correctly - but still 1 hour to almost 1.5 hours per pound. 

Why was your meat dry when, by seeming simple logic, it should be moist - what with the foil and the apple juice.  Most meats are roughly 75% water, 20% protein, and 5% fat, carbohydrates, and assorted proteins.  Something made up of mostly water, cooked in water should be moist - right!  However, it doesn't work out that way - the "moistness" we desire is due to fat and collagen.

Juiciness and tenderness are influenced by the cut of meat you choose and how long the meat is cooked. The more a muscle is used, the stronger, and therefore tougher, the cut of meat will be - but thankfully the more fat and collagen it contains.  And because of the greater amount of collagen and lubricating fat in these cuts (think butts, shoulders, briskets, chucks) the more flavorful they are – but to be edible you must tenderize them before they finish cooking.  And that is why "low-n-slow" is our mantra.  Let me explain what likely happened and where your meat likely dried out in your cook.

When you put the brisket in the foil and in the oven - that is the point you technically stopped "barbecuing" and started braising.  Both are low-n-slow methods of cooking but with a difference - one is a dry method and the other a wet method.  A common definition of braising is - a method for cooking less tender cuts of meat by browning, covering and cooking meat in a small amount of liquid at a low temperature for a long period of time. 

Muscle (meat) is a wonderful piece of natural engineering. It is both strong and flexible at the same time. It consists of bundles of fibers held together with a natural glue, mostly collagen, and lubricated with pads of fat.  Heat basically screws up this engineering - it bursts the cell walls and disrupts the delicate chemistry. At about 130 deg F. the flexible strands of protein making up the muscle fibers shrink and tangle, squeezing out the lubricating (and tasty) fluids. As the temperature increases these tangles get tighter and firmer. Your meat gets smaller and tougher. The lubricating and flavorful juices separate from the tough dry meat. (BTW, these juices in the old days were called the "osmazome".  Brillat Savarin described the juices as "The soul of the meat.")

Braising uses wet heat, but another mechanism comes into play. The collagen that holds the muscle together dissolves slowly and the fat slowly melts.  This happens in both dry and wet cooking and is a marvelous thing.  With long, slow cooking, the collagen melts and turns to soft, succulent gelatin, providing the juiciness to tough cuts of meat.  This however is a comparatively slow process. If you cook it long enough for all of the collagen to turn to gelatin, and hot enough for the contraction of the meat to squeeze out the liquid, you have just the cooked meat fibers left. If they have been overcooked, you are left with irretrievably dry and stringy meat, even if it is swimming in boiling liquid.

One problem with the braising is that many cooks don't realize they are actually boiling the meat in steam.  And by sealing it up, you are likely contributing to overcooking.  In an oven at 250 or 300, the liquid will start to boil and the resulting steam heats the meat to a very high temperature compared to the same temperature of dry heat.

You may, at this point, be scratching your head.  We cook steaks over a 400+ degree fire and roast turkeys at 375 degrees.  So why is boiling at 212 degrees different?  First liquid and or steam is far more effective at transmitting heat than hot air. That is not necessarily a bad thing, just something you have to keep in mind.  Think about it.  Cook a chuck in a smoker at 225 and it takes hours to get tender.  But cut the chuck up into cubes and throw in a stew and it is tender in possibly minutes – certainly not hours – why, because the transfer of heat was faster.  But cook it too long and that same meat is dry.  Ever wonder why those chunks of chicken (at least I hope it is chicken) in canned chicken noodle soup are so dry even if they are in liquid – overcooked! 

One tip about using foil (the so-called "Texas Crutch), leave a little gap in the seal so some steam can escape.  Having a somewhat closed system, the liquid will quickly reach boiling point (212) and quickly over-cook the meat. But by allowing steam to escape the temperature of the liquid is kept down to around maybe 160 to 170 degrees - even in a 250 degree oven. The liquid will simmer and not boil producing a hopefully more tender result. 

Your brisket was probably approaching done when you kicked it up to 250.  The five hours in the sealed steam bath left it overcooked.  As you probably expect, a monitoring thermometer would have let you known this.  An important thing to remember in barbecuing the meat is done when IT is done.  You cannot consistently guess at doneness by going by time only – you have to confirm by IT and tenderness testing.  It ended up you probably tested after the piece was overcooked.  Oh and also remember, no amount of FTC will revive an overcooked piece of meat.

The so-called packer cut of brisket will help out tremendously - much more forgiving.     

[Pachanga]

Once again, proof positive that Caney really does have his doctorate.  We also know that his dissertation was written on great Q'ing.

Nice information.  Very nice.

And very well written.

Good luck and slow smoking,

Pachanga

[SnellySmokesEm]

Great post caneyscud.  This answered a question I have had but never asked.  Since my last pork butt smoke I wondered how a smoked butt could be more juicy and tender than one cooked in a crock pot.  I have cooked many buts in crock pots and had great success.  But after researching on the forum and applying those techniques in my last smoke I BBQ'd the most moist and tender pork butt I have ever had.  I could not believe I had smoked the butt and it was more tender and juicy than I had ever cooked in a crock pot.  Thanks for the great explanation!