High Heat Brisket Method - A Compilation

[Mark_C]

Wagyu Brisket? You just made me incredibly hungry! :-)

Thanks for your input, MUCH obliged. I'm looking forward to a nice and moist HH brisket on Saturday!!

[Kirk J]

Hi guys, finally tried my first High Temp Briskett, and had a couple questions, since it didn't turn out perfect. I think I just left it on too long before checking it....the flat was quite burned. Salvageable, but not something I'd have wanted to serve. POint was OK though. When I put it in the foil pan the temp on the grate shot up..400ish which I decided was the heat coming off the pan, so I moved the probe through the top vent, and temp was registering 360 there....so that seemed OK. However I did not even check it for 2 1/2 hours, and it was more than done. I had a 12.5 pound packer. Took about 2.5 hours to hit 170...then 2 1/2 hours in foil. So was it the heat or more likely just that I should have checked it sooner? Also if this is a risk, why couldn't a person just put the fat side down and protect the meat from the high heat of the pan? If the fat gets burned it wouldn't matter to me. Has anyone tried fat side down the whole cook?

[T Tills]

I made this Saturday for some friends that were coming over for a visit. My first brisket ever.

I had a 14 pounder that I put on at 8:30, I intentionally kept the temp in the 320-330 range because I realized I started too early. By noon we foiled, and at 2ish I tested it and it was perfect! In the cooler for a couple hours.

At dinner time, it was amazing. I'm definately doing this again for camp this coming weekend.


Thanks for all the info!

[K Kruger]

So was it the heat or more likely just that I should have checked it sooner?

I only cook fat side down. Start to finish.


Yes, you should have checked it sooner. For packers I recommend checking at the 3:50 mark - counting from when you put the meat on.

[Mark_C]

<quote> I only cook fat side down... </quote>

This is surprising to me... I thought that in the pan, it went fat side up? (which also makes sense to me -- to allow the fat to baste the meat)

Anyways, I cooked mine on Saturday... it was amazing all around. I highly recommend this recipe to everyone!!

[K Kruger]

Some might do it that way. I don't. I want to keep the rub above the level of the liquid that will exude. I keep the fat down to protect the bottom of the meat, as you suspected upthread.

Fat up doesn't really baste meat, except for the sides as some rolls off. Fat rendering on the top will not soak into the meat or anything like that. And the fatcap on brisket is hard fat. It does not render very much.

[Mark_C]

Interesting -- I'll try fat down the whole time my next go. Thanks!

[Kirk J]

Thanks Kevin. I don't know what I was thinking waiting so long to check it. I switched to fat side down a long time ago for my low and slow cooks, but didn't know if there was some major reason, that I couldn't think of, why that couldn't be done here as well. I guess I'll just have to do another one soon.

[Curt]

Just did my first HH brisket yesterday.
A 15 pounder, it took from 11:50 until 3:15 before I foiled it at 170, but then it was unbelievably tender and ready to take off at 4:30, though I gave it an extra 20 minutes minus the foil to bark up.
I had a tough time keeping the temp consistently above 325 for the first part, which I'm sure is what took it so long, but it all worked out great in the end. Even my oldest son, who swore off brisket after too many Famous Daves attempts, is now a fan, as long as there's some #5 sauce handy.

[Cory L.]

I did a 5 pound flat this weekend that turned out super. My only complaint would be the lack of a pronounced smoke ring. It was there, just not as large as I would like to see. The flat went on the smoker right out of the fridge after the smoker was already at temp. My question, can I go at a lower temp initially say around 250 until the internal temp is 170, then foil and finish at 350. Kind of a low then high method? Thinking the longer time at a slower temp will help with the ring formation. Am I way off here? Thanks.