Anybody else find that when you smoke brisket to the commonly accepted internal temp of 203 that it is too dry?

I've found that pulling mine at 193-195 and resting for a while results in a more tender, juicier result.

I realize that every cut of meat is different, but over time this has seemed to yield better results for me

I'm not sure how many people really say temp anymore as the final judge of when to pull.

Smoke until it feels right when you are probing for temp. If that's 190 cool. If it's 205 for that brisket also cool.

Are you plotting temperature? Cooking is simply drying. So plot temp ver time and you will see the correct time to pull for that specific piece of meat.

Best thing I did for my briskets was to put away the thermometer entirely and learned to cook to feel

Ragoo said:

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Are you plotting temperature? Cooking is simply drying. So plot temp ver time and you will see the correct time to pull for that specific piece of meat.

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Just cooking to temp.

I have stopped wrapping them altogether at the stall, though. Seems to produce a better brisket and a better bark that way.

You should not cook to 203 every time, cook to proper doneness, best done by feel, but if using internal temp as a guide is usually anywhere from 195-205 (although you could even have some outside this range).

Cooking to proper doneness is key and getting enough heat as you need to render all the internal fat/marbling to make it juicy. Most of what we perceive as moisture on a juicy slice of brisket is properly rendered fat, not actual water.

After attending camp brisket and doing lots of my own research and cooking, a long rest is very key to a juicy brisket. Allows the muscles to relax and reabsorb some of the juices around it if you've wrapped in paper or foil. Most people will let it rest an hour or two, but really long rests of 4+ hours can really make a difference. Most of the popular bbq joints on the top 50 are smoking their briskets and then holding them in Cambros for 8-12 hours until serving time.

Also you should be slicing at the right temp of 140-150 area, don't slice when it's too hot as you'll lose steam and therefore moisture.

All the above will help you work towards a brisket with more moisture.