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How do you make a flat brisket tender?
If you would like to make a brisket flat tender and keep it from drying out, pull it off the smoker at the right time and let it rest long enough.
These two things are the most important aspects of any cook.
The reason being, if you do not pull it off at the right time, you risk severely undercooking or overcooking the meat.
Also, if the meat didn’t have enough time to rest, then the temperature may be too hot when you slice into it, and effectively dry out the flat.
You don’t want to get a dry flat!
Making the flat nice and tender is the result of those two very important things, and will certainly produce amazing results for your barbecue.
When you’re ready to slice, make sure to slice it against the grain – this will further perfect the overall after product.
Once all the connective tissue has had enough time to fully cook through, the flat will become very tender and moist.
It’s just what happens when the meat has come up to the right internal temperature of around 200 degrees.
How do I keep my brisket moist?
Keeping a brisket moist is also a very important aspect of any cooking process, especially if you’re cooking a lean piece of meat like a flat.
If you made sure to pull the brisket flat off at the right internal temperature and when it probed tender all throughout – you are now ready to attempt to keep it nice and moist.
To do so, pull it off the smoker, and place it into a preferred storage mechanism.
I like to use either a warming oven or an ice chest. Both options provide excellent that retention, and allow the brisket flat to come down in internal temperature over a steady, long period of time.
When the flat has had ample time to come down, you don’t risk it drying out.
Since the heat isn’t that high, the moisture within the meat won’t have any chance to evaporate. That’s how you always get a very moist brisket flat.
Why did my brisket flat dry out?
If you happen to have not done the above series of steps laid out, such as making sure the flat probes tender and resting appropriately, then you will of course have a dry brisket flat.
Most likely what happened, was that you did not cook the meat all the way through – and that the connective tissue and collagen within the meat did not fully render all the way through.
Also, if you did this plus did not rest the meat, all those beautiful juices may have evaporated!
Robert is a certified Pitmaster, with over a decade of experience in smoking the best meats you’ll ever feast upon. He also has a Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Texas at San Antonio. When he’s not researching technical topics, he’s most likely barbecuing in his backyard.