Sorry to beat a dead horse, but....moisture retention - brisket

[Gunsmokers]

but...figure I'd add to the walloping...

The point always comes out fantastic. The flat, great flavor, but tends to be on the dry side. I do the briskets unwrapped as I LOVE the flavor and crispy meat candy bark. I try for a target temp of 250° with the probe measured on the grate the brisket sets on. Having the other probe on the point section on the meat. the brisket gets pulled when internal temp between 199-202°.

USDA Prime. For prep the fat cap stays on (fat side down when cooking) and inject with beef broth about 8 hours prior, after I have applied my dry rub. When the cooker is up to it's 250° temp the meat goes in. As mentioned there's no wrap technique and the brisket gets rotated halfway through...takes between 14-16 hours on a full 14-19 lbs brisket.

The brisket is always on the tasty side, but just want to amp up the moisture in the flat - is that possible?

Is the unwaxed butcher paper something that really works? Will is mush my bark. My very first briskets were wrapped around the 160° in foil until the end of the cook and the bark was...very soft... so hence my enjoying the unwrapped style for the last 5 years...

Any thoughts, links, tips, prayers welcome ~ thanks!

[Jerod Broussard]

The flat is one of the leanest muscles on the cow and we are taking it 40+ degrees past well-done. Hence the dry nature, and the reason we like to leave a little fat cap to provide moistness to an otherwise dry piece of meat. I've never amped up any moistness by wrapping or injecting. It is what it is. Meats cooked way past well-done are moist due to rendered fat and melted collagen, not "water moistness."

For the most moist brisket don't cook flat, just point.

[FireMan]

Say most moist fast ten times & see what ya get!

[Gunsmokers]

The flat is one of the leanest muscles on the cow and we are taking it 40+ degrees past well-done. Hence the dry nature, and the reason we like to leave a little fat cap to provide moistness to an otherwise dry piece of meat. I've never amped up any moistness by wrapping or injecting. It is what it is. Meats cooked way past well-done are moist due to rendered fat and melted collagen, not "water moistness."

For the most moist brisket don't cook flat, just point.

Right on Jerod, I dig the point, and your point of fact . Sadly, some people just don't care for anything with fat (too bad as they are missing the flavor). Reckon I'll just introduce a little BBQ sauce to the situation. The flat is great when chopped up for chili or a sandwich....

[Jerod Broussard]

Meathead's Brisket Juice https://amazingribs.com/tested-recip...barbecue-juice

[klflowers]

+1 on the BBQ juice. Dip slices of the flat in that stuff and watch people swoon.

[Ahumadora]

+2 on the juice. I teach a 8 hr bbq class without 1 drop of bbq sauce in sight most times.

[Troutman]

I'll take a different approach. I like to inject with broth as well but I add to that a little tri-phosphate and a touch of MSG. The phosphate helps with moisture retention, think of it like little water magnets. I also wrap in butcher paper religiously now. Yes you don't get as deep a bark as going nekkid, but you do get a good bark. The key is to wait until after the stall then wrap.

To be honest, on full packers I also lop off the skinny end. You will never get one of those to come out moist so make burger grind out of it or my favorite pastrami. Of course there's always foil, but if you want good bark and a non-pot roast finish, avoid foil at all costs.

Here's one wrapped in paper....

[ofelles]

fireman Just when I start to take you seriously , you come up with that! :-)

[fzxdoc]

Ditto on the injection concoction--works really well.

I still like a foil wrap (no added liquid) around 180°F or so. Tried butcher paper. Boy was that messy! I guess I just didn't get the hang of it. Maybe I'll give it another go with my next briskie.

K.

[Richard Chrz]

I am just learning the trimming part, but, I my current belief, you set your cook up for a win at time of trimming, making things uniform, removing ridges in and rounding the corners etc, keeping the smoke running a circle, not being kind of deflected per say.

[fzxdoc]

Usually when I have done prime briskets, they are probe tender somewhere between 190 and 195°F. They never get taken up to 202°. Choice briskets are a different story--they're almost never tender until they reach 203°F and sometimes higher.

Maybe you're taking those prime briskets up too high? Just a thought.

Kathryn

[Foehn Watts]

This tale might help: Some years ago, went to a party and had delicious smoked brisket, flat, was not prime. It was quite moist. I asked how it was done.

The brisket had been smoked, directly on the grill of a Weber kettle, using indirect heat for an hour or so, then it was placed into a home-made aluminum foil bowl. The foil bowl was pretty closely fitted and it was open at the top . The meat continued to cook, all its juices were caught in the bowl, until tender.

I tried this at home (brisket definitely NOT prime, and I don't know if it was even choice) and had very good results. The brisket was smokey and had essentially braised in its own juices.

Of course YMMV. If you try this, I hope yours comes out as good as mine did!

[JoeSousa]

I usually try to go unwrapped with my briskets as I too love the bark. But the flats are always juuuuust slightly less moist than I would like. No injecting or anything like that. They are definitely edible and delicious and there is some moisture but a bit more wouldn't be bad.

On my last cook though I wrapped them in peach butcher paper when they hit 150 and let them go wrapped the rest of the way. I did sacrifice a bit of the bark but the increased moisture in the flat was a good trade off.

[Richard Chrz]

(Really I am not qualified to give advice yet, but, this just what I am noticing in my own cooks). I am not sure brisket is meant to be cooked to 203, or... My first few cooks I was so focused on these numbers I see, and yes, they got me typically a really good cook, and probably consistently will win you applause in effort and taste in a backyard bbq, so, they are fairly safe. But, I think I have seen (and sense you mentioned you do not wrap), neither do I yet, well, I do for holding temp after the cook, not for cooking. But, I find the longer you keep your (this style cut) in the lower ranges, and keeping the cook as close to 225 as possible, and a good internal cooker environment, the meat is done way before, the 203, but, again, I am sure there are so many meat variables as well, in different choice, prime, etc.. if it just sits there at 187 and sits, and sits, I am going to have fantastic Q at 190. I just know it. (well, so far).lol But, then there are people in the fast and hot camp that are knocking it out of the park it appears, so... really, it is all just a fun thing to figure out from one cook to the next.

[Potkettleblack]

Isn’t this beating a dead cow?

[Santamarina]

I don’t wrap until the very end - because bark. When trimming I leave a little extra fat on the flat and that seems to help.