Brisket too tender

Timmmer

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I cooked a brisket today. It was my first real attempt. I cooked it until it passed 165, then wrapped it in butcher paper and cooked it until it hit 205, then put it in a cooler wrapped in towels for 2 hours. When I pulled it out it just fell apart. It was delicious, but I would have liked to have been able to cut it, as well as have had some crispy bark. Thoughts on what you would do differently?
 
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The key isn't temperature. Between 195f and 205f, you are looking for "probe tender" like sticking the probe in butter. Some will be there at 195f, some at 203f some at 205f. No 2 pieces of meat are the same. So there is a variable. After it reaches 195f i keep an eye on temp. and check every few degrees for tenderness.
 
More details.

I put it in at 11pm at 185 degrees. Meat temp was 169 degrees just after 5:30am. I wrapped it and turned the smoker up to 225 at that point. It was moving along but it stalled around 11am and didn't seem to want to heat above the low 190's. Around 12:30 I kicked it up to 250 and we pulled it out at 2:30 at 205 degrees.

The meat itself had a very thick fat cap. I trimmed it to 1/4-1/2" in most places. There were some edges I missed that were much thicker than that where there was quite a bit of fat along one edge after cooking.

Here is a pic of the brisket. This is the thick end that tore apart just from lifting it out of the cooler.

Brisket.jpg
 
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Sounds like you followed all the standard procedures. It is always possible that it just happened to be the cut of meat. As previously mentioned, they can vary.
Check out the mad scientist BBQ 12 common brisket mistakes and see if perhaps one of these may have been the cause or contributed to your end result
 
No 2 pieces of meat are the same. So there is a variable. After it reaches 195f i keep an eye on temp. and check every few degrees for tenderness.
Sounds like you followed all the standard procedures. It is always possible that it just happened to be the cut of meat. As previously mentioned, they can vary.

WORD!!!
God is the only one who cooks perfect brisket...

Sounds to me like your cut would have been tender if wrapped less, cooked less, and rested less... now you tell me how you're supposed to know that... try the opposite on the next Brisket and watch it come out too tough.

THNX for the link Jake, I was lookin for that
 
THNX for the link Jake, I was lookin for that
I don't tend to follow people's accounts on YouTube, but I did for his. I enjoy his videos and the thought processes he uses to demonstrate things and test theories. Even his own thoughts are proven wrong sometimes, watch the one he did on a $99 smoker and cooking a brisket.
The 12 mistakes video really resonated with me, I have never let the brisket rest prior to putting it in the cooler to maintain temps. I have had exactly what the @op posted about, brisket falling apart after resting. It possibly could have been a result of it cooking more as it rested, because it was put in hot from the smoker and wrapped. It makes total sense because when I cooked the two briskets at the same time, it seemed to be worse after resting. Two hot briskets in a cooler, probably cooked for another hour afterwards
I look forward to trying to follow his instructions next time on some of the points he raised
 
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Dude, that is pretty mouth watering if ya ask me... I'd HIT THAT HARD!!!!
 
Ya, I just hate it when my brisket is too tender, not.

Just need an ultra sharp carving knife, better yet, a Light Saber :cool:
 
"is that a Hattori Hanzo you are carving that with??"

And I see some awesome brisket tacos with the leftovers, if there are any
DAM RIGHT!!!!!
 
Are you using a Traeger meat probe? If so did you calibrate it before inserting into your brisket. My Treager meat probe, even after recalibrating before each cook, was off by almost 10 degrees. So much so I don't even use the Treager meat probe anymore. If your meat probe is showing less than actual internal meat temperature (as proven by a more accurate device), then in reality you are overcooking your brisket, which would make it fall apart as you described.
 
Are you using a Traeger meat probe? If so did you calibrate it before inserting into your brisket. My Treager meat probe, even after recalibrating before each cook, was off by almost 10 degrees. So much so I don't even use the Treager meat probe anymore. If your meat probe is showing less than actual internal meat temperature (as proven by a more accurate device), then in reality you are overcooking your brisket, which would make it fall apart as you described.

No, I gave up on the Traeger meat probe after a couple of months. I use a Thermo Probe.
 
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