john pen
Master Chef
On my next brisket, I was going to do a bunch of slits a stuff them with garlic cloves...that might also be a port for the fat to seep into...
jminion said:Fat cap does not melt into a brisket, there is plenty of science out there on the subject.
Moisture in a brisket or butt is from the conective tissue as it breaks down and releases it's moisture.
Can cooking a brisket or butt fat cap up be moist sure. Cook fat cap up be moist sure. The reason for fat cap down is to use it as protection from heat as it rises in a vertical smoker or radiates from tuning plates in an offset. The reason for cooking fat side down is that it is more reliable percentage wise when doing briskets in a competition setting. You don't have as much of a worry about the lean side getting over done during the long cook or if you have a pit temp spikes.
The myth has been that the fat cap some how introduces moisture to the interior of the brisket as it cooks, it looks logical but just isn't the case.
Another myth out there is mopping will increase moisture content, again not the case but it will add flavor depending on the mop recipe.
Jim
DATsBBQ said:I'm doing a brisket concurent with posting this message. I have the ceramic hitecky egg thing, Fat cap up. At 6 hours I have an internal temp of 165, went ahead and foiled it up and added a little "liquid" to the foil tent/wrap/bag/enclosure contraption. I've always started fat cap up, sometimes flip at the 4 hour mark but today had a client on the horn who called long distance so it stayed fat cap up.
DATsBBQ