Apple Juice & brisket?

[jbollier]

How, why and what is the procedure?

[Consiglieri]

For whatever reason, AJ is a nice mop for ribs, pork butt, and brisket.  Plus, brisket can dry out over a protracted smoke.  Gizmo taught me a pretty cool technique for cooking a moist brisket (I have a brisket working this way right now).  Here's his post

I always get whole packer briskets.  11 to 14 pound range.  I think the weight may be as important as the grade.  Too light and there is not enough fat inside to render, flavor, and moisturize.  To heavy and you are paying for a lot of fat that will just be discarded.  I cut it in half - actually where the thickness starts to increase so they two halfs will individually cook evenly.  The fat cap side goes on top rack.  I smoke for 4 hours at 210.  After the smoke, I preheat the house oven (you could use the Bradley if you want) and prepare 2 foil pans with some apple juice and sometimes some Jack Daniels or red wine, or what ever flavorings (about 1/8 to 1/4 inch in bottom).  I put probes in each and cover with foil and pop it into the oven at 210 to 215.  One the IT is reached, (the two pieces usually are not done at the same time) I will pull it out of the oven and let it rest before slicing.  You can also put into a cooler, microwave (with no power), etc. to maintain some temp.  For me, holding the meat at the desired IT for a little while helps for the rendering and tenderizing.  The liquid in the bottom braises the meat and creates some moisture in the environment which should help keep the meat from drying out.  Taking the meat too far or too long at IT can render all the liquid out and therefore may cause some of the dryness.  I have in the past posted some info on temp, it, and times that I gleened from another site that dealt with why one turns out dry and the other doesn't.  It addresses box temp vs. IT temp as they posted a relationship that should be followed based on the box temp.  Someday I'll have to get some science behind it with ideal box temps, times, IT, and oven temps after boating for perfect every time.