Lets Solve A Brisket Mystery.

Q-Dat

Q-Dat

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Not a problem, just a mystery.

For the longest time now I have been using foil to finish my briskets after the bark has set. Instead of wrapping, I use foil pans covered tightly with a sheet or foil. Well I have gotten used to seeing a lot of liquid in the pan that the brisket has released. Even if I add liquid to the pan, there will always be significantly more in the pan once the brisket is done.

I have always been happy with the way my brisket has turned out but found that the bark would come off if I didn't handle the brisket very carefully and then finish it back on the pit to dry the surface. Not only that, the fat side that sat in the liquid would be very soggy. I decided to try getting the brisket out of the liquid by keeping it about an inch off the bottom of the pan by using a wire rack. This is where the mystery comes in.

The first time I tried this I added some liquid to the pan as usual, fully expecting there to be more liquid after the brisket finishes. This was not the case. The only liquid that I could see was exactly what I added plus a little bit of rendered fat floating on top. At first I thought that maybe I didn't cover the pan tight enough and that some may have evaporated, but I found the missing moisture when I began slicing the brisket. This was possibly the moistest brisket that I had ever cooked up until that point. The hot steam sped up the cook like it always had before, but the bark remained intact and somehow most of the liquid that had always come out before had now decided to remain inside the brisket! I wondered if it was a fluke, but have verified it since then with even juicier results.

So here's the question. Why is the brisket giving off more moisture when sitting flat in the bottom of the pan than it does when suspended above the liquid?

I await any and all theories.
 
the brisket is sitting against the pan which is heating. The meat is not heating up evenly because of this, the bottom heats up faster than the top. The cellular structure on the bottom of the brisket is being heating much more rapidly and the juices are being leeched out.

When you lift it off the bottom of the pan with the wire rack, it is basically acting as a very moist oven now. The heat is now heating the brisket evenly. Think of a dutch oven in an oven. The meat comes up to temperature evenly and the heating of the cell structure is even and less aggressive.

That is a semi hunch!
 
I wonder if it is possible that when you set the brisket in the pan and added liquid, it softened the bark to the point that it allowed the rendered fat and connective tissues to release from the brisket accounting for the extra liquid in the pan. By raising the meat out of the liquid, that allowed the bark stay intact and hardened, which held those juices in the meat.
just my theory.........
 
+2......

Seems pretty much my experience also.....

I don't do brisket much, so like to pay attention when it happens....this one was soft enough the point was slumping off the flat....up on rack as described....

OCT9brisket2012032.jpg
 
Yair . . . The Dutch oven (camp oven) analogy up thread is interesting.

I don't foil, I just shove the brisket or other roast into the cast iron oven up off the bottom on a cake rack and then back into the UDS . . . works for me.

Cheers.
 
People in the foil tight camp would beg to differ. they have liquid near completly surounding the brisket when cooked.

With as much variation in briskets, I would think youd need a heck of a lot more A-B testing to verify your theory.
 
aawa said:
the brisket is sitting against the pan which is heating. The meat is not heating up evenly because of this, the bottom heats up faster than the top. The cellular structure on the bottom of the brisket is being heating much more rapidly and the juices are being leeched out.

When you lift it off the bottom of the pan with the wire rack, it is basically acting as a very moist oven now. The heat is now heating the brisket evenly. Think of a dutch oven in an oven. The meat comes up to temperature evenly and the heating of the cell structure is even and less aggressive.

That is a semi hunch!
Click to expand...
This is why I use Butcher paper
 
to test your theory. weigh before panning and after.
 
Solarian said:
I wonder if it is possible that when you set the brisket in the pan and added liquid, it softened the bark to the point that it allowed the rendered fat and connective tissues to release from the brisket accounting for the extra liquid in the pan. By raising the meat out of the liquid, that allowed the bark stay intact and hardened, which held those juices in the meat.
just my theory.........
Click to expand...

^^^This.

Boy do y'all ever have a good Q joint where you live!
I've eaten at Southern Soul a few times and man is it good chit!! Dem boys know what they doin'!!!:thumb:
 
I use the butcher paper AND a wire rack. And a foil pan. Brisket wrapped in BP, on rack, sitting in foil pan.
 
Sitting in a liquid the brisket is being BOILED, sitting above the liquid it's being STEAMED.
If you boil broccoli it turns out limp, reduced in size because it's own moisture content has been boiled out of it, it's discolored and even loses some of it's flavor. Steamed broccoli however, is plump, retains moisture and keeps more of it's flavor and color. Neither cooking method however, is going to do a better job of preserving the moisture, flavor and nutrients of the broccoli than if the broccoli were cooked over or in direct heat as it would be in a stir-fry for instance. It's the same principle with meat.
You've established that in cooking a brisket steaming is better for moisture retention and bark preservation than boiling, so lets take it one step farther by suggesting that in order to get maximum moisture retention in a cooked brisket we should revisit the data from the broccoli experiment and conclude that a brisket is even better when it hasn't been boiled or steamed but has been cooked with it's own moisture content.
So then we're left really with two options,...
1.) Cook it naked for MANY, MANY hours till it's done, or...
2.) Wrap the brisket in butcher paper for a juicy piece of meat, with a good bark and eat earlier!:wink:
Aaaand that's my long-winded, Sheldon Cooper-esque promotional speech for using butcher paper over foil!!!:razz:
 
All good theories so far but I like this one the best! I doo want to try the butcher paper, but I can't imagine keeping more moisture than my last two cooks did with steaming. Probably would help the bark, but I really didn't have an issue with that either. These last two briskets gave off almost literally NO moisture into the pan when suspended off of the bottom.

oldbill said:
Sitting in a liquid the brisket is being BOILED, sitting above the liquid it's being STEAMED.
If you boil broccoli it turns out limp, reduced in size because it's own moisture content has been boiled out of it, it's discolored and even loses some of it's flavor. Steamed broccoli however, is plump, retains moisture and keeps more of it's flavor and color. Neither cooking method however, is going to do a better job of preserving the moisture, flavor and nutrients of the broccoli than if the broccoli were cooked over or in direct heat as it would be in a stir-fry for instance. It's the same principle with meat.
You've established that in cooking a brisket steaming is better for moisture retention and bark preservation than boiling, so lets take it one step farther by suggesting that in order to get maximum moisture retention in a cooked brisket we should revisit the data from the broccoli experiment and conclude that a brisket is even better when it hasn't been boiled or steamed but has been cooked with it's own moisture content.
So then we're left really with two options,...
1.) Cook it naked for MANY, MANY hours till it's done, or...
2.) Wrap the brisket in butcher paper for a juicy piece of meat, with a good bark and eat earlier!:wink:
Aaaand that's my long-winded, Sheldon Cooper-esque promotional speech for using butcher paper over foil!!!:razz:
Click to expand...
 
oldbill said:
Sitting in a liquid the brisket is being BOILED, sitting above the liquid it's being STEAMED.
If you boil broccoli it turns out limp, reduced in size because it's own moisture content has been boiled out of it, it's discolored and even loses some of it's flavor. Steamed broccoli however, is plump, retains moisture and keeps more of it's flavor and color. Neither cooking method however, is going to do a better job of preserving the moisture, flavor and nutrients of the broccoli than if the broccoli were cooked over or in direct heat as it would be in a stir-fry for instance. It's the same principle with meat.
You've established that in cooking a brisket steaming is better for moisture retention and bark preservation than boiling, so lets take it one step farther by suggesting that in order to get maximum moisture retention in a cooked brisket we should revisit the data from the broccoli experiment and conclude that a brisket is even better when it hasn't been boiled or steamed but has been cooked with it's own moisture content.
So then we're left really with two options,...
1.) Cook it naked for MANY, MANY hours till it's done, or...
2.) Wrap the brisket in butcher paper for a juicy piece of meat, with a good bark and eat earlier!:wink:
Aaaand that's my long-winded, Sheldon Cooper-esque promotional speech for using butcher paper over foil!!!:razz:
Click to expand...

I betcha I could make a brisket using foil that is just as moist, juicy, and flavorful as your butcher paper one :tongue:

But what do I know, I'm just a Virginia boy trying to cook Texas bbq!
 
I am going to add another viable option. Osmosis is the culprit in my opinion. Resting in the fluid allows for it to take place. By raising above the liquid you will remove the contact and stop this from happening. :)
 
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