re: Texas Style Brisket - first time trying any pointers?

So what makes it "Texas Style" ?

quote:

---

It will matter. That's why people said to use butcher paper.

---

At least tell him the difference.

You end up with a more pot roasty type of brisket with foil. Very soft and not as smoke flavored with foil. No crutch at all results in a drier crunchy brisket with a lot more smoke flavor. Butcher paper is inbetween those two. Just have to figure out what you like.

Definitely use a thermom to see where you are but don’t cook to a temperature. Some briskets finish at 200° and some at 204° - 205°
When the brisket gets in the high 190s you can start probing for doneness, temp alone won’t tell you when it’s done.
Let it lay on the counter or wherever for a few minutes to let it cool off before you wrap it and put it in a cooler, this stops the cooking and keeps it from being like a roast.

quote:

---

You end up with a more pot roasty type of brisket with foil. Very soft and not as smoke flavored with foil. No crutch at all results in a drier crunchy brisket with a lot more smoke flavor. Butcher paper is inbetween those two. Just have to figure out what you like.

---

This has been my experience as well, as I've tried all three methods. Put me in the butcher paper camp. I do the same with my pork shoulders as well.

quote:

---

Put me in the butcher paper camp.

---

Same here. I used butcher paper the first time trying a brisket. Liked it so much, started using at for the second half or last third of pretty much all long smokes, for ribs and pork butts. Love the way it helps keep enough head and moister in, yet still allows the meat to “breathe”, unless foil, thereby not jacking up your bark.

quote:

---

And yet people say he has the best brisket in the country, so while he has a much different and better smoker than us, why not try and get as close to that as possible?

---

because salt, pepper, oak and butcher paper isnt how he does it, like he says in his videos.

he has 10 different bbq sauce recipes on the internet with im saying that it is the sauces he has in his restaurant....when none of them are.

quote:

---

Also, I know oak is the preferred wood, but I've had great success with mixing in hickory and pecan. In fact maybe my best brisket ever was with pecan because I was out of oak.

---

I've not tried pecan before and plan to give it a try next time.

quote:

---

And yet people say he has the best brisket in the country, so while he has a much different and better smoker than us, why not try and get as close to that as possible? And if the butcher paper is part of how he gets that "best brisket" that's something I'd probably emulate...not to mention it shortening the cook by a bit.

---

The way he does his brisket at his restaurant is not the same way he does it in his video. He lies about S&P only. He does use butcher paper, but he also cooks at a different temp because he is using several commercial smokers and is trying to move as much brisket as possible while still maintaining his high quality.

I am not telling you to do things differently if you like it the Franklin video way, but there are a lot of people out there that like the bark a bit crunchier and can start a cook a few hours earlier if need be. There are some that like different peppers and seasoning in their rub too. You got the briners and the injectors as well. You just got to find which way you like it the best. If this is your way, that's great, a lot people like it this way as it is the traditionalist way.

quote:

---

Also, I know oak is the preferred wood, but I've had great success with mixing in hickory and pecan. In fact maybe my best brisket ever was with pecan because I was out of oak.

---

I go 50/50 oak and pecan. I use pecan a lot, it's a great wood for smoking that I have a lot of access to.

S a l t & P e p p e r

A

L

T

&

P

E

P

P

E

R