Calling all brisket gurus! What's the done internal temp for brisket? REC I'm using says

I never take the internal temp for meat that I slow roast in the oven - I probably should!

I do pork shoulder/butt and beef brisket in a 275-300 degree oven for the day. The reason I choose these is because I don't perceive them as "fussy", ie needing a lot of attention and precise timing of removal from the heat as other cuts like loin/tenderloin.

 
It takes practice. I have a turkey fryer thermometer with a long tip clipped to the chimney...

...vent so I can monitor the temperature at the far end of the smoker more accurately. It is furthest from the heat source, so I know what amounts to the MINIMUM temperature when the smoke exits the smoker. There is also a built-in thermometer in the lid that says "Warm - IDEAL - HOT", but I find if I keep it in the "IDEAL" range, my chimney thermometer can register as high as 300 to 350/375. That's too hot.

I want the temperature at the chimney to be no hotter than 250, because that means the smoke chamber is between 250 and 270. Plus, if I am smoking more than one piece of meat, I put the heaviest one nearest the heat source, and the smaller pieces at the far end. Then I rotate each piece according to how it looks when I (infrequently) open the smoker to check the temp of the meat itself.

Keep in mind that my ambient outside temperature is also gonna run around 102 to 112 or more.

It is a dance, and like any good dancer, I have to practice as often as possible.

Michael

 
Hmm, I know that a boneless chuck roast takes roughly 2-1/2 hrs @ 350, but I've been doing that for

eons just as my mom always roasted hers. On a brand new cut of meat (to me!) plus it was one I was making for someone else, I wanted/needed more precision.

I am still in awe of deb-in-MI telling me she cooks brisket 3/4 of the way through (w/ no thermometer reading!) and then finishes it the next day. And my hat is off to Michael in Phoenix with his smoker that has different cooking temperatures at different ends of the smoker. I can only imagine the total poundage of shoe leather I would produce while practicing w/ brisket by using either of those 2 roasting methods before I could even come close to decent output!

I know it merely takes practice, though. I used to watch the chefs grilling meats where I waited tables through college, and they would simply press on or pinch the steak or pork chop or chicken, etc. and know if it were done. They all had asbestos fingers! I'm grateful digital cooking thermometers have come into vogue. ha!

 
I think cooking at 350* (and I almost equate 300* to that also) does a different thing

to the meat proteins and it is not possible to reach that temperature (190*). I think the meat temp would be in the 170* range and then just continue to dry out if left to continue to cook for a longer time (which you are not doing, of course, with your mother's recipe). The proteins are stiffened with the higher temperature.
Braising at low temps(below 300*) or doing pulled pork or brisket (without liquid) causes the connective tissue (that makes meat tough in brisket and butts) to break down and the meat becomes meltingly tender.

I find brisket to be much more difficult to predictably get to that good tender stage than pork!! ;o) But low and slow has a leg up on doing it. ;o)

http://sooeet.com/cooking/cooking-temperature-beef.php

 
U got that right, M! 1) While in the midst of baking this new cut of meat, I kept thinking

about how I should just stick with baking desserts! ha!

2) Change of subject--I saw a Shark Tank episode that made me think of you. A guy was hawking some new tools he's designed that make quick work of coconuts. Didn't take long at all for him to crack open a coconut in front of the 4 business sharks! He calls his business Coco-Jack. Go to:

https://www.coco-jack.com/

I clicked on the "How To Use" line over on the left and inside that drop-down menu, clicked on "Instructional Videos". You might want to view and see if this is something new to you. I'd never seen these coconut tools in action before. Sure looked easy on TV, but then doesn't everything?

 
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