Smoking Brisket Question?

[veryolddog]

Hello Everyone,

Every time I read someones thread about smoking a brisket, at the end of the process, the smoker always removes the brisket wraps it in tin foil, then wraps it in towels and usually places it in an insulated cooler. It rests for two hours holding its heat and then it is ready to serve nice and juicy.

Ok......why do this if there is a similar alternative available. Why can't the Brisket be foiled and wrapped after it is removed from the smoker and then placed in your home oven at 150 or 175 degrees and let it sit there resting for two hours. Would this not accomplish the same thing?

Your thoughts, please.

With kind regards,

Ed

[smokeasaurus]

After foiling the brisket you can finish it in the oven to save on pellets or charcoal.

[flbentrider]

You can certainly hold it in the oven.

I use the cooler since it:

1. Doesn't use the oven, which may be needed for another item, and the cooler requires no electricity.

2. It is easier to get in the car than the oven, if the brisket has an alternative serving destination, such as Dolphins Stadium parking lot.

[IR2dum]

VOD, real Texans think it is sacrilege to "finish it in the oven"; however, I almost always put a finished brisket in an unused oven for its time in FTC. Now on special occasions, when the brisket is stubborn and decides to go late into the night before it reaches its final IT of 205 degrees, I might have to put it in a 225 degree oven until it is done. I was born and raised in Texas, but when this comes to light, I will be disinherited.

And by the way, I'll see you at Wurstfest in November.

[flbentrider]

Once you wrap in it foil, you might as well put it in the oven.

I don't wrap until it is at the target IT.

I don't like the texture of the bark if it gets wrapped in the "stall"

[IR2dum]

I don't wrap until it is at the target IT.

Me, too. I only wrap in foil when it is finished.

[sliding_billy]

Regarding your original question of holding in the oven instead of FTC... As mentioned, portability, needing the oven for other things and FTC not requiring a fuel source are the big reasons.  Also, IMO  the insulation of the FTC is superior to just foiling and putting in the oven at a holding temp when it comes to distributing moisture and allowing the meat to rest.

[veryolddog]

Thanks for that feedback. Now for a more difficult followup question. What temperature do you cook your brisket even through the stall foiling or not foiling?

thanks,

Ed

[flbentrider]

We like 195-205 - it depends on how much resistance the probe gives - It's a "feel" thing.

[Hub]

After foiling the brisket you can finish it in the oven to save on pellets or charcoal.

I do this all the time at home.  Electricity for my Maytag wall oven is a lot cheaper than pellets.

One note though -- "resting" means letting the meat come down in temperature a little and the FTC or Cambro being unheated will allow that.  If you put the brisket in the oven at, say, 170, it is going to continue to cook a bit. 

As to temperature question:  I cook at 250-265 until internal is 195-200.  Foiling saves a lot of time otherwise lost to the stall and if you foil at about 145-150 you'll still get nice bark if you use a fairly salty rub.

Hub

[sliding_billy]

225-250 until internal of 195-205 then FTC.  Remember that internal temp is not an absolute (and also remember to test multiple spots) for doneness.  A probe inserting like a knife through butter will tell you when it is done.