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Should You Pull brisket at 195? (Explained!)

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Pull brisket at 195

If you want to know whether or not you should pull your brisket off at 195 degrees Fahrenheit, you’ve come to the right place.

 Most brisket on average, will be done at around 200 degrees Fahrenheit in internal temperature.

I’ve not really ever seen a brisket completely finish rendering down all of the collagen in the meat or connective tissue within the meat, at 195 degrees Fahrenheit. 

That’s simply because at specifically 200 degrees Fahrenheit or so, that process starts to occur.

It usually concludes that about 205 degrees Fahrenheit, which is why I am always a big proponent of pulling a brisket off at 200 degrees Fahrenheit to allow for some sort of carry over heat so as to not overcook the brisket by accident.

If you do happen to pull your brisket off at 195 degrees Fahrenheit, then you severely risk the chance of it being way undercooked.

In case you weren’t aware, it has the characteristics of being way too chewy.

In other words, it’s not something you would really want to eat!

Let’s say that you still think for whatever reason that your brisket is done at 195 degrees Fahrenheit, make sure that you have a toothpick at hand and can start probing into the meat at will, and ensure that there is zero resistance whatsoever.

If there is resistance then you will certainly know for a fact that even though you think it may be done and you want to pull it off at 195 degrees Fahrenheit, it really is not done. 

The connective tissues have not even rendered down, thus making it difficult to effectively probe around.

If it does not have any resistance and is somehow probing  out at 195 degrees Fahrenheit with no resistance, you probably then need to test the accuracy of your thermometer because again, scientifically, your brisket should always start the render down the connective tissues at right about 200 degrees Fahrenheit internal temperature. Nothing less than that.


Final thoughts

Most briskets that I have come across are finished at around 200 degrees in internal temperature. 

Scientifically, that is really when the meat and the connective tissue inside of your barbecue starts to render down and make the brisket very tender and moist inside.

Never consider pulling a brisket off at 195 degrees Fahrenheit unless it is probing tender, and you are certain of that.