"Pete C." fired this volley in news:4c56b94b$0
:

Collagen breakdown is about temp, so open, foiled, in a pot braising or
even boiling like a stew, you can break down the collagen and get fork
tender brisket, but only open gets you proper barbecue.


Yep. One thing about the chewy brisket -- just getting it up to 197-198F
isn't the goal. That's the temperature at which the collagen starts
breaking down, but it takes at least a 1/2hour at that temperature.

The foil habit comes of taking a cut that's already hotter than 198 at
the surface, but has just reached it at the center, and attempting to
hold that extra heat in for the requisite time.

If you foil (a lot of guys do), never foil on the cooker. Take the meat
_immediately_ from the cooker to foil to an insulated cooler to let the
stored heat do its work.

If you do it that way, you won't "steam" the cut, and it will still
retain its open-cooked character.

I just don't find that necessary. I taper the heat down during the last
hour so that by the time the center has reached 198, the cooker is a
scant 210. That keeps the center and outsides close in temperature, is
below the boiling point so the meat doesn't tend to dry out any more, and
allows finishing the cooking open and dry, which is my preference.

A packer's cut of brisket has enough fat on it so that it's never really
"dry", anyway. If you don't like fat, take the last 1/4" off AFTER
cooking, never before. More than 1/4" to 3/8" of fat will slow the
cooking, because the fat is a good insulator.

LLoyd