Full Packer Briskets on an 18in WSM?


 
D

Dan Crafton

TVWBB Member
I smoked my first full packer yesterday on my 18 1/2in WSM. It was 10.5lbs and when I put it in the smoker I had to stuff it between the handles of the cooking grate.

Most of the brisket turned out wonderful, however, their were about 4-6in of the flat section that was hard as a brick....this part hung over the water pan in direct line with the heat so I assume it got way to hot. As I sliced the brisket it became more moist as I moved towards the center.

My first brisket was a 7lb flat only that I could center perfectly on the grate over the water pan. It came out perfect....the whole thing was moist.

So now my questions.....is my 18 1/2 WSM too small to do whole packers? It is my understanding a 10.5lb packer is a small one so I think there would be no way I could do a larger one. Should I separate the point from the flat prior to smoking and do the point on the other grate?
I wouldn't mind sticking to large Flats only because quite frankly it turned out better.

Thank you for your thoughts on this,
Dan
 
Yea..the 18.5 can handle packers. Dan the one I did was the same size. Did you over trim? What was your cooking temp and you final temp of the meat? The very end of the flat on mine was a tad dry but not too bad. Briskets take time and trial and error to get right. You'll get it. I had to throw almost a whole one out once when I tried oak for wood. Was inedible...lol. $30+ dollars in the trash....lol.
 
Foil under the ends help. Biggest one I ever did on my 18.5" was a 17 lb-er.
I think this one was close to that size.
5624916639_762573c882_z.jpg


Tim
 
Last edited:
I haven't done a whole packer in quite a while. When I used to, I'd do packers that were about 12 pounds. I'd cram it in the WSM and they usually turned out fine. As they cook, they will shrink up some so that there's not as much hanging over into the hot zone. Where I do remember seeing a lack of moisture as you talk about, was if the end of the flat was much thinner that the rest of the flat. Then, the thin part would dry out some, and the flat would be more moist as you got to the center, as you described. A packer with a flat that is too thin at the end is not what you want, but sometimes that was all I could find. These days I do prime flats.
 
Steven P (Tupelo) said:
I haven't done a whole packer in quite a while. When I used to, I'd do packers that were about 12 pounds. I'd cram it in the WSM and they usually turned out fine. As they cook, they will shrink up some so that there's not as much hanging over into the hot zone. Where I do remember seeing a lack of moisture as you talk about, was if the end of the flat was much thinner that the rest of the flat. Then, the thin part would dry out some, and the flat would be more moist as you got to the center, as you described. A packer with a flat that is too thin at the end is not what you want, but sometimes that was all I could find. These days I do prime flats.
Click to expand...

Yes, the end of the flat that hung over was noticeably thinner than the rest. Thanks, I will watch for that next time I buy one. Thanks for the tip on putting foil under ends Tim. I keep learning.


Thanks all,
Dan
 
I have an 18" too, and I cut the thin end off to grind for burgers.
Makes excellent burgers, just watch the fat to lean ratio when grinding.

IMGP1546.JPG
 
Dan,

I wrap a brick in foil and place it under the middle of the brisket causing it to bow upwards. This pulls the ends away from the outer hot zones.

Paul
 
Good suggestions already listed above, and I'll probably repeat what's already been said. Start with packers that aren't too long, but thick in the flat, no more than 12 lbs or so. Bigger ones will work though if you fold in half or lay over something as already suggested, and you can even cut a big chunk off the point end and cook next to the brisket if you want. (Other than trimming the corner off, I wouldn't cut into the flat, though. Oh, and the point chunk will just give you more bark and a good start on burnt ends.) Take the larger fat trimmings to put under the end of the flat, but as I said, you might first want to trim off the corner of the flat some to give it a better shape and fit. Shoehorn the brisket between the handles, and foil the brisket once you get some bark, which should be somewhere around 160-something*.
 
I love doing butts/ribs in my smoker and I had tried a brisket once. It came out really good but not enough for me to justify the ~16hr cook time on it. For anyone like me who does like brisket but doesn't want to smoke for that long I recently just tried doing half of a full packer in my cast iron dutch oven. The recipe was from food network (Tyler Florance - http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/tyler-florence/beef-brisket-recipe/index.html). Basically sear the brisket on both sides in the dutch oven then add vegi's, wine etc and in the oven it goes for 4 hours. Not to say smoked isn't good but the result of this (at only 4 hours cook time in the oven) was the most tender juicy brisket I have ever had and the flavor was great as well. Again not to say that smoked brisket isn't great but for those that don't want to spend over half a day smoking it. The only bad part of this was that I used the half of a brisket that had the flat and point. The flat was the best I had ever had. The point was pretty much non-edible. From now on plan on doing this recipe with just the flat.
 
Jason H. said:
I love doing butts/ribs in my smoker and I had tried a brisket once. It came out really good but not enough for me to justify the ~16hr cook time on it.
Click to expand...

Jason, just a FYI...there's no need to smoke a brisket so long. I've done 12 lb packers in six hours or so if cooking at high heat and foiling, but even with water in the pan and no foiling, I've had them done at not much over 12 hrs.

To do butt or brisket cooks by day, you just have to start with more lit charcoal and leave the vents open longer so you quickly get up to your target temp...and not a target "range" like if trying to go back to bed, but a steady temp so you stay on schedule.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

 

Back
Top