Too tender?

[Pflugerbill]

This past weekend I entered a brisket in the Cedar Park Fest cook off. The flavor of the brisket was awesome but it was a little too tender so one of the ends fell apart while being sliced.

The briskets were each about 9 pounds. They were cooked, fat side down, around 10.5 hours@225 or until they reached 195 internal temp. I wrapped them, fat side up, after 4 hours by placing them in a aluminum pan and covering with HD foil.

What do you do to ensure you are able to get a tender brisket yet not too tender?

Any pointers for a newb?

[FR8 Train]

Wrapping for six hours seems like a lot to me. I would try and only wrap for the last two or three hours.

[egghead]

Sounds like they were pretty tasty but also sounds like a long time in the foil.

I don't foil until they are done and then foil and into the cooler fat side up with a little beef broth for a minimum of an hour and up to four depending on dinner time.

But I don't do competitions either (wish I could work comps into my schedule just for the comraderie) - my only judge is my bride and whoever stops by

[BluDawg]

Don't foil them if that brisket was at 195 it was all but done If you had some time until turn in I would have foiled it and rested in an empty cooler until time to prep your box. JM2C

[3 star redneck]

At 195 its too late to wrap, I agree with blu dawg , I always take off pit sit wrapped brisket in my cambro or empty cooler......

[ceaves]

Wrap at 165, take off when done and tent the foil for a while so it'll stop cookin. Wrap back up in a empty cooler.

[Pflugerbill]

Sorry....I can see how my post was confusing.

Cooked them fat side down. At the 4 hr mark I wrapped and let them cook until the internal temp was 195.

It sounds like though I should just leave them alone until a couple of hours before they're finished then wrap them. Correct?

[BluDawg]

Why bother to foil at all? I never foil during a cook and I don't get obsessed with the meat temp either just cook it until it passes the poke test and foil during the resting period. Never had a dry one yet. and I have cooked a mess of brisket over the years.

[FR8 Train]

It sounds like though I should just leave them alone until a couple of hours before they're finished then wrap them. Correct?

Try wrapping at 165 or whenever the bark is where you like it. Normally 3 hours in wrap is plenty of time. Six is probably way too long.

[jtilk]

I'm in agreement with most here. I usually wrap around 160-165... but wrapping is optional, as there are pros and cons to foil. Foil will speed up the cooktime and protect it from smoke (if you're using mezquite or a real smokey wood this is helpful). Pending on how you like your bark, it will also soften the bark by steaming it. So it's basically a matter of preference.

[worchard]

The problem you have is probably what a lot of us have run into at sometime. The edges are going to be done (at a higher) temp than the middle that you probe and therefore will be a little more "tender". Usually this happens when you have a brisket with thinner edges than the middle. Try to cut down your edges some when you have this type of situation so the slices will be as thick at the end as they are in the middle.