Final IT question

SoCalBuilder · October 25, 2010, 10:50:53 AM

I am about to do my first brisket and first overnite smoke/cook. After reading Bubtrauma's post, I think I will smoke in the OBS and then transfer to the oven for the rest of the cook. This puts the brisket closer to the bedroom and the alarm on my themometer might be heard.
Then I got to thinking (probably first mistake), if your oven is fairly accurate and the finishing time is not a big issue, why not set the oven to the desired finish IT? Won't the beef and the oven eventually equalize? This way there is no way that I can over-cook the brisket. Low and slow seems to be the key and in the morning when I traipse into the kitchen in my jammies and see that the IT is really lagging, I can just boost the oven temp. There has to be some flaw to my thinking, so please chime in and let me know.
As always....Thanks

FLBentRider · October 25, 2010, 10:57:35 AM

You can do that if you like. It is going to take longer, and some would say that you risk drying it out the longer you cook it.

I usually cook butts and brisket around 205F, which pretty much accomplished the same thing.

bubtrauma · October 25, 2010, 01:10:14 PM

Not that I know anything but I thought I woulfd give you more of whathappened to me.

I took a oven thermometer and check my oven for about 2 hours to see and iron in on my oven temp control. The temp stayed at around 200 degrees going up to 225 and down to 200. I wanted it a little higher and turn the oven up just a tiny amount and went to bed. I SHOULD have watched it again cuz by 6:30 in the morning it was up to 250. I thought it was a little hot. My IT was 207 and I thought it was ruined. I turned it down and and left it till 8:30.

I took it out and checked the IT and it was from 198-203. ALSO when I put it into the oven I slashed some apple juice on it and covered it with foil in a low pan.

When I took it out there was 1/2 inch of liquid in the pan and it was hard to lift because it wanted to break.

My crust or spice layer was very moist. The next time I will put a few holes in the foil to let some moisture out.

I think I made some errors but it all worked out it was so moist it took a sharp knife to cut it. All the credit goes to the people here who helped

Bub

hal4uk · October 25, 2010, 01:57:14 PM

Quote from: bubtrauma on October 25, 2010, 01:10:14 PM
it was so moist it took a sharp knife to cut it.

Whuuuuuuut?

beefmann · October 25, 2010, 04:19:20 PM

id cook to 190 to 200, be careful if the meat is not uniform thickness the thinner part has a tendency to dry out, if you are going to cook more then one brisket then cut them up where the thicker part meats the thinner seasoning them and put the thicker pieces on the bottom and the thinner ones on top, and if possible put thermometers in all

Sailor · October 25, 2010, 04:41:46 PM

Quote from: hal4uk on October 25, 2010, 01:57:14 PM
Quote from: bubtrauma on October 25, 2010, 01:10:14 PM
it was so moist it took a sharp knife to cut it.
Whuuuuuuut?

I am a thinkin that he was a sayin....that if he used a dull knife it would have ended up as pulled brisket. A sharp knife allowed him to at least get some slices. That's my line of thinkin ;D

hal4uk · October 25, 2010, 04:50:31 PM

Quote from: Sailor on October 25, 2010, 04:41:46 PM
Quote from: hal4uk on October 25, 2010, 01:57:14 PM
Quote from: bubtrauma on October 25, 2010, 01:10:14 PM
it was so moist it took a sharp knife to cut it.
Whuuuuuuut?
I am a thinkin that he was a sayin....that if he used a dull knife it would have ended up as pulled brisket. A sharp knife allowed him to at least get some slices. That's my line of thinkin ;D

Ohhh... Ok, now it makes sense. ;)

ArnieM · October 25, 2010, 04:54:17 PM

Hal, you must be running low on fried chicken. ;D ;D

BuyLowSellHigh · October 25, 2010, 05:01:50 PM

In principle, it sounds fine. But the issue is how long you continue to apply heat after reaching that IT. At the 190-200 °F range the meat is well done and you will be running into completion of collagen conversion. Holding it at that temperature with continued application of heat will continue to cook it, even though the IT doesn't increase. Left too long and the end result will become dry and fibrous as the remaining fat and gelatin continue to exude from the meat and what little water remains is completely eliminated. As FLBR suggested, if it's open and uncovered you are headed down the jerky path. If you have a remote digital thermometer I'd use it instead. The key here is reaching an IT consistent with the desired degree of "doneness" (in the case of a brisket that usually means fairly complete collagen conversion) then arrest the cooking process by removing the heat source.

Quote from: bubtrauma on October 25, 2010, 01:10:14 PM
... ALSO when I put it into the oven I slashed some apple juice on it and covered it with foil in a low pan. ...

Bub

That probably explains why it finished much quicker than you anticipated. Braising often is faster than open roasting - a hot liquid environment transfer heat much more efficiently than an open dry environment.

SoCalBuilder · October 25, 2010, 05:55:35 PM

BLSH and the rest - THanks for the responses. I figured it was too simplistic to work. I had thought it might jerk-ify if I slept in too long. I guess I'll have to pick up a Maverick, although I'm not sure I can wait for the new one. I wonder how good the reception will be tucked under my pillow? Good food or not, a 4 a.m. alarm will not go over well with the bride :D :D

Pachanga · October 26, 2010, 07:14:53 AM

There is a lot written about using the Bradley as a smoke delivery device and then finishing in the oven. Yes, that will work. The meat will rise to an appropriate temperature. After all, you are just replacing one heat delivery device for another heat delivery device. -----------Or are you?

What one must consider is, "Are all heat delivery devices the same?"
"Is an oven the same heat delivery system as a Bradley?"
"Do they produce the same end results?"
"What final result am I looking for?"

Good luck and slow smoking,

Pachanga

SoCalBuilder · October 26, 2010, 08:37:22 AM

Pachanga...Just when I am at peace with my approach, you have to interject with a little philosophical common sense. I really want to leave the brisket in the Bradley till the end because I guess I want the feeling of capturing a different tradition. Even though I am not stoking a fire, pulling that finished product out of a dark, smoky place is somehow got to be more satisfying than removing it from the oven that I am so familiar with. I can also imagine that finishing the cook in the residual smoke-laden environment of the Bradley may effect the overall taste. At least that is what I want to think.

Finishing in the oven in my way of thinking is the best approach to err on the side of caution. Being as green as they come, I admit that I will feel more comfortable at this point on having the beef in the oven, the alarm/thermometer within earshot. As I get more smokes under my belt, I have no doubt that I will feel comfortable in it's and my own abilities.

Who knows, I may someday build a smokehouse and load up the backyard with stacks of hardwood, but somehow I doubt it. The Bradley makes it too easy and I'm too damn lazy to swing an axe.
Thanks, Randy

Final IT question

beefmann