brisket doneness

[watchdog56]

I made a beef brisket and it was ok but not fantastic. I used the WTS method but after 5 hours in smoker at 220 I moved it to the oven at 220 and it only took 2 1/2 more hours in oven. Total of 71/2 hours for a 7 lb flat. Seems fast for what I have been reading. Took IT to 190. It was moist but a little tough.

I was wondering,why take brisket to 190 when prime rib is medium at 135? Would it not be better to take brisket to say 140-145?

[Tenpoint5]

WD,
If you thought the brisket was tough at 190 try it at 140. Brisket is similar to a butt in that when you take it up to the 190-200º range the collagen fibers that hold the meat together and make it tough. Will melt into gelatin making the meat tender and juicy.
From my own experience it sounds to me like your probe was in a fat pocket that is why the Temp climbed up so quickly and you had a tough piece of meat. Brisket usually takes 10-14 hours to be complete using WTS recipe 

[watchdog56]

That is about how long I thought it should take. I did move the probe in a different spot and temp was the same at the time.

[pensrock]

How were you measuring the tower temp? If you were using the door thermometer it may have been hotter where the meat was positioned. I normally keep my temp in the 200-210 range.

[classicrockgriller]

If you had a trimmed flat, then that is different than a packer brisket.

The fat in the packer will help keep the meat moist but it takes longer to break down

and that keeps the IT temp down until the juice is cooked out.

Also your oven maybe running Hotter than you think.

[BuyLowSellHigh]

My guess is you did nothing wrong at all and the toughness as well as the apparent speedy cook are both reflecting the characteristics of the brisket you had (they can be extremely variable).  The only thing I can think of that you want to double check is that you did slice it across the grain.  Cross grain leaves you with short muscle fiber segments in your slices, which is best for tenderness vs. long fibers which leads to chewiness.

You said you had a 7 lb flat.  That's a pretty good size flat suggesting it came from a 13+ lbs whole brisket.  The more trimmed it was the bigger the parent brisket from which it was cut.  That's one clue - it came from a mature head that had been around a while.  Second, the flat is the lean portion - if yours had little internal fat or marbling (like it was a select grade) then you are dealing with one that will tend to be tough no matter who or how it's cooked and because of the lack of connective tissue to break up those long muscle fibers, and it will tend to cook fast.


Next time either use a whole brisket in the 8-10 lb range, or if going larger try to find Choice grade with good thickness in the flat, or if using a flat look for one in the 4- 5 lb range with some good marbling.

[watchdog56]

I did use my auber PID and I have a maverick et73 that is use to read my temps. It was pretty lean thoughout so maybe BLSH is right.

[classicrockgriller]

I did use my auber PID and I have a maverick et73 that is use to read my temps. It was pretty lean thoughout so maybe BLSH is right.

He's like Pachanga! I learn Something evertime he puts up a post. Thanks Eric. Good Info!

[TestRocket]

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:

In Cuba in 1955, Los Papines fused the violin-based music of charangas and the trumpet-based music of conjuntos Eduardo Davidson's La Pachanga (1959), recorded by Orquesta Sublime, introduced Cuba to a Colombian dance (which was confusingly called "charanga" in the USA). But, as Fidel Castro seized power in Cuba in 1959, the epicenter of Latin music moved to other islands and then south. Charanga and pachanga became brief fads in the USA, while the "son" left Cuba and migrated to Puerto Rico. [1]

As a dance, pachanga has been described as "a happy-go-lucky dance" of Cuban origin with a Charleston flavor due to the double bending and straightening of the knees. It is danced to the downbeat of four-four time to the usual mambo offbeat music characterized by the charanga instrumentation of flutes, violins, and drums.[1]

I'm still not sure this is helpful?

[Pachanga]

CRG,

Thanks for the shout out.  I must say, I read your experiments and posts with great interest.  You have improved my cooking knowledge.  Thanks to the many others on this board who so freely share.  I also agree with you that BLSH knows his business.

TestRocket,

Good info.

In my part of the world Pachanga is as follows:

Pachanga is a South Texas Mexican slang word meaning a wild rowdy fiesta (party) which usually involves barbeque, music, family (including the little ones and dogs), compadres and outdoor cooking.

My home is Pachanga central.  I have a small house on a spoil island on the intercoastal waterway 28 miles south of Corpus Christi by boat;  Pachanga Dos.  My boat is Pachanga Agua (water).

As used in a sentence:

We are throwing a Pachanga this weekend.  I'll supply the meat.  You bring the Cerveza.  And not that ++*xx^% skunky stuff you brought last time, you cheap *x**^%%%**.  Lone Star longnecks will be fine.

Good luck and may all your Pachangas be full of fun and food.

Pachanga

[Quarlow]

YEEEHAAAAAAW.

[BuyLowSellHigh]

CRG & Pachanga, you  both are too kind.  If I ever give back half of what I have already taken form both of you and your experience I will probably have done well.

Pachanga - if it wouldn't cost me 'bout $1k in fuel each way I'd run the ICW down to see you (and bring you some decent beer).  But that's a long haul from Galveston Bay.

[TestRocket]

Well, it makes a lot more sense now.  I thought CRG was just using a big word and I had to look it up. Now I really feel stupid!  :-[ LOL but  it's nice to meet cha!

[Caneyscud]

Now there are some dudes that do brisket hot and fast - haven't had the guts to try it yet. 

I've had quite a number of briskets take 1 hour or less per pound to get to temp.  Usually when it happens, it is somewhat of a surprise, and ahead of schedule - so they go into a cooler to wait for the rest to get done.  I can't for certain say that they were ever "tough".  My wife thinks brisket is tough no matter - to her anything that takes more effort to chew on that a scrambled egg is tough!   ;D  She gobbles it up anyways.  She ain't from the brisket belt - she's from up KY's way sorta - near Reelfoot, and only had country ham, fried whole catfish, chess pie, and nanner puddin to eat growing up. 

A brisket ain't never gonna be as baby butt tender as a tenderloin, but them old bigun's can get honery to chew on as BLSH pointed out.  I've cleared 6' fences being chased by some hamburger on the hoof, so darned honery that I'm sure that her brisket would be pert near inedible. 

[classicrockgriller]

Well, it makes a lot more sense now.  I thought CRG was just using a big word and I had to look it up. Now I really feel stupid!  :-[ LOL but  it’s nice to meet cha!

Me? I don't know any BIG words.

I only use the small word dictionary. ;D