re: What's a good brisket rub?

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wrap the ribs in foil? Why would you, why would you not?

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Another reason for wrapping that I forgot to mention in the post above is when you wrap in foil you don't have to worry about burning the meat. I don't mind a little char on some beef items especially beef fajitas. But I don't like charred or burnt ribs.

I have never done ribs without wrapping. Usually when I buy ribs I always think that I will try a rack without wrapping. I always change my mind because I like ribs to be tender - almost fall off the bone tender and if they do fall off the bone that is okay also.

Here is thread where I have done wrapped ribs in the past.

https://www.tigerdroppings.com/rant/display.aspx?sp=50924525&b=45&s=1&p=50924525

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What internal temp do you cook to? At what temp do you wrap it. Thanks for the info, just going to get up early and start it instead of tonight.

Do you use pecan or oak/mesquite?

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I do the process (times) listed in the post above. That way I know exactly when it will be done.

I don't ever check the temperature of a brisket anymore. If you cook four hours uncovered and four hours covered at around 225 the brisket will be done.

I like mine to be "pulled" tender so I do five hours uncovered at 225 and four wrapped in foil as hot as my smoker will get. My BIL likes sliced so he does four hours unwrapped and four hours wrapped close to 225 the whole cook.

I always use pecan and hickory. I have had mesquite since I first got my smoker but have never used it. I use two pieces pecan for every hickory.

Don't forget that no matter how you cook it - unwrapped the whole time or a method similar to the one I use - you need to allow for an hour of rest time. Since mine are already wrapped in foil I just put a towel in the bottom of my Coleman cooler and set the brisket on top of the towel. I would let it rest at least an hour and it will still be nice and warm up to at least three hours.

Yep, thank you.

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Cooked it at 250 degrees in my offset smoker. Wrapped the brisket in paper at ~160 internal temp and pulled it at 200 internal if I remember correctly. Took all of 12 hours.

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About how long did it take for your brisket to get to 160 before you wrapped?

If your total cook was 12 hours and you wrapped at an internal temp of 160 and went to 200 (40 degrees wrapped) it must have taken nine, 10 or more hours to get to 160.

Don't you think that maybe if you wrapped a lot earlier in the cook (say maybe four hours instead of nine or ten) it would cut down significantly on the 12 hours spent smoking your nine pound flat? Possibly even cut the cook time down to maybe eight hours or less?

We only do packers but I'm sure it would be less time for a flat. But, that's the wonderful thing about this method you can cook a flat four and four and it will still be a lot better than one that lost a lot of it's juices and dried out for nine or 10 hours before being wrapped.

Or maybe it's like you said and

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you and bruddinlaw are defying the laws of cooking and doing something that NOBODY else can do.

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I don't know, after four years and 200 briskets, maybe you are right.

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wrap the ribs in foil? Why would you, why would you not?

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Here are a couple more reasons for wrapping.

Previously mentioned:
wrap for tenderness

Because butter, brown sugar, water, juice, wine, beer, coke, apple juice etc. can be added for extra flavor to go along with the steam.

don't have to worry about burning the meat

More information from Amazing ribs on the Texas crutch:

"practically all the top competitive barbecue teams use this technique for ribs, pork shoulder (butt), and brisket. It helps make meat more tender and juicy. It also has the added benefit of speeding the cooking process. It is a routine step in competition where every little incremental improvement is needed and if you are chasing that big prize money, you have to go for it.

The liquid mixes with the juices that drip from the meat and gently braises the meat. The liquid transmit heat to the meat better than air, speeding cooking.

the crutch prevents surface evaporation from the meat. Evaporation cools the meat, and that is what is responsible for the infamous "stall" a period of several hours where the meat's internal temp plateaus and beginners start to panic. With the crutch, the meat finishes cooking faster."



Over the years I have read enough about wrapping from people who smoke meat a lot more than I do and have seen every episode of BBQ Pittmasters and BBQ Pit Wars at least twice and have been convinced to do it. I wrap everything I smoke except for poultry.

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Not trying to flame but did you notice how everybody in this thread besides you questioned your cook time at that temp?

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No problem, and I don't have a problem with people who have never used this method questioning it. It works, the meat turns out great and I know when it will be done. If people want to continue to do it the old fashioned way that is fine with me. I like to have juicy, tender brisket that is ready when the people I am cooking for and/or myself are ready to eat.

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About 6 hours or so when I wrapped. I'm just suggesting you have bad thermometers

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So you smoked a nine pound wrapped brisket flat for six hours to raise the temperature 40 degrees after cooking it unwrapped for six hours?

I appreciate your concern for my thermometers but if you are cooking a nine pound flat that is 2 1/2" thick and wrapped for 6 hours and 12 hours total, then I am also concerned with your thermometers.

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I don't wrap until I have the bark nicely formed.

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Me too !!! I use Harry Soo's method of not putting water in the water pan of the WSM. This is a snippet of his Amazon review of the 18" WSM in 2010. Harry Soo of BBQ Pitmasters and "Smoked" on Amazon

"28 Grand Championships on this smoker and counting - Phase Three - When you cook meat you plan to eat, take a tip from me and don't use any water in the pan. When I cook, I just cover the water pan with foil top and bottom.when you cook without water in the pan. Dry heat allows the crust to form faster on the meat (called the bark)."

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Can a brisket be cooked in 8 hours? Absolutely...but at ~275 degrees.

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You are wrong. A large brisket cooked at 225 for eight hours with four hours being wrapped is cooked to perfection and is better than a nine pound flat cooked for 12 hours.

Here is someone who cooks hot and fast. He does a full packer that weighs over 12 pounds at 325 degrees for 4 1/2 hours TOTAL. We prefer to do low and slow, so we cook at 225 for eight. He has great looking pictures about half way down the page. Heck, if he can cook a brisket that looks that damn good in 4 1/2 hours at 325, if anything we may be over-doing ours a little cooking 8 hours at 225. But the method is fool-proof and the briskets turn out great.
https://ocbarbecue.blogspot.com/2013/08/barbecue-secret-number-14-how-to-get.html

"While the prepped brisket rests, fire up your smoker to 325 degrees F. Put the brisket on the smoker and let it cook for 2 1/2 hours. After 2 1/2 hours, Wrap the brisket with foil. Let the brisket continue to cook for about 2 more hours until it probes like "butta".

Salt, pepper, and a little garlic if you want. Put more rub than you think you need.

I use either apple or pecan, or mix of hickory and apple. Straight hickory gives a bit of a petroleum taste, and mesquite is too strong for my tastes on brisket.

I don't do neighborhood cookouts on my brisket, but I do cook them pretty often. In my smoker, using my thermometer, to get to temperature of 200 before wrapping in towels and resting, here is the required method...

4 hours of smoke at @ 275. Internal will be anywhere from 145 to 160. Every brisket is different, even though my temperatures are always the same. At the 4 hour point, triple wrap in foil alternating sides to lock in steam. Also add about 1/4 cup of beer, broth, or water. Place in 275 degree oven or smoker for around 3.5 hours until thermometer is reading 200. Remove, wrap in towels, and rest for an hour minimum.

I use thermometer because the difference in 195 and 215 is a brisket that is tough, and a brisket that you can't slice. If I were shredding, I wouldn't use thermometer because you can shred at either of those temps. In my cooking appliances, there isn't a packer that can be bought that will reach the correct internal temperature in 8 hours at 225 to slice and be fork tender.

Fwiw, I slice the brisket in half where the flat connects to the point and cook it separately from the point/flat combo. I started doing it this way because on about every 4th brisket, the flat reaches 200 around 20 minutes before the point/flat combo. It's not too often, but often enough where when you cook for the crowd I do at times, you better nail it or you'll be crucified. I don't want a dry flat and a nice point, or a flat that shreds when I try to cut it.

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In my cooking appliances, there isn't a packer that can be bought that will reach the correct internal temperature in 8 hours at 225 to slice and be fork tender.

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So you have tried it and it didn't work out for you?

It is amazing how some can make a statement like it is fact when they have never tried what they are saying can't work and are totally wrong. It's not like I happened to do this one time and fell asleep and thought that it was only cooked for eight hours. This is a fact that this method works.

What I am starting to notice with you two who have spoken up against this is that your brisket cooking processes are flawed. The last guy was able to increase his brisket temperature at a little over 25 degrees per hour cooking it unwrapped - he said it got to approximately 160 in 6 hours. Then he wraps in paper and it takes six hours to get it to increase by a total of 40 degrees or 6 degrees per hour. How in the hell does that happen? Something is very wrong with his process. 25 degrees an hour unwrapped vs 6 degrees an hour wrapped after it had already cooked 6 hours??

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I use thermometer because the difference in 195 and 215 is a brisket that is tough, and a brisket that you can't slice.

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Why do you bother triple wrapping if you use a thermometer? How long before you poke a hole in the foil? Do you put the thermometer in when you wrap?

From Amazing Ribs:

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You must seal the package tightly. No leaks. Use two sheets of double strength foil to be safe. In a fascinating series of experiments, the AmazingRibs.com science advisor Dr. Greg Blonder proved that if the crutch does not hug the meat, and especially if it leaks even a little, the meat will cool from evaporation and it will drastically slow cooking.

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Want to guess why I don't use a thermometer for briskets anymore?

I'm not exactly sure why your panties are in a wad. I told him explicitly what worked for me, and what hasn't worked for me. I have tried about every way to cook a brisket at one time or another through the years. I can appreciate that your way works fine for you. At the temperatures you cook, I can't get a brisket to the 203 or so degrees required to have a fork tender brisket. Fork tender isn't being able to shred it. That's possible at a much lower temp. If your way works for you, by all means do it. He asked for help, to which I replied. I didn't tell him your way doesn't work. Only that it doesn't work for me. Be confident in your abilities that you don't feel the need to tell everyone why they are wrong. Because we're not. You are cooking for a different purpose, and a different clientele. Your way wouldn't work for mine. It does for yours. Good luck.

If you wrap at 4 hours you don't know how to smoke a brisket. Maybe you can cook some Jewish grandmother oven brisket. Or some high temp brisket steaming variation. Which is great and all if that's what you're shooting for. But you don't know how to low and slow smoke a brisket. Which is a lot of people's goal. Myself included. Wrap @ 4 hours? GTFO