Deli owner in Dallas told me to stop dunking my briskets in ice water and I finally tried it
I have been cooling 14 pound briskets in an ice bath for 11 years because that is what the old guy who trained me did. Last month a deli owner in Dallas watched me pull one out of the smoker and just shook his head. He said I was washing off the bark and shocking the meat so it gets tough instead of tender. I tried his way on my next two cooks, letting them rest on the counter for 3 hours wrapped in butcher paper. The bark stayed dark and crusty and the flat sliced clean with no crumbling at the edges. Now I am wondering how much else I do just because someone taught me that way. Has anyone else switched up a cooling or resting habit and seen a big difference in the final product?
Man, I spent years wrapping in foil and shoving it straight in a cooler because that is what I was told too, so I get it. Turns out half of what we do in the pit is just habit passed down, not some sacred rule that makes the meat better. Letting it rest open on the counter really does keep that bark from going soft on you.