Cy from Palm Dessert struggles with his brisket, like so many, in that it’s often overcooked. He asks if a 1 inch brisket will cook more quickly than a 3 inch brisket of the same weight. Great question!

The key to your great brisket will be keeping as much fat as you can and the proper level of moisture in your pan. Unfortunately, we don’t know which brisket you are cooking this evening and at what stage in the cooking process you are, so our comments are general. Please use your free call to the culinary hotline at 1-800-977-1224 and take the opportunity to talk live with a great chef so you can get immediate assistance in creating a moist and flavorful brisket.

A 3 inch brisket is not going to cook more quickly than a 1 inch roast. However, a 3 inch brisket may require a “checking in” more frequently than a thinner brisket.

Depending on your cooking temperature (a low oven temperature is critical and might be the cause of your challenges - keep your oven at 325), you will probably need to add some more liquid to keep the braising liquid at the proper height of the brisket. Your liquid must always be 3/4 of the way up the sides of the meat.

Key things to do:

How to know when it’s done? Given that you’ve experienced overcooking in the past, let us recommend a few things:

1) Use a meat thermometer to test. Remove it from the oven once it reaches 170-180 degrees.
2) Use a big two pronged fork to test. Your brisket is ready when it is “fork tender.” Take a large pronged fork and pull at the center. Did you get some tug? If so, you might be ready to take a peek inside.
3) Slice a small piece from the center and taste. If it’s tender, remove immediately from the oven.

Please click HEREand take a moment to review our step by step guide to cooking beef brisket and cooking times.

We hope we’ve helped you today. Happy Holiday and we hope you have a great time cooking too!